Map filter "found status" preference isn't saved

[+Yrda]

I want to see the caches found by me on the map (I want to see all caches). While I didn't have a premium account, this worked perfectly fine. But since I have upgraded to a premium account, the found caches (happy yellow smilies) disappear every time I open the map. Several times I enabled them again via the filters menu, but my preference unfortunately isn't saved. It seems to get reset every time to "not found by me".

 

Maybe most users prefer that, and it is fine as a default setting, but I expect my custom settings to be saved. I'm using Firefox on a Desktop PC, but this may happen elsewhere as well.

Edited August 10, 2022 by Yrda

[+Bl4ckH4wkGER]

What you're seeing is the expected behavior of the Search & Search Map.

 

Their primary purpose is to find the next cache  / plan the next outing of caches you've not found. As what players search for tends to change from search to search and outing to outing, the filters are hence not permanent.

 

If you wish to just browse areas and see your past finds/ smileys, you can use the browse map.

[+Lagrouvin]

It is unfortunate that Found Status and Owner Status filters are not saved. I often use those existing smileys as landmarks on the map. The popup cache name of a found cache will give me a reference point for a nearby unfound cache. I would also prefer Owner Status filter to be saved as well, both for reference point and as the fastest way to view caches I own. 

The existence of the Reset and Save buttons gave me the expectation that the saved preferences would be permanent. I hope the Geocaching user experience and development teams re-evaluates the current functionality and give the power to save preferences as they see fit, not as Geocaching powers that be set fit.  

[+barefootjeff]

4 hours ago, Lagrouvin said:

It is unfortunate that Found Status and Owner Status filters are not saved. I often use those existing smileys as landmarks on the map. The popup cache name of a found cache will give me a reference point for a nearby unfound cache. I would also prefer Owner Status filter to be saved as well, both for reference point and as the fastest way to view caches I own.

 

Yes, I agree. While excluding found and owned caches might make sense to remove clutter in places where caches are packed in like sardines, when I open the search map I see just one cache, a tree-climbing puzzle I solved ages ago but baulked at the climb:

 

 

I know I'm an oddball cacher, but it's rare that I'll use Search or the search map to plan a caching trip, as I find the browse map better for that. If the area I'm visiting has more than one cache (often times it doesn't), I'll look at the recent logs to decide which ones I want to do rather than filter by any of the search options. When I'm doing searches it's usually for other reasons and then I have to remember to unselect those two preselected filters otherwise I don't get the right results. I think it would be better if HQ just provided the tools and let each user decide how their use best suits them, rather than dictate a particular usage with preselected options. The same goes for moving found mysteries back to their posted coordinates on the assumption that they're all geoart, as most of them around here aren't and being able to see where a found puzzle cache is can be very useful, particularly when planning new caches or, as you say, as guide marks for nearby unfound caches.

[+Goldenwattle]

3 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

I find the browse map better

I agree. Most of the time it's a FAR better map and much more useful, especially when planning a long trip. I recently drove around Australia (almost 18,000kms). It would have been almost impossible to plan a caching trip without that map. For purposes like that the search map is almost useless.

Where I find the search map useful is for looking for certain types of caches in small areas (only a few hundred kms wide for instance), such as SideTracked, Mary Mackillop, Challenge, and old caches.

 

[+Goldenwattle]

On 8/10/2022 at 6:18 PM, Yrda said:

I want to see the caches found by me on the map (I want to see all caches). While I didn't have a premium account, this worked perfectly fine. But since I have upgraded to a premium account, the found caches (happy yellow smilies) disappear every time I open the map. Several times I enabled them again via the filters menu, but my preference unfortunately isn't saved. It seems to get reset every time to "not found by me".

 

Maybe most users prefer that, and it is fine as a default setting, but I expect my custom settings to be saved. I'm using Firefox on a Desktop PC, but this may happen elsewhere as well.

 

I also expect and want to see the smiley faces. However, most of the time I use the browse map. However, when I click on the search map (just did this to test it), my smilies appear too.

[+barefootjeff]

1 hour ago, Goldenwattle said:

 

I also expect and want to see the smiley faces. However, most of the time I use the browse map. However, when I click on the search map (just did this to test it), my smilies appear too.

 

Yeah, if you go from the Browse map into the Search map it shows everything, but if you go directly into the Search map from the Play menu in the top green bar, the default filters are Not found by me and Caches I don't own.