+ChileHead Posted February 28, 2005 Posted February 28, 2005 There are times when I want a cache to go live at a certain time or certain date. When I have that desire, I always try to submit the cache well in advance to give the approver time to assess. My approver has always been great at fulfilling my requests, but I always feel guilty about asking for a special request. It would be nice to either: - be able to specify a time/day/date that the cache should be listed, and have the sytem automatically list it at the requested time after it has been approved for listing [ within reason ... you wouldn't want a cache submitted with a request time of 1 year from now! ] - be able to submit the cache in a state so that the approver can see it and approve it, but it doesn't get listed until the cache owner enables it to be listed. Again, there would have to be some sort of expiration time on a preapproval so it doesn't sit in that state too long. No big deal. Just a nice to have.
+erik88l-r Posted February 28, 2005 Posted February 28, 2005 If you use the "note to reviewer" field to specify when a cache should be approved we'll do our upmost to accomodate you. We may even temporarily change the cache name to make it stand out in the approval queue. For example if your cache is called "My Cache", you may see it's name changed to "Approve 3/12 - My Cache". When it is approved the prefix will be removed. If your regular cache reviewer is on vacation or unable to approve the cache he'll ask another one to fill in for him and get your cache posted. Just don't do this too far in advance, or it clogs up the approval queue, and please don't ask us to approve them at 3:00 am in the morning. If you wonder about the validity of your cache concept or location just e-mail the info to your cache reviewer before placing the cache. We'll be happy to discuss your idea and make suggestions for alternatives if there's a problem. erik - geocaching.com admin
Keystone Posted February 28, 2005 Posted February 28, 2005 Volunteer cache reviewers are generally happy to work with you on timed cache releases. We especially help out in listing caches intended to be found by people attending an event cache, for example. Just leave a "note to reviewer" explaining your circumstances, and when you'd like the cache listed. If your reviewer cannot be there to press the button at the desired time -- like if they're attending the event -- they can arrange for someone else to release the cache. I don't know that the problem comes up often enough that a site feature needs to be programmed to handle this.
+Prime Suspect Posted February 28, 2005 Posted February 28, 2005 The "timed caches" can cause problems, so I imagine having to ask a reviewer keeps them to a minimum. The problem occurs when a cache is okayed, but not officially approved. At that point, that cache "owns" the 1/10th mile area around it, but since it's not actually approved yet, no other cachers know that, and there's nothing to prevent them from trying to place caches in the same area. They have to be told they're SOL, even though they checked for nearby caches beforehand. This type of situation can happen, even without timed caches, but the time frame is short, so it's pretty rare. Having caches sitting around for days in a hidden, semi-approved state, will cause it to happen much more often.
+ChileHead Posted February 28, 2005 Author Posted February 28, 2005 Just leave a "note to reviewer" explaining your circumstances, and when you'd like the cache listed. Sure ... like I said, my approver has always worked with me on this. I was just looking for a way to offload this extra work from the approver.
Jeremy Posted February 28, 2005 Posted February 28, 2005 This is something I thought would be fun: Set up a timer on a cache listing that would activate after a time defined by the owner. Once the time lapses the cache is automatically listed. Is that what you're asking for?
+nfa Posted February 28, 2005 Posted February 28, 2005 This is something I thought would be fun: Set up a timer on a cache listing that would activate after a time defined by the owner. Once the time lapses the cache is automatically listed. Is that what you're asking for? that way the approver could approve the cache at any time, and the cache wouldn't go live until the "timer" ran down...cool idea! nfa-jamie
+ibycus Posted February 28, 2005 Posted February 28, 2005 Agreed, I like this idea. But just please don't ask me how many seconds until I want the cache listed, that would be too much work....
+robert Posted March 1, 2005 Posted March 1, 2005 That would be pretty slick. Then we can time new caches placed for events if needed. ibycus: I think nanoseconds would be better. Sometimes you just need the accuracy.
+ChileHead Posted March 1, 2005 Author Posted March 1, 2005 This is something I thought would be fun: Set up a timer on a cache listing that would activate after a time defined by the owner. Once the time lapses the cache is automatically listed. Is that what you're asking for? Yup ... pretty much! Just a nice to have.
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