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Suggesting New Attributes


Jeremy

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This may get too big to discuss all the different attribute requests, but its a start.

 

If you have a new attribute request, post it here.

 

I'll kick it off with the available for adoption attribute request by Kai Team. Where adoptions are concerned, Groundspeak should create some additional features to make it easier for geocachers to bequeath their cache listings to others. I'm planning to add a feature where one user can offer an adoption invitation to another user. Once the other user clicks on a link and accepts the adoption, the cache is transferred to the other user.

 

As such, I don't think that it needs a "needs adoption" attribute, since the owner could just post a message asking for someone to adopt it. However, I have considered some flag options that users can't actually select but can be applied to a cache listing, like "needs attention" when someone posts a "should be archived" log entry. But I don't want to create an open adoption request for anyone to claim a listing.

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I'll kick it off with the available for adoption attribute request by Kai Team. Where adoptions are concerned, Groundspeak should create some additional features to make it easier for geocachers to bequeath their cache listings to others. I'm planning to add a feature where one user can offer an adoption invitation to another user. Once the other user clicks on a link and accepts the adoption, the cache is transferred to the other user.

Actually, I think Kai Team was reffering to my post in another thread, but I'm just picking nits (I'd post a link to where I said that, but I can't quite figure out how to get a link to the exact message). Anyways, my reason for wanting it as an attribute, was mostly so that it could be searchable (eventually). One might peruse one's own area for caches that were up for adoption, or maybe avoid caches that had been put up for adoption for a long time.

Anyways, the idea of a cache trasfer isn't bad, but might I suggest the ability to make it

a) an open adoption (i.e. I've had enough of this game, I'm leaving everything, someone else can take them)

;) make it searchable? I know there are a number of cachers around who have left the game, and a good number of their caches are no longer maintained. It might help if we could run a search for caches that were up for adoption, and offer to maintain them. Then if it was determined conclusively that a given cacher was out of the game (maybe through direct e-mail contact from a reviewer with a user), their caches could be put up en-masse for adoption so that anyone willing to maintain them could adopt them (maybe limit it to people who have actually found the cache in question).

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Hmmm... I seem to recall making a reference to a "available for adoption".

Actually, I think Kai Team was reffering to my post in another thread, but I'm just picking nits (I'd post a link to where I said that, but I can't quite figure out how to get a link to the exact message).

Yes, I was referring to Ibycus post earilier today on the old thread. (To link to an exact post, go to that post, click on the "Posted" link at the top of the post, and manually copy and paste into your current post using the "http://" function!)

 

I like the ability to transfer caches between users - posting a note that your cache is up for adoption should bring enough attention in most cases, assuming the cache is worth adopting! ;)

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This one attribute has been suggested a few times. Since it was more than just me, I will go ahead and make my plug again.

 

Attribute suggestion:

"Highway Cache"

Explanation: This cache is easily accessible for a person who is passing through the area on a major thoroughfare. This cache should not delay a cacher's journey by more than 30 minutes.

Please allow for speed limits, traffic lights, ease of locating parking, difficulty of find, and other potential delays. Also remember that these cacher's are not familiar with the area. What is easy for you to find may not be so easy for an out-of-town person.

Edited by Moose Mob
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Up for adoption is a good idea - what if it was a flag rather than a link to the actual adoption process.

 

Upon seeing a cache is up for adoption, they can contact the current owner through other channels.

 

Not many people read the forums to see an adoption notice.

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I will add that if there was an attribute to suggest, I would suggest a "needs TLC" and has a band-aid (or something) as the icon. When someone provides a "Should be Archived" log entry it would turn that flag on. The cache owner can remove it at will.

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I will add that if there was an attribute to suggest, I would suggest a "needs TLC" and has a band-aid (or something) as the icon. When someone provides a "Should be Archived" log entry it would turn that flag on. The cache owner can remove it at will.

Sweeeet!

