Completing drafts destroys the images saved in them

[+arisoft]

I am used to take virtual cache and earth cache photos with drafts. Uploading of drafts with images on-line has no problems and the photo is already loaded to groudspeak server.
Unfortinately, when I try to post the finalized log, this screen is displayed forever. The log text is still posted but the image is missing and it is not recoverable because the draft is removed.

This has already happened twice and I have lost images from earthcaches. If the bug is not possible to fix, there should be a way to recover destroyed images because they may be oblicatory items for logging the find. I should be able to trust the saved data to remain available.

 

 

Edited July 8, 2023 by arisoft

[+peter-tvm]

Does the same error occur if you post the draft via the app? The screenshot looks like it taken from a desktop browser.

 

About the missing image. Have you looked if the phone saves the image in a gallery when taken in the app? 

[+arisoft]

I don't know how to make drafts with web browser. I use it only for finalizing them. The app I am using does not have feature for finalizing them.

 

Some other apps may save images but Locus Map does not. It posts the photo direcly to Groundspeak server with the draft text. I have been using this same setup for years and now it started to destroy images.

 

 

Edited July 8, 2023 by arisoft

[+b-holdet]

Also uploading images from pc via website does not work.

My drafts is changing to logged but without attaching the images.

I have tried to upload as small as 350 kB to see if it has something to do with the size. But I only get an odd error:

 

[+b-holdet]

I can see others have same problem in another other thread:

 

[+arisoft]

I suspect that these are different problems. I can upload images from the app but the uploaded image is lost after finishing the draft. If I upload the image while finishing the draft it works without problems.

[+left7]

i have the same issue.  I use the official geocaching app for my field notes.  then usually complete them at home on the computer.  the page just spins.  the "found it log" completes but the image is missing.

[+terratin]

It does work with cachly, thus I guess it's a problem of the official app rather than the website. Or with how the apps interface with the website.

[+arisoft]

4 hours ago, terratin said:

It does work with cachly, thus I guess it's a problem of the official app rather than the website. Or with how the apps interface with the website.

 

There is no App running when this happens on the web site. Now it is verified to happen with drafts made by two different apps. Are you sure that it works with drafts made by Cachly?

[+Hügh]

38 minutes ago, arisoft said:

Are you sure that it works with drafts made by Cachly?

 

Not terratin, but if I:

1. Create a log in Cachly.
2. Attach an image to the log.
3. Set Draft = yes, Send Now = true.

And then (attempt to) post the draft via the website, the page hangs and the image fails to post, exactly as you describe.

Edited July 12, 2023 by Hügh

[+terratin]

10 hours ago, Hügh said:

 

Not terratin, but if I:

1. Create a log in Cachly.
2. Attach an image to the log.
3. Set Draft = yes, Send Now = true.

And then (attempt to) post the draft via the website, the page hangs and the image fails to post, exactly as you describe.

 

Interesting! Then this must have been introduced after I did this last time, some 9 days ago. Because I wrote drafts on a plane, attached images, and then sent them once on the ground. My only difference was Send Now to = false

[+SnoopyRocks]

I have experienced the same problem!  This has been going on for over a week!  I use Cachly because I am able to attach more than one photo to my draft.  When I able to access my computer to log my FIND from the website and write my Found It log, it DOES NOT upload the photo(s).  I only get the "circle wheel of death" which is VERY frustrating!! When I reload my log, it becomes a "Write Note" but the photos are gone and on the website (Geocaching.com) it shows my Found log but text only.  Is this something that will be fixed??

[+Boa]

The same problem here, as with some of my friends. I lost several pictures this way. 

In the field I make an empty draft log to save a picture to the correct geocache. Afterwards I edit the text and upload the log. Before I never had problems with this method, but now I have the same problem as described in this thread. After pressing the Post button, the screen stays grayed out with the turning loading circle, and it stays this way. After checking the cache in a new window, I see the text is uploaded without pictures.

Is there an update on solving this problem?

[+psubrian]

I too am having this problem with any draft that I created after July 5.  The drafts with attached photos (on an iPhone with the official Geocaching app) are saving just fine when I get to my PC and finish my log.  For anything after July 5, I see the photo there, I can edit the description of the photo, but once I submit the log, it just sits and spins and then ultimately doesn't post the image with the rest of my log.  

