How do they "find" without their geo-account?

[+Ed_S]

I recently noticed a curious thing - cachers with low "find" totals DNF'd a cache of mine, and after checking on it I wanted to reach out to them, thinking with the low count, they were new to the game. When I open their profile, they haven't been on their account since 2019 or thereabouts. But they have finds in 2022, 2021, and so on. How the heck do they do that??? (Never mind, WHY do they do that?)  I'm thinking they're just a bot of some sort, but even so, how does one log finds on one's page without logging in?

 

[+Max and 99]

16 minutes ago, Ed_S said:

I recently noticed a curious thing - cachers with low "find" totals DNF'd a cache of mine, and after checking on it I wanted to reach out to them, thinking with the low count, they were new to the game. When I open their profile, they haven't been on their account since 2019 or thereabouts. But they have finds in 2022, 2021, and so on. How the heck do they do that??? (Never mind, WHY do they do that?)  I'm thinking they're just a bot of some sort, but even so, how does one log finds on one's page without logging in?

 

If I remember correctly, "Last visited" only tracks the last visit to the website. So if that geocacher has only been using the app, it won't register them as having visited. 

[+kunarion]

4 hours ago, Ed_S said:

I recently noticed a curious thing - cachers with low "find" totals DNF'd a cache of mine, and after checking on it I wanted to reach out to them, thinking with the low count, they were new to the game. When I open their profile, they haven't been on their account since 2019 or thereabouts. But they have finds in 2022, 2021, and so on. How the heck do they do that??? (Never mind, WHY do they do that?)  I'm thinking they're just a bot of some sort, but even so, how does one log finds on one's page without logging in?

 

 

If you mean the date of "Last Visited", that shows the latest web site hit.  There are a bunch of ways to connect and log a find which won't change the Last Visited date.  If that date doesn't match up with recent logs, I expect the cacher to be hard to contact and slow to respond.  That is, they won't even notice a Message (although it also sends an email notification) until the next time they open the App, if then.  And they may not be using The Official App anyway.  They'd need to do the additional work of logging into the web site.  So I use "Last Visited", not so much to show Geocaching activity, but as a way to adjust my expectation of how successful I may be to contact them.

 

Edited December 16, 2022 by kunarion

[+cerberus1]

IIRC, if they switched from GPSr to a phone, they'll never have to visit the site.  Many new cachers here have "never" listed as their last visit...

[+kunarion]

34 minutes ago, cerberus1 said:

IIRC, if they switched from GPSr to a phone, they'll never have to visit the site.  Many new cachers here have "never" listed as their last visit...

 

Yes, if they are Basic and never browsed to the web site, "never" will be the Visited date.  I haven't tested if it's possible to Verify one's email address or become PM without causing a Site Visit.

 

Edited December 16, 2022 by kunarion

[+barefootjeff]

5 hours ago, kunarion said:

 

Yes, if they are Basic and never browsed to the web site, "never" will be the Visited date.  I haven't tested if it's possible to Verify one's email address or become PM without causing a Site Visit.

 

 

Almost all the newbies I see these days are premium before they've even found their first cache and never visit the website. They purchase their premium membership through their phone's app store and it's just another phone game for them.

[+kunarion]

3 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

 

Almost all the newbies I see these days are premium before they've even found their first cache and never visit the website. They purchase their premium membership through their phone's app store and it's just another phone game for them.

Yes, I have seen posts about that!  People pay through their App Store and then there’s an unexpected processing delay, and it costs them extra due to VAT and other App Store fees.  But then no web site visit is needed.

 

So at any point, someone like that may “open a cache page” on the web site and cause a Site Visit, but pretty much by accident.  But there are still many cache pages where you gotta see the actual web page to solve a puzzle or whatever.  Not everything is available solved elsewhere for them.

 

I use Last Visited most often for locals or friends that may have dropped out of the game for various reasons.  It’s all good info.

[+Ed_S]

Thanks, everyone! My curiosity is now satisfied, and I've learned something. It's all good - I appreciate all the information!