 

Where did the feature request for a "Needs Maintenance" log type end up at? And would that trigger the "Needs TLC" attribute as well?

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There are attributes which I think would be very conducive to search, and I looked at the last thread but didn't see them (i.e. they all fit well into scenarios when you'd ask the question: "What are all the caches with XXXXX near where I've going?"):

 

1. A TB Hotel/Exchange etc.

 

People may want to see all TB exchanges nearby to move a TB on. This is exactly the kind of thing which people may want to search on quite frequently (and across a variety of cacher preferences - I am not a big TB mover, but I see a lot of people who are always picking up TBs and dropping them off).

 

2. Historical Significance

 

Some people are interested if the cache takes you someplace of significance other than the hike and the view.

 

3. Local favorite

 

I might be biased, but the cachers in the New Orleans area know the local favorites which we like to point out to visitors, and we have our own state-wide voting system - the Louisiana Lagniappe (http://www.lageocaching.com). We get a lot of out-of-town visitors, we love to be good hosts and there are a number of caches which are especially attractive for tourists. As LALagniappe has shown, only the more conscientious hiders use the system, and only for the better caches, so the system works well (for us).

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Well, not being terribly familiar with the attributes, I created (but did not submit) a fake cache. In attempting to edit the cache attributes, I got this:

 

Editing attributes for Gung Hay Fat Choy!! 

 

;):PB)

 

B)

 

And if I cahnges it from traditional to multi I get this:

 

Editing attributes for CoD's XBox Haven 

 

Note that it doesn't allow me to do anything - I don't have permissions. I spose I could do that for each cache type, but I think it'd be too far off-topic, and I'm not making a real cache for submission. Will check the threads to see which attributes are in use.

Edited by New England n00b
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I second the "Near Interstate" suggestion--eminently logical. (Just to jog memories...)

 

Thanks,

 

Randy

 

PS: Forgot to mention this one's already covered by the "Parking" attribute...

 

Drive-Up - so it could easily be avoided if one desires.
Edited by RJFerret
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Oops. We actually have a similar icon I failed to add to the list.

 

stealth-yes.gif

 

It should be available shortly.

How about stealth not required, to be used in areas where all the natives are cache friendly. I've got a cache within a stone's throw of my front door. Pretty much all the neighbours know about the cache, but it can be disconcerting if you're looking for it, and don't know that. I've made notes about it on the page, but no one seems to read that...

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I would recommend ones for bears, wolves and (big) cats, perhaps just one covering all? Large predators?

 

Wouldn't that fall under the existing "Danger" with detail in the description?

 

(Although I suppose big game poachers wouldn't mind searching on "predators"...)

 

Hehe,

 

Randy

 

(Sorry, couldn't resist!)

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PS: Forgot to mention this one's already covered by the "Parking" attribute...

 

Drive-Up - so it could easily be avoided if one desires.

I don't see how 'Parking Nearby' relates. I talking about 'Drive Up' caches where you pull in and head out to a cache a whopping couple hundred feet or less. Usually urban settings.

 

Parking Nearby is pretty vague - if it's legal it's nearby for us(.25mi, .5mi, whatever) - distance not a problem.

 

'Drive-up' can be just as vague - everyones definition will vary. I'm talking about the one's that end up being more of an exercise in driving than of getting a little exercise caching. The one's where you'd be out of the car less than a couple minutes - oh boy!

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I would recommend ones for bears, wolves and (big) cats, perhaps just one covering all? Large predators?

 

Wouldn't that fall under the existing "Danger" with detail in the description?

 

(Although I suppose big game poachers wouldn't mind searching on "predators"...)

 

Hehe,

 

Randy

 

(Sorry, couldn't resist!)

Yes, they could be included in the danger attribute, but then so could snakes. :o Coming from the Southside of Chicago tho, dangerous area listed as an attribute could mean something else entirely... :rolleyes:

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PS: Forgot to mention this one's already covered by the "Parking" attribute...

 

Drive-Up - so it could easily be avoided if one desires.

I don't see how 'Parking Nearby' relates. I talking about 'Drive Up' caches where you pull in and head out to a cache a whopping couple hundred feet or less. Usually urban settings.

 

Parking Nearby is pretty vague - if it's legal it's nearby for us(.25mi, .5mi, whatever) - distance not a problem.

 

'Drive-up' can be just as vague - everyones definition will vary. I'm talking about the one's that end up being more of an exercise in driving than of getting a little exercise caching. The one's where you'd be out of the car less than a couple minutes - oh boy!

Parking nearby, I like Hemlock's description of .1 miles (528 feet), because it is consistant with other standards. I would also add "legal parking" and "standard passenger vehicle" to that discription.

 

I would think of Drive ups caches where you don't need to leave the vehicle.

 

Although I wouldn't give it this pictured cache the "drive up" attribute, it can be performed that way. (You need a 4x4 to get into the drainage ditch)

PICT0067.JPG

 

If you use your imagination, a person can make any cache fun and interesting. It's not always about the container and the contents.

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One of my favorite icons on the selector was the pw.gif muggles icon.  :rolleyes:

Oops. We actually have a similar icon I failed to add to the list.

 

stealth-yes.gif

 

It should be available shortly.

I love that one! Jeremy's is OK though.

 

How about one for a site of historic interest? It's would be nice to be able to weed out run of the mill micros from ones in historically interesting spots.

 

I suggested this for the selector and also suggested an icon based on this:

 

d9b91819-ab6d-4d07-acf7-1425b0ea4f9b.jpg

 

But they felt it was too "Yankee-centric". I guess our overseas friends would feel it was too US-centric as well.

 

I also agree with Katydid and MS that a 'stay on the trails' icon is a good idea. Also one for 'park n grabs' and/or walks of less than .1 mile.

Edited by briansnat
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PS: Forgot to mention this one's already covered by the "Parking" attribute...

 

Drive-Up - so it could easily be avoided if one desires.

I don't see how 'Parking Nearby' relates. I talking about 'Drive Up' caches where you pull in and head out to a cache a whopping couple hundred feet or less. Usually urban settings.

 

Parking Nearby is pretty vague - if it's legal it's nearby for us(.25mi, .5mi, whatever) - distance not a problem.

 

'Drive-up' can be just as vague - everyones definition will vary. I'm talking about the one's that end up being more of an exercise in driving than of getting a little exercise caching. The one's where you'd be out of the car less than a couple minutes - oh boy!

Parking nearby, I like Hemlock's description of .1 miles (528 feet), because it is consistant with other standards. I would also add "legal parking" and "standard passenger vehicle" to that discription.

I like Hemlock's definition of 528 feet as well, but this discussion makes me wonder within 528 feet of what?

 

To me, "parking nearby" means there is a legal parking spot for a standard sedan near (within 528 feet of) the start of the trail, hike or walk to the cache. It does not mean that there is parking within 528' of the cache itself (which would be a "park and grab").

 

Using my definition, I wonder if "parking nearby" should be an attribute with only "no" or "n/a" choices - i.e. we assume legal parking is reasonably near by unless the "no parking" icon is displayed?

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How about stealth not required, to be used in areas where all the natives are cache friendly. I've got a cache within a stone's throw of my front door. Pretty much all the neighbours know about the cache, but it can be disconcerting if you're looking for it, and don't know that. I've made notes about it on the page, but no one seems to read that...

I like this idea. We have one that is nearby houses but everyone knows it is there. We have been to many in front of offices and businesses and knowing that they were just laughing at us and not calling the officals would have been a relief.

Edited by Riddlers
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I guess our overseas friends would feel it was too US-centric as well.

You're pretty right about that one :rolleyes:

 

Anyway - more suggestions:

 

Special Equipment

compass:

compass.gif

 

binocular:

??? (this one might make some troubles with scenic view)

 

Conditions

cave:

spelunk.gif

 

Facilities

historic place:

old.gif

 

bring your own pen:

pencil.gif

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I have added some of the attributes to my cache pages and can see that a few that might be good would be to list if there is a play ground nearby. I like the idea of restrooms, cause sometimes on long days that is important to know where to find one. I see that there is a less than one hour but can that be broken down into smaller times, like 15 minutes or less to cache? Or is that covered by the difficulty part?

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Whoa folks, remember, the real usefulness of attributes comes later, when you can search for caches based on them!

 

Too many specifics will make it harder to search for stuff.

 

For example, there's parking within 528' of ALL my caches. I only selected it for the two or three that were in eyeshot.

 

(Envisioning, were it raining and I was "car caching"--I'd search the site for caches w/the Parking attribute.)

 

There's no point in selecting it for ALL my caches, or searching for that attribute would bring up all of them! (Just like "Under an Hour", which I only selected for the 5-minute cache. In my 300+ finds only a dozen have taken more than 20 minutes.)

 

I feel a the Danger icon covers wolves/bear/lions/muggers/oh my! as well as tide issues as the description would provide the specifics.

 

Similarly, isn't "refreshments nearby" covered by the "water fountain" attribute?

 

The attributes aren't supposed to be (nor can they be) a substitute for the description after all!

 

I do however second the vote for "Historic/Educational"--I just read a forum request in Boston from vacationers asking for such.

 

Enjoy,

 

Randy

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I want to throw out "non-trading cache" again.

 

Yes, I know some people think "micro" means "non-trading" but this just isn't so. We have plenty of trading micros around here. Not to mention hybrids that are non-trading. I would even venture some folks might enjoy a small cache with no trinkets but a full sized logbook. I know I would.

 

This would help folks weed out caches that they would otherwise be disappointed when they get there to discover the cache has no trinkets.

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I want to throw out "non-trading cache" again.

 

Yes, I know some people think "micro" means "non-trading" but this just isn't so. We have plenty of trading micros around here. Not to mention hybrids that are non-trading. I would even venture some folks might enjoy a small cache with no trinkets but a full sized logbook. I know I would.

 

This would help folks weed out caches that they would otherwise be disappointed when they get there to discover the cache has no trinkets.

Hmm... if you an fit a trade item in the cache, wouldn't the size be considered "small"?

 

Micro does imply no trade and bring your own writing utensil.

 

"Non-trade" could serve some special purpose, but I worry about "attribute clutter"

 

"Themed Cache" might be helpful to know, it would trigger the research so that you could be prepared on arrival. Way too often I don't have a hotwheel car, barbie shoes, or petrified dinasour droppings in my SWAG bag.

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Micro does imply no trade...

No, it doesn't. IIRC, the first several micros we found were all trading caches. I was kind of surprised by the first log only micro we found.

 

Just because your corner of the country has seen fit to not put trades in the containers doesn't mean everyone else doesn't.

 

This is a symptom of the "trash" caches some of us keep talking about. The overall quality of caches have dropped because of the "quick-and-dirty" log only micros that some folks think, not just that log-only micros are the norm, but "micro" means non-trading.

 

It's sad in the extreme.

 

It even sadder when as a community you try to keep your area's cache quality up and someone comes in and dumps all over it.

 

What is worse is that fact it seems as though no one cares.

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Thanks for adding the attributes. They will be a nice improvement to the cache pages. I just started entering them for my caches and one thing has already struck me as a minor problem.

 

Under Permissions, there are attributes for Motorcycles and Off-road vehicles. I assume that this means non street legal motorcycles and off-road vehicles. I have several caches that require off-roading, but you must do it in a street legal 4x4. How about adding an attribute to the Conditions section that says 4x4 Required.

 

RM

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Micro does imply no trade...

No, it doesn't. IIRC, the first several micros we found were all trading caches. I was kind of surprised by the first log only micro we found.