[+errhode]

I'm having the same problem that matches with others description, with an additional bug that might help a developer find the problem:

 

I use the official app (Android) to essentially take "field notes" and save as draft, sometimes with an uploaded photo.  I then go to the website on my laptop later in the day to flesh out the logs into intelligible English.  I will also mark any trackables as visited or dropped at this stage.  If there's no photo, the log goes through just fine and the trackables that I marked as visited are logged as having visited the cache.  However, if the cache had a photo attached to the draft, while I can see the photo, once I post the log, the page hangs with a screen shot that matches @left7 and @arisoft's screenshot.  I don't see any noticeable console errors while this is happening.

 

If I navigate away from the page, I note that the log has usually posted with the text, but not the photo and, and here's the new information for this thread, the TBs are not marked as having visited/been dropped off at the cache.

 

If I go to the log and add a photo later, this seems to work fine.  So there's something in the saved draft -> post log on the website application that is struggling with pictures and likely hitting an error somewhere.

 

For any devs that happen to see this, this is how I suggest you try and reproduce the error:

 

1. Use the mobile to save a draft of a log with an uploaded photo.

2. Use the desktop webpage to edit the log.  If you have trackables in your possession, mark them as having visited the cache in question.  Hit post and watch it just spin forever.

3. Use a different tab to check your posted logs and see that the log has posted without the photo.

 

Good luck!

[worrellsquirrel]

Hello all,

 

Thank you for reporting this issue. Our developers are aware and hope to have a fix as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience in the meantime.

[+Davidwazza]

I have the same issue and it is quite frustrating, so it is interesting to see that I'm not alone with this bug! Thanks worrellsquirrel for responding and pursuing this issue.

[+HoustonCZ&PuPu]

I have same issue. Tested Chrome and Safari browsers with same results.

Workaround is to push draft without photo and upload photo later.

I hope GS will manage this soon.

[+ODragon]

Also having this exact problem, glad to see it's reported.

[+cneumann98]

I’ve had the exact same problem while uploading drafts through Cachly. I thought it was a Cachly problem but now it seems to be a Groundspeak problem. I’ve found a workaround that is super-tedious (deleting the pictures from my drafts, uploading them after the log posts using Cachly as the photos are still on my phone.) I also hope Groundspeak finds a way to save the photos with those

drafts as my method is getting more and more difficult as I’m still actively caching for this streak challenge. 

[+huberteff]

Hello Groundspeak,

 

I have the same problem - I use drafts uploaded from looking4cache, and when using the website to log a draft with images hangs, and the image is gone in the log.
This used to work a few weeks ago, no idea what was changed in the mean time.

 

I hope the website can be fixed soon - I'd really appreciate it!

 

[+huberteff]

Data point: when I click on the image, download it, then delete the image from the draft, then re-attach it to the draft and then send it, then the hang does _not_ happen.

It's still an extra step that's easily forgotten.

And if so, the image is gone for good

 

Edited July 29, 2023 by huberteff

[+bueffel]

Same issue here, when trying to complete drafts originally saved with Cachly.

[+SnoopyRocks]

I am so MAD that photos do not load from Drafts anymore!!! This has been happening for over 2 months without any fixes or updates! I like to include photos now and then with my log but now it's a 3-step process!  Have a draft from the app, update my log once I'm on my computer, watch the "circle wheel of nothingness" spin, then edit my log to add the photo.

Hello, HQ!!  Can you get this fixed?? If you don't want us to add photos then just say so. Very frustrating!!!

[+MartyBartfast]

Just adding my vote to get this fixed.
Did a Virtual and Earthcache yesterday both of which require pictures which I had attached to my draft log but wouldn't upload so had to post the logs and then go back and add the pictures - very poor.

[+RPStew]

On 7/18/2023 at 4:07 PM, worrellsquirrel said:

Hello all,

 

Thank you for reporting this issue. Our developers are aware and hope to have a fix as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience in the meantime.

worrellsquirrel,

 

Its been just shy of a month since you posted the above response to the many people reporting problems with drafts that have pictures attached from Cachly that get hung up when completing the draft on the Geocaching.com web site and as a result, the picture disappears in the draft completion process.  Can you or someone from the Development Team at  Groundspeak please provide a status update to the caching community regarding when this issue will be resolved?

 

Please advise and thank you,

RPStew

[+TheTowerOfSong]

I have been having this same issue for quite some time. 

It might not help, but I have tried using updated versions of both Firefox and Edge on Windows 10, after adding photos to drafts in Cachly and having the images dropped during the logging process. 

Currently, I have been doing many virtuals and earthcaches, and would love to see this bug addressed as these usually require multiple images.  It is not the end of the world, but does add unnecessary steps to the logging process.

Thanks, and just thought the added info might help.

[+Boa]

On 7/18/2023 at 11:07 PM, worrellsquirrel said:

Hello all,

 

Thank you for reporting this issue. Our developers are aware and hope to have a fix as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience in the meantime.

Any update on this one? It's been over a month since the last 'as soon an possible'

[+pinkunicorn]

Just for the record, this happens to me as well. 

[+awo]

+1, looks I lost 20+ draft logs photos due that. Noticed that draft is published on the cache but no foto uploaded + wheel of death running forever

[+Momo ;o)]

It can't be that the problem has been known since July and still hasn't been solved. It's almost October! 3 months of trouble because the photos are not uploaded along with the log. Unbelievable!

[+MartyBartfast]

On 7/18/2023 at 10:07 PM, worrellsquirrel said:

Hello all,

 

Thank you for reporting this issue. Our developers are aware and hope to have a fix as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience in the meantime.

Any update on the status of this?
It's been a long time now and still no fix.

 

I went out last weekend and would have liked to post pictures with my logs but couldn't because of this, and am going next weekend and would like to post pictures but won't be able to  until this is fixed.

I know I can post the log and then attach the pictures manually but that's a lot of effort with many logs and maybe lots of pictures, and increases the likelyhood of attaching pictures to the wrong caches.

[worrellsquirrel]

10 hours ago, MartyBartfast said:

Any update on the status of this?
It's been a long time now and still no fix.

 

I went out last weekend and would have liked to post pictures with my logs but couldn't because of this, and am going next weekend and would like to post pictures but won't be able to  until this is fixed.

I know I can post the log and then attach the pictures manually but that's a lot of effort with many logs and maybe lots of pictures, and increases the likelyhood of attaching pictures to the wrong caches.

 

On 8/15/2023 at 1:39 PM, RPStew said:

worrellsquirrel,

 

Its been just shy of a month since you posted the above response to the many people reporting problems with drafts that have pictures attached from Cachly that get hung up when completing the draft on the Geocaching.com web site and as a result, the picture disappears in the draft completion process.  Can you or someone from the Development Team at  Groundspeak please provide a status update to the caching community regarding when this issue will be resolved?

 

Please advise and thank you,

RPStew

 

We apologize for the delay with this fix. There were several issues that cropped up with drafts in quick succession -- some of which have been trickier to figure out than others. We appreciate your patience and assure you that our engineering team is still investigating the root cause.

 

Thank you.

[+Team OPJim]

On 10/4/2023 at 12:53 PM, worrellsquirrel said:

 

 

We apologize for the delay with this fix. There were several issues that cropped up with drafts in quick succession -- some of which have been trickier to figure out than others. We appreciate your patience and assure you that our engineering team is still investigating the root cause.

 

Thank you.

I have had the same problem since July.  Originally I thought it was just part of Groundspeak's general incompatibility with Safari, but in fact it happens with Chrome and Edge as well.  

What dismays me is that three months later, there still isn't a fix.  I came to the forums, because 6 weeks after sending two messages to Groundspeak about issues, I have yet to receive a reply (unless you count the autobot generated message that they have your comments and will get back to you in a couple of days).  Hopefully there will be a fix soon, because having to upload logs, then manually go in to add the pictures is very cumbersome. 

[+steve4nlanguage]

I hadn't used the draft feature in the official app for a long while, but I just started again a few days ago during my trip to Japan. And yep, I'm having the same problem. If there's no photo then I can post the draft without a problem. If there's a photo attached, the app times out and the draft may post but without the images. This happens even if the images are small. I'm on Android.

 

I guess it's some consolation that I'm not the only one experiencing this, but it's disconcerting that it seems the issue has continued for so long.

[worrellsquirrel]

Hello all,

 

We're happy to share that this bug is now fixed. Thank you to all for your patience. Happy caching!