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Why do my logs keep disappearing?


Loqrotimus

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I probably should have reported this issue as soon as it first occurred, but I assumed it was a temporary thing that would get resolved on it's own, but that doesn't seem to be the case and it is very frustrating to put effort into making a nice log for a CO to read with my experiences in making the find, solving the puzzle, whatever, only to happen upon the cache on the map weeks or months later to discover that it's no longer a smiley and my log is gone. I've asked a few caching friends and most if not all of them don't seem to have this issue.. so what is special about my logs? Any help appreciated.

 

 

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Are you logging from your phone or the website? If the former, I've heard stories of that happening because the phone app, when sending a log, doesn't check whether the servers actually received it, instead it just happily sticks a smiley on its map which will stay there until some later date when the cached cache data for that area is refreshed. If phone coverage is marginal where you've posted the log, or there's congestion somewhere in the system causing packet loss, your phone will think it's logged the find but it doesn't make it into the system database.

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1 hour ago, Loqrotimus said:

I probably should have reported this issue as soon as it first occurred, but I assumed it was a temporary thing that would get resolved on it's own, but that doesn't seem to be the case and it is very frustrating to put effort into making a nice log for a CO to read with my experiences in making the find, solving the puzzle, whatever, only to happen upon the cache on the map weeks or months later to discover that it's no longer a smiley and my log is gone. I've asked a few caching friends and most if not all of them don't seem to have this issue.. so what is special about my logs? Any help appreciated.

 

 

Are you using the App or the website?

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2 hours ago, Loqrotimus said:

so what is special about my logs?

 

Did you sign the physical logbook inside the cache container?  Sometimes a Cache Owner deletes logs for various reasons.

 

Can you provide details about particular caches where logs vanished?  Logs may be "archived" yet still in the database, and it's not unusual for logs to be re-instated.  So with enough information, HQ might be able to at least determine what happened.  The Contact Form is here

 

Do you run and download a "My Finds" Pocket Query often?  I usually run one when each time I see some Forum post about Finds disappearing :P.  https://www.geocaching.com/pocket/

Anyway, each log is included in that file, and the log has an ID number.  That should be enough information to solve your whole issue (with assistance from HQ, perhaps).

 

 

Edited by kunarion
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....and if they're all puzzles, did you check the location where the coordinates were originally posted (rather than their final, solved location)? Mystery/puzzle caches move back to the original coordinates after a find, so the geo-art (if there is one) is preserved.

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I have been saving drafts in the field with my phone, because I often don't have time to write a proper log until later when I get home. Then when I get home, I go on the computer, on the website , pull up my drafts and go through them and write my logs, saving each. Then the draft is gone, my find count goes up and if I refresh the map, I see a smiley there. Then, sometime down the line.. it could be days, weeks or months later, I am looking at the map and I find one (or more) that the find has been deleted. I am fairly certain it is not CO's deleting my logs and yes, I always sign the physical log if I log a find online.

  • Surprised 1
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57 minutes ago, Loqrotimus said:

I have been saving drafts in the field with my phone, because I often don't have time to write a proper log until later when I get home. Then when I get home, I go on the computer, on the website , pull up my drafts and go through them and write my logs, saving each. Then the draft is gone, my find count goes up and if I refresh the map, I see a smiley there. Then, sometime down the line.. it could be days, weeks or months later, I am looking at the map and I find one (or more) that the find has been deleted. I am fairly certain it is not CO's deleting my logs and yes, I always sign the physical log if I log a find online.

 

You are logging the same way I do -- Drafts in the App, completing the logs on the web site. That seems to rule out a data problem within the App, because not only are the Drafts already on the web site, the finalized logs were submitted.

 

One other thing I do is I post all my photos also to the website after editing the photos (resizing, etc.), sometimes hours or days later.  Did you know it's super easy to delete the actual log when deleting an uploaded photo?  I still do that at times.  I can only guess what happened in your case, so I'm just throwing it out there:  Accidental deletion of the entire log when trying to delete an uploaded photo.  OK, it probably only happens to me.  :(

 

Without specifics, it's hard to guess, and even then, most of the Forum members can't access the Geocaching.com server database to research archived logs.

 

Anyway, this must have been one of the caches in question:  https://coord.info/GC94P9R

I don't see a photo on the replacement log, so my theory isn't looking so good.  So for sure ask HQ, and they can look at the logs.  Not sure if there's a record of who deleted a given log.  I've seen posts around here from cachers noticing their logs vanish, but I've never seen an actual mysterious disappearance.  There were ordinary reasons.