 

Just because your corner of the country has seen fit to not put trades in the containers doesn't mean everyone else doesn't.

 

This is a symptom of the "trash" caches some of us keep talking about. The overall quality of caches have dropped because of the "quick-and-dirty" log only micros that some folks think, not just that log-only micros are the norm, but "micro" means non-trading.

 

It's sad in the extreme.

 

It even sadder when as a community you try to keep your area's cache quality up and someone comes in and dumps all over it.

 

What is worse is that fact it seems as though no one cares.

My apologies C&R, in hindsight (after a bit of dinner and relaxation after a hard day at the office) I realized that my text could easily be taken the wrong way.

 

I also have found caches that were labeled Micro and contained trade items. The most predominant one would be the standard sized Altoids tins.

 

Since then, a new size has been introduced. Perhaps your interpretation is different, but to me the definition of "small = may contain some small trade items" would include this container. There could be an arguement made because the description for Micro includes a 35 MM film canister. Although I could squeeze an item into these containers, I feel it would be trading for the sake of trading. I guess that's my perspective. I won't argue that a different perspective is wrong either.

 

To me, the quality is with the experience. The cache size doesn't matter. If a person places a log only cache in a great location, a skilled hide with great cammo, then that can also be quality. Here in Las Vegas, it's difficult to put an ammo can on the strip. Not sure I want to. There are sure some creative log only though!

 

Sorry if I offended.

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How about adding an attribute to the Conditions section that says 4x4 Required.

I'll go over the thread and pull out all the recommendations tomorrow. However I'll hit this one quickly and say that 4x4 is never really required, since you can hike wherever a 4x4 can go. By selecting the off-road vehicle attribute you're indicating that a 4x4 may be able to make the trip, which is good enough (and will attract folks who enjoy using their off-road vehicles).

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Here in the desert southwest, and I have seen it in Colorado and Montana as well, some agencies have actual posted requirements for 4x4. Although a skilled driver may be able to travesre these roads in a high clearance vehicle, the postings are for 4x4.

 

The arguement could be made that the cache doesn't require a 4x4 because you can hike in, and also that a 4x4 is allowed at a city park, as long as you keep it on the asphalt. Both responses would seem outside the intentions of these attributes.

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I join those who have suggested a: (1) historic icon; (2) something that would indicate the cache is near a trail or that an established/blazed trail can be taken most of the way; and (3) bush whacking required. I would suggest an icon for may require crossing of water - - something to indicate that while you may not have to wade across the water, there also is no bridge nearby. Perhaps you can call it "may get feet wet."

 

On the flip side of the lions and tigers and bears icon suggested (sounds good to me, just not needed in the Washington, DC area) how about an icon to indcate that "wild life" may be in the area - - deer, beavers, ducks. When you live near a city like I do, it is a real treat to find a cache located in a remote part of park where you can see a deer. I have been near caches where beavers have been, but I still have not seen any.

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The parking attribute is nice, however having the ability to enter coords would make it all the better. I understand that it can always be added to the body of the cache description to avoid cluttering the page, but its nice to have it all in one place. In all I like the new service and thank you for implementing it into the cache pages.

 

Kar of TS!

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Sorry if I offended.

Not at all.

 

I got the impression that "small" was to fill the gap between micro and regular because that was a large difference. If the consensus was to push "micro" even smaller, then that's news to me.

 

I got the distinct impression that "small" was reached when you are able to put a logbook in it instead of a log scroll. I believe the logbook is the key element in determining size here.

 

That leaves a lot of containers that you are able to put micro trinkets in.

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I wouldn't mind seeing an icon for "stroller friendly". I'm thinking more on the lines of off road stroller (or one of those jogging strollers) as opposed to something like a rail trail or bike path. If the terrain is not very steep and would allow a "big wheeled" stroller to traverse it, why not icon it? I would do a search for that type of cache when the family's going caching together. Just a tought. Thanks.

 

Rich

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