Maps showing ! instead of a smile

[+camper248]

If I download notes from my Garmin 66st and log them, a ! shows on the map instead of a smiley.  Is there a way to correct this?

[+kunarion]

Those are Drafts. Go here, edit each Draft one at a time however you like, be sure to select "Found It" as the log type, and submit it.

 

If you uploaded the geocaching_visits.txt file from the Garmin to the Geocaching.com web site, the logs are Drafts that show as exclamation points (!), not automatic Smilie icons.  But there are other ways to do online logs.  If you submitted the logs some other way, you may need to be more specific about the steps that caused the exclamation point icons.  And give an example of a cache that is showing one.

 

If you mean that you logged a find, and next uploaded a Note Draft which is overriding the Smilie icon (even after deleting the Note), I caused that to happen while testing this issue.  I made a persistent (!) map icon instead of the previous Smilie icon.  But I didn't do it the way you described, so I'm not sure it's the same thing.

 

Edited March 10, 2024 by kunarion

[+Vovten]

Regarding the possibly-slightly-different-issue mentioned by kunarion above found while testing the inquiry from camper248:

 

I have had the "phantom deleted draft" issue a few times, which causes a persistent exclamation mark ("!") draft-exists icon to appear on my map for a cache, even if my Drafts list is empty on the Geocaching website.  That usually happens to me if I have an existing log on the cache and then create a draft, save the draft, but then delete the draft before making it into a real log.  This has happened to me both when my existing previous log for the cache is a DNF or a Found It.

 

To fix it, I use the Geocaching website to edit my most recent log for the affected cache, and just save the unchanged log.  (Sometimes for good measure I put a space somewhere at the end and erase the space, before hitting Save, in case the editor avoids saving in case it thinks that there were no changes made.)  That gets rid of the phantom exclamation-mark-draft for me, and I see the correct icon again (blue-dnf-sad-face, yellow-found-it-smiley, etc).

 

[+Visyl]

Hello,

 

I have the same kind of problem but the ! Icon appear on my caches list not on the map :

 

 

I log all my caches the same way (draft when on the field, export to geocaching back home and log from the Pending Draft List).

But I have more and more caches randomly showing the ! Icon for no reason.

 

The solution of editing the caches one by one is not acceptable I have to many of them and the point of the drafts is not to have to log the caches twice.

 

Of course I have no pending draft either in the App or the website.

 

Does anyone else have this problem and know what to do about it ?

 

Thanks.

 

 

[+RCH65]

On 4/5/2024 at 2:07 PM, Visyl said:

Of course I have no pending draft either in the App or the website.

 

Does anyone else have this problem and know what to do about it ?

 

Check this thread: 

 

• You upload your drafts from the GPSr (geocaching_visits.txt)
• You create the found logs based on your drafts -> the caches DO have smileys
• ...a few days later...
• You upload your drafts from the GPSr (geocaching_visits.txt)
• You realize that there are lots of duplicate entries you have already logged... and you DELETE those drafts
• All the caches of your deleted (duplicate) drafts will turn into an exclamation mark

They are (finally) working on this...

[+Baardaasvoel]

Mine is a little different, the exclamation point is on a cache I own, instead of the owner's star icon.
I tried following online advise, deleting the disable and activate logs, but no results.

Searching for drafts, shows this. Going inside shows this. Following instructions shows this.

There appears to be no way of locating or eliminating whatever the draft is. Indeed, if I am to go by the visual in the first image, it implies that the cache itself is a draft, and that clicking the trashcan will delete the cache.

What can be done?

Edited May 12 by Baardaasvoel
tb codes accidentally exposed

[Moun10Bike]

@Baardaasvoel, your last screenshot (taken from https://www.geocaching.com/account/drafts) is the screen where you delete the unwanted draft. Just click on the trash can icon to remove it.

[+brekkcaching123]

On 5/12/2025 at 10:54 AM, Baardaasvoel said:

Mine is a little different, the exclamation point is on a cache I own, instead of the owner's star icon.
I tried following online advise, deleting the disable and activate logs, but no results.

Searching for drafts, shows this. Going inside shows this. Following instructions shows this.

There appears to be no way of locating or eliminating whatever the draft is. Indeed, if I am to go by the visual in the first image, it implies that the cache itself is a draft, and that clicking the trashcan will delete the cache.

What can be done?

 

You have the codes to the TBs in your inventory posted here...

Edited May 13 by brekkcaching123

[+Baardaasvoel]

@Moun10BikeThank you, that corrected it.
From the way the delete was presented, it looked like it could delete the actual cache. Especially since I could not see whatever the draft was, and could not eliminate the possibility that something about the cache page itself, might have constituted a draft.

Someone as an admin on a Discord I'm on had a similar issue, where they went to delete a thread, and it irretrievably wiped the entire post history.

I did not want a repeat of that outcome, hence the inquiry.

[+Baardaasvoel]

@brekkcaching123Thank you for the heads-up, I deleted it.
However, the copies still show in your reply.
Can those be edited out?

[+Baardaasvoel]

Also, how is it that my user icon shows in the forum as in a huge black box? It doesn't show like that elsewhere on Geocaching.com.

[+Max and 99]

16 minutes ago, Baardaasvoel said:

Also, how is it that my user icon shows in the forum as in a huge black box? It doesn't show like that elsewhere on Geocaching.com.

It looks exactly the same on your profile when I look. 

[+niraD]

1 hour ago, Max and 99 said:

1 hour ago, Baardaasvoel said:

Also, how is it that my user icon shows in the forum as in a huge black box? It doesn't show like that elsewhere on Geocaching.com.

It looks exactly the same on your profile when I look. 

I did a little experimenting, and it looks like your profile image is a 50x50 image. On the forums, profile images are displayed as 150x150, so a 50px black border is added to your 50x50 image. On profile pages, profile images are displayed as 250x250, so a 100px black border is added to your 50x50 image.

[+kunarion]

10 hours ago, Baardaasvoel said:

Also, how is it that my user icon shows in the forum as in a huge black box? It doesn't show like that elsewhere on Geocaching.com.

 

Here's a vulture profile picture at 250x250 pixels, the current suitable size.  You can try it and see if it looks OK to you across various Geocaching Apps and sites.  Beware that it can take some time for an image to propagate through the system.  If you have a different larger image to use instead, I can try to make an icon from it.

 

 

Edited May 13 by kunarion

[+brekkcaching123]

@BaardaasvoelJust edited the log.