"get Connected"

[+Muggle Finder]

There are a fair number of caches that cannot be found unless the cacher has access to the internet when viewing information about the cache. I'm thinking of puzzles that have a link to a web site and caches which can only be found by looking at a picture that does not show up unless you are on-line. I find caches like these a little frustrating when I am doing paperless caching via a Pocket Query file that I have downloaded to my PDA.

 

If a cache has to be viewed on-line in order to get the info needed to find the cache, it would be nice to have a heads-up about that. I'd like it if there was a way for people who are creating caches to indicate the on-line nature of the cache, and for Pocket Queries users to have the option of excluding those caches.

[+Markwell]

I would think that any cache like that would be an "unknown/surprise" cache. If you're really frustrated by those, filter them out from the queries. If there's one that's NOT listed as unknown/surprise that contains other required information, you might suggest to the cacher to change the type.

 

The only problem I could see would be multi-stage caches that use online information. Since we can only designate one type of cache, the owner would have to choose multi- or unknown/surprise, and they might choose multi-

[+Jared_and_Tanis]

I can't think of any way this could easily be solved - choosing the "online" nature of the cache would vary by the opinion of the user. Personally, I stick to the old stand-by - read the cache page before I head out (and when I don't, I usually pay for it )

 

~Jared

[+ibycus]

You might suggest to the cacher to change the type.

I was under the impression that this was no longer allowed (changing a cache type that is...)

[+Marky]

You might suggest to the cacher to change the type.

I was under the impression that this was no longer allowed (changing a cache type that is...)

The cahce owner can ask their approver to change it, if it is an appropriate change.

 

You might want to check out the cache attributes thread pinned above, since this seems more like a cache attribute.

 

--Marky

[Keystone]

*Correcting* a cache type that was previously miscategorized is not just "allowed," it's encouraged.

 

In the old days when most geocachers printed off the cache pages, it really didn't matter very much whether the type was accurate or not. Nowadays it is *very* important to paperless cachers and others who use pocket queries to filter and sort their caches. Cache reviewers pay much more attention to this issue now than was previously the case, for this very reason.

 

If you need a cache type changed on one of your caches, contact the current volunteer cache reviewer for the relevant area, or if you are not sure who that is, contact the reviewer whose name is shown at the bottom of your cache page. You can also send an e-mail to the general contact address.

 

Markwell is correct; caches relying on puzzles, etc., stored on another website generally ought to have the "?" designation for the cache type.

[+Muggle Finder]

I can see that in some cases it might be a question of better educating cache hiders to list the cache as an unknown type. The cache that got me thinking about this was a regular cache. The coordinates were 500 feet off, but there was a "hint" in the form of a photo. That didn't help me too much once I was on site, since my PDA didn't have the photo. (I found the cache anyway, but it made it quite hard!).

 

I have also been been multi's only to find that a photo-clue was involved.

 

I don't think that excluding "unknown" type caches from my Pocket Query is the solution, though. Most of the "unknown" types do not require an internet connection to view. It's fun to have them on my PDA because I like to tinker with the puzzles during boring portions of meetings. Meetings aside, most of the "unknown" types can be solved while out in the field geocaching, so it's good to have them on the PDA...if they contain all the information needed to get to the cache.

 

With more and more of us going paperless, it would be nice if there was a way for Pocket Queries to exclude the caches that are useless for paperless caching since they cannot be completely viewed off-line. Alternately being able to tag the ones with on-line requirements would give me a heads-up on those caches before I left home, so I could look them up and print them before leaving the old desktop.

 

(P.S. Feel free to move this thread elsewhere, but it seems to me that it crosses over several threads, so I'm not sure where it really belongs).

Edited December 21, 2004 by CARDA186

[Jeremy]

The cache that got me thinking about this was a regular cache. The coordinates were 500 feet off, but there was a "hint" in the form of a photo.

The cache is misrepresented as a traditional. Point it out and we'll change the type. Traditional Caches are defined as always being at the coordinates listed.

 

I don't think that excluding "unknown" type caches from my Pocket Query is the solution, though.  Most of the "unknown" types do not require an internet connection to view.

 

You do make a good observation. This sounds like an attribute addition like "requires internet connection" or a more generic "requires research" to cover other bases.

 

With more and more of us going paperless, it would be nice if there was a way for Pocket Queries to exclude the caches that are useless for paperless caching since they cannot be completely viewed off-line.

 

I agree partly, but having the page description does help to determine if the cache listing is findable. I usually read the description before going after a cache anyway. A smart application reading the PQ could mark it so it doesn't show up in your queries.

 

Alternately being able to tag the ones with on-line requirements would give me a heads-up on those caches before I left home, so I could look them up and print them before leaving the old desktop.

 

Attributes do seem to be the ticket here.