Geocache rating website

[Team_Rhoeny]

Hello all,

 

many of you have probably found a 0815 cache - a can with a wet logbook hidden on the road under a stone ... or something like that. And let's be honest - each of us would rather find a great, creative and popular geocache, where the owner has thought and invested a lot of time.

Unfortunately, only a few of the cache owners do this. 

So here comes my idea on how to do it better.

 

 

My idea is a website where you enter the GC code and get a short view of the cache. Other geocachers can share their experience there and rate the cache. 

- how is the environment

- is the hiding place creatively built

- what do you need

- are there many muggles on site

Once you have a brief impression, you can pack up your gear or think beforehand if you want to search for this boring/exciting cache.

So you can share your experience or rely on the experience of other fellow cachers and thus help geocachers with less experience and the owner to improve his cache.

 

Now this sounds very nice in practice. However, I need your help so that together we can make this happen for the entire GC community. We need:

 

- Web-Developer for the website (Frontend/Backend)

- Sponsors (for the domain)

- experienced geocachers (for evaluation criteria)

 

If these skills appeal to you or you would like to join us, please contact me privately and we will create a new era of geocaching together.

 

I will also gladly accept suggestions for improvement from you :-)

 

With kind regards

Team_Rhoeny

[Keystone]

Did you know that there is a website (Geocaching.com) in addition to smartphone apps?  Everything you've described can be found o the website by reading cache descriptions, cache attributes and logs of prior visitors for caches that fit your preferences (using the search features).

 

How would your website obtain Geocaching.com data to populate the caches?  Do you already have an API developer's license?

[Team_Rhoeny]

40 minutes ago, Keystone said:

Did you know that there is a website (Geocaching.com) in addition to smartphone apps?  Everything you've described can be found o the website by reading cache descriptions, cache attributes and logs of prior visitors for caches that fit your preferences (using the search features).

 

How would your website obtain Geocaching.com data to populate the caches?  Do you already have an API developer's license?

 

No, I do not have a license yet. However, I have already contacted Geocaching HQ and presented my idea.

 

To Geocaching.com: I know very well that there is already a website. However, most of them simply write "Found" or "found quickly" - that should be familiar to everyone. The later website should contain additional functions, which are just NOT available on the Geocaching website. Otherwise the idea would not be logical. 

[+kunarion]

1 hour ago, Team_Rhoeny said:

I know very well that there is already a website. However, most of them simply write "Found" or "found quickly" - that should be familiar to everyone. The later website should contain additional functions, which are just NOT available on the Geocaching website. Otherwise the idea would not be logical. 

 

What causes persons who write "found quickly" to go to a different web site and type a lot of detail?

[Team_Rhoeny]

51 minutes ago, kunarion said:

 

What causes persons who write "found quickly" to go to a different web site and type a lot of detail?

It's not that some don't like to write a lot.

Each geocache is judged and evaluated, tips are given. But I have already written that above :-/

And it does not have to be otherwise. If there is a sponsor, you can distribute vouchers for active members.

[+arisoft]

7 hours ago, Team_Rhoeny said:

Other geocachers can share their experience there and rate the cache. 

 

So, you are trying to invent GCVote with some additional features?

[Team_Rhoeny]

14 minutes ago, arisoft said:

 

So, you are trying to invent GCVote with some additional features?

Okay, I didn't knew the page before  but this is what I wanted to do. Thanks

[+barefootjeff]

10 hours ago, Team_Rhoeny said:

many of you have probably found a 0815 cache - a can with a wet logbook hidden on the road under a stone ... or something like that. And let's be honest - each of us would rather find a great, creative and popular geocache, where the owner has thought and invested a lot of time.

Unfortunately, only a few of the cache owners do this. 

So here comes my idea on how to do it better.

 

There are plenty of tools already available to pick the sort of caches you might like, rather than just follow the crowd and do what other people like. If you don't like micros you can filter them out of your searches, or maybe just look for regular and large containers as those ones are often a cut above the average. Look for the higher D/T ratings if you want more of a challenge, or pick the lower ones if you don't. There are attributes you can include or exclude if you're looking for particular characteristics such as a longer hike or something with a bit of meat in it that takes more than an hour. If you do just want to follow the herd and do popular caches, you can sort by the number of FPs. Project GC provides more options, such as sorting by the most number of finds (or the least), percentage FPs or the Wilson score (which I've found is a pretty good guide to the sorts of caches I find appealing).

 

Also, look for COs whose caches you enjoy and perhaps focus on their other hides. It doesn't take long to figure out which COs in your area are renowned for the most awesome of caches and which aren't.

 

The trouble with ratings is everyone has different tastes. Back in 2019, the Cache Carnival promotion gave maximum points to caches with 50+ FPs so I did a couple of trips down to Sydney Harbour where most of those are clustered. By and large I found them pretty ordinary, just otherwise uninspiring caches that happened to have a harbour view and so are popular with tourists. The caches I enjoy the most often have only a handful of finders because they're in remote locations that take a fair bit of effort to get to, but the majority of other cachers would likely much rather spend that time doing a power trail of P&Gs to boost their stats.

[+CAVinoGal]

On 10/29/2022 at 5:08 AM, Team_Rhoeny said:

Unfortunately, only a few of the cache owners do this. 

So here comes my idea on how to do it better.

 

On 10/29/2022 at 6:38 AM, Keystone said:

Everything you've described can be found o the website by reading cache descriptions, cache attributes and logs of prior visitors for caches that fit your preferences (using the search features).

 

On 10/29/2022 at 8:21 AM, kunarion said:

What causes persons who write "found quickly" to go to a different web site and type a lot of detail?

 

Those who would take the time to populate your "new" website would also be the ones who write the logs that give the information your website is proposing to do.  I read the descriptions, past logs, and glean other information from the cache page; I'm not sure what other information your site would offer that I can't get already.