Members Only!

[+sbukosky]

What is the mix of member versus non-member activity on the weekends? Might things free up if only members could log in on weekends? How about state associations putting up mirror sites for their state only? Most people are only looking for information in their home area, so what is the sense of a world wide server? As a former state officer, I warned members about these slowdowns and to investigate using our local association site for state caches, but nobody much cared. Well, I care! It can only get worse! What are the plans to improve on this?

[+sTeamTraen]

When I get "server busy" I just press refresh every few seconds until the server gives me one of its 256 or 65536 threads. Maybe this makes me part of the problem...

 

When submitting long logs or cache modifications, it's advisable to paste them from a separate document on your PC. Otherwise if you get "server busy" and go back, you can find the form empty. I find that this is a good idea anyway, as it means I can spell- and grammar-check your logs and cache descriptions before inflicting them on others.

[+Team Mysticangel]

What is the mix of member versus non-member activity on the weekends? Might things free up if only members could log in on weekends? How about state associations putting up mirror sites for their state only? Most people are only looking for information in their home area, so what is the sense of a world wide server? As a former state officer, I warned members about these slowdowns and to investigate using our local association site for state caches, but nobody much cared. Well, I care! It can only get worse! What are the plans to improve on this?

I agree with you. I know that the site needs to keep open access for everyone or noone would know what geocaching is but I think premium members should be able to get on even when the site is busy. Other sites (ex. LiveJournal) use different servers for paying members. I love the geocache site but it is rather irritating how slow it is or having it return a server busy error.

[+planetrobert]

what if maybe users could view, but only PM could LOG finds and stuff on weekends.

[+Kenr74]

Well, I decided to do the PM membership on a monthly basis to see what I was missing. So far I've been pretty disappointed. I only get my PQ's half the time and the speed issues are just terrible. I spent about an hour last night TRYING to log six finds but kept timing out or just waiting for a screen to change. I plan on keeping my PM membership alive but some benefits like those listed above would be great until the speed issues are resolved.

[+Logscaler and Red]

I also build all my cache reports in other programs - GSAK to be exact (and works if needed as a last ditch effort) - and copy and paste the reports to the cache page. I have run upwards of as many as 20 - 30 logs in an hour doing it this way. Even on Sunday night.

 

The nice thing about GSAK is there is a button to punch that takes you right to the cache page your working with instead of having to surf around looking for it.

 

As for PQ problems, very few and usually my fault. If your running one PQ everyday, those will run off the server last. New PQ's seem to run right away most of the time.

 

Also, weekends on GC are like weekdays on the freeway, a lot more people trying to be in the same place at the same time.

 

Logscaler.

[+larsl]

If geocaching.com blocked non-paying members from using the site (for reading or logging, on any day of the week) I would stop using the site altogether. And yes, I am a premium member.

 

But I don't think there's any risk that that will happen since Groundspeak has said that the basic geocaching functions always will be free for all to use.

Edited April 12, 2005 by larsl

[+GeoBlank]

How about a new site on its own hardware called members.geocaching.com the code could be tweaked to allow paying members to have dedicated hardware. It may cause a few folks to pull 30 dollars out of their pocket to get better server response times.

 

The actual code on both sets of servers would not have to be any different. Simple check on server name and membership status and bam!

[tiber]

No, they don't need a new domain.

 

I humbly suggest either a Big IP load balancer or a Foundry unit. Both are pretty easy to use, although BigIP sometimes screws up persistant connections. Both are cheaper then Cisco for most applications.

[+Markwell]

It may also reduce server load if something could be done in GSAK or other offline programs that take you directly to the cache log page. If you're certain of the waypoint (and the cache name appears on the log page anyway, you could reