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Help With Online Cache


TeamK-9

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I came up with an idea for a cache recently and I figured it wouldn't work so I changed it around again, but I need some more help.

 

Does anyone know of any sites where I could for free set up a quiz where say if the person got maybe 90% or higher, they'd be led to a special page.

 

I'm hoping to set up a multi where people who find the first stage will be directed to a web site, they then go home and check out the website, on the site, there will be a quiz, random trivia, they answer the questions and if they get 80% or higher, they are sent to a page where they're given the coordinates to the next stage.

 

The same happens with the next stage except the quiz will be about local history and passing grade will be 90% and it will lead you to the final stage.

 

Basically, first question is does anyone know how I could set up the quizes?

 

And also, does anyone have any good ideas on how I could possibly use the same basic idea without making it so hard on geocachers who are travelling. I mean this cache won't be in the booneys or anything, it will be in a local park in the suburbs, but I'm afraid I may be limiting my finders from Pittsburgh (where the majority of cachers in the area reside) by having them have to drive back and forth just to get the next stage.

 

Is the idea just outlandishly evil, making people travel so much?

 

I mean the people will just be going back and forth from their internet access point to the park where the cache is, but I'm afraid that might be a little too taxing...

Edited by TeamK-9
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I could write a web page that does it. Do you have a website already? If you do, what does the host provide - ASP or PHP?

 

If you don't, and it's not high volume which I doubt it is, I could host the page on my site for you.

 

Of course, it's only if you want to do the cache that way. I don't know how much I'd like having to go to a cache, then go back home, and then go out again, but what do I know.

 

David

Edited by Team DEMP
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I was definately planning on making it around a 3-5 star difficulty because of the computer work, and I was planning on putting the info in the cache page about how you may need to do quite a bit of extra work or driving.

 

But does anyone have any ideas on how to get around the online thing at least making it a little easier for cachers who came along way?

 

I mean the questions are gunna be hard enough without the extra driving..

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Be prepared to own a cache that doesn't get many hits, especially from out-of-town visitors. When I travel to Columbus, or Erie, or Harrisburg to go caching, the first batch of caches that get cut out of my list are puzzles and anything requiring more than one trip, since I don't know when I'll be back there again. Puzzles, etc. are mainly for locals.

 

Even though I live in Pittsburgh, traveling from the west suburbs to Greensburg is an hour each way and the better part of a tank of gas for the SUV. I only get over to your area three times per year or so for geocaching. On a trip in May I might get the website info. and take the test, but I may not be back in the area again until September. I might skip your cache because of this... no offense intended... but there are lots of others in the area that I haven't found yet, and can be found in one visit.

 

But sure, put it out there. Some folks will certainly enjoy it if the cache is well-done. I have plenty of caches that are rarely visited - one due to a perception that math skills are required, four due to challenging terrain, one because it's 7 miles long, etc.. I am happy to hide these caches for the subset of people who do enjoy them, and you should do the same.

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Be prepared to own a cache that doesn't get many hits, especially from out-of-town visitors. When I travel to Columbus, or Erie, or Harrisburg to go caching, the first batch of caches that get cut out of my list are puzzles and anything requiring more than one trip, since I don't know when I'll be back there again. Puzzles, etc. are mainly for locals.

 

Even though I live in Pittsburgh, traveling from the west suburbs to Greensburg is an hour each way and the better part of a tank of gas for the SUV. I only get over to your area three times per year or so for geocaching. On a trip in May I might get the website info. and take the test, but I may not be back in the area again until September. I might skip your cache because of this... no offense intended... but there are lots of others in the area that I haven't found yet, and can be found in one visit.

 

But sure, put it out there. Some folks will certainly enjoy it if the cache is well-done. I have plenty of caches that are rarely visited - one due to a perception that math skills are required, four due to challenging terrain, one because it's 7 miles long, etc.. I am happy to hide these caches for the subset of people who do enjoy them, and you should do the same.

You know, that was actually sort of kind of inspiring. It tells me that this idea isn't necessairily a total pain in the butt to me and everyone else....

 

Does anyone have an idea how to set up the quiz though?

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Sounds to me like you are going to have to build a custom web page. I don't think there's going to be a free site out there that meets your needs.

 

I would suggest setting up your two quizes with a password to start. That way all you need to get out of the cache is the password. Remembering an entire website address from the cache may be a little too much to recall on a cache trip.

 

Your website then presents the appropriate quiz and, if they pass, they get the next or final coordinates. I'd assume that you can retake the quiz as often as you'd like?

 

Are you planning on drawing from a pool of questions? If so, you'd need some sort of database to hold all the questions and answers. How many questions were you thinking?

 

"How" to set up the quiz would be a matter of selecting the questions at random and displaying them on the page. The submission of the quiz would check the answers and grade it. If it meets the requirement, display the answer. Some moderate web programming appears to be necessary. Choose your beasts: ASP/PHP, SQL/MySQL/Access.

 

I don't think I would be deterred in having to make multiple trips. That would probably eliminate anyone travelling since they wouldn't be able to visit a computer to get to the next stage.

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This needs some more work, but here is one idea.

 

For the quiz you could do multiple choice, and have each answer assigned to a number. These numbers would be fairly close to each other, and when the correct answers were summed up it could yield the coordinate. So the more correct answers you get the closer to the cache spot you will be. Or you could make it so only one set of numbers sums up to something reasonable.

 

ex:

 

for N42 12.345 you could use:

 

Add the sum of the results to N42 12.000 to find the cache location

 

Q1: A)0.113 B]0.114 C)0.115 D)0.116

Q2: A)0.072 B]0.073 C)0.074 D)0.075

Q3: A)0.156 B]0.157 C)0.158 D)0.159

 

Where the bold answers are correct.

 

Every wrong answer puts you off course about 10 feet.

 

You could make wrong answers penalize you more, or even make it so only one set of numbers sums to anything remotely near the final location. With the numbers in this example, the correct combination of wrong answers would still give you the right location, but you could avoid that by selecting better numbers. Base four (for four answer choices) would give you the most non-overlapping possible values.

Q1:0,1,2,3 Q2: 3,7,11,15 Q3:63,127,191,255

 

However, the question weights are very disproportional.

 

It’s probably best to choose something between these two.

Edited by geckoee
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Basically the idea would be to have a ten or twenty question test the first one just about random trivia that can easily be found online. It would be multiple choice, you simply put in your answer, I would need a script to correct the thing and to send them to the page with the coordinates if they get above a certain percentage...

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I guess I forgot to write why I suggested what I did.

 

The point of adding the numbers to get the coordinates is so that you don't need a web page. Any one can do it in the field, and it preserves the use of some sort of quiz. This makes it a little more friendly to the cacher on vacation.

Edited by geckoee
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Since you are doing a multiple choice test, it would be very easy to set up a password to access a web page consisting of the string of answers corresponding to the choice of the letter assigned to the correct answer for each question. So the password may look like ADBCECAAD...

 

The only catch with this solution is that it would require 100% accuracy for each question.

 

Edit: As an afterthought, even if cachers were unsure of one or two questions, adjusting the answers a few times on a question they were unsure of, to unlock the password would still make it fairly easy to come up with the correct password.

Edited by Navdog
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My personal opinion:

If I had a local cache like this, I would do it. The quiz would be something that interested me. I would hope that all answers could be found w/o too much trouble (google, my best friend). One thing that I would reccomend. It would annoy me if I went to part A, went home, took the quiz, got coods to part B, and part B was in the same park only .2 mi away. Personally I would prefer the final to be in a different park, or somehow tied in with some of the questions.

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