 

Save your "My Finds" Pocket Queries on a schedule.  Then next time, you'll have more info if a log vanishes, including the text of that log.  You can then restore a log pretty easily.  But, yeah, it would be good to get to the root of the problem.

 

Edited by kunarion
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1 hour ago, Loqrotimus said:

I have been saving drafts in the field with my phone, because I often don't have time to write a proper log until later when I get home. Then when I get home, I go on the computer, on the website , pull up my drafts and go through them and write my logs, saving each. Then the draft is gone, my find count goes up and if I refresh the map, I see a smiley there. Then, sometime down the line.. it could be days, weeks or months later, I am looking at the map and I find one (or more) that the find has been deleted. I am fairly certain it is not CO's deleting my logs and yes, I always sign the physical log if I log a find online.

 

Hopefully you get back to us if you figure this out.  :)   

We've done all our logs at home too, but never had one deleted (yet).  Been a while, on meds, so haven't been playing.

Most we know that had this issue didn't sign the log in the container, or didn't send needed information (virtuals/earthcaches) to the CO.

Good luck.

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30 minutes ago, Keystone said:

 

There are no deleted "found it" logs associated with this cache page.

 

Wow.  That's really weird.

 

The 2nd-to-Find might remember if there was an "FTF" log extant that has since evaporated.  That cache would be a good test case... on the assumption that the server lost the OP's logs without a trace, without anyone else noticing their own logs vanished during such a glitch (there would be more posts here for sure).   The plot thickens.

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10 hours ago, Loqrotimus said:

I probably should have reported this issue as soon as it first occurred, but I assumed it was a temporary thing that would get resolved on it's own, but that doesn't seem to be the case and it is very frustrating to put effort into making a nice log for a CO to read with my experiences in making the find, solving the puzzle, whatever, only to happen upon the cache on the map weeks or months later to discover that it's no longer a smiley and my log is gone. I've asked a few caching friends and most if not all of them don't seem to have this issue.. so what is special about my logs? Any help appreciated.

 

 

Do you have any email notifications for those missing logs?

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9 hours ago, kunarion said:

 

Wow.  That's really weird.

 

The 2nd-to-Find might remember if there was an "FTF" log extant that has since evaporated.  That cache would be a good test case... on the assumption that the server lost the OP's logs without a trace, without anyone else noticing their own logs vanished during such a glitch (there would be more posts here for sure).   The plot thickens.

In that case, because it was an FTF, I think I did log it from my phone.

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9 hours ago, Max and 99 said:

Do you have any email notifications for those missing logs?

 

I don't think I usually get those, unless it's a cache I am following. I guess that would be another way to handle this.. going forward, follow every cache I log so I get the email, then go unfollow any that I don't really care to be notified about. Seems like a lot of work though.

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4 minutes ago, Loqrotimus said:

In that case, because it was an FTF, I think I did log it from my phone.

 

Is it possible that every log that disappeared was logged from The App?  There are instances where The App went through all the right motions (including showing icons on the map), and due to some bad mojo, the logs never made it onto the web site.  The App doesn't appear to have a failsafe, it doesn't store a record of logs once "sent".  Occasional server hiccups might cause data loss.  But it's temporary, and would only affect logs during the hiccup. 

 

It seems to me that if you made a log and there's no server record of it, the log never arrived on the server.  How that happened, yeah.  I guess a brief App/Server glitch?  I wonder how many of your logs were affected, and what they have in common.

 

I log Finds on my phone as Drafts, and also on my Garmin GPS.  Partly because one or the other can "lose" logs.  Partly because I walk right past caches that I later think I found/logged.  I can then reconstruct my cache trip, regardless of issues.  PLUS I take a lot of pictures, so even if the Garmin and Phone fail, I still know which caches I found.  And I have an Indiana-Jones-style diary.  

 

Go get that My Finds Pocket Query.  I think it will come in handy if this issue recurs.

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14 minutes ago, Loqrotimus said:

I don't think I usually get those, unless it's a cache I am following. I guess that would be another way to handle this.. 

 

Wow, I'd hope not.  :)      Losing your find count weeks or months later doesn't sound (to me) like it'd be an app problem.

What Max and 99 is saying is, if you had your log deleted by a CO, you'd get a notification in email (if you have a valid email).

Not receiving notice should rule removal by a CO out...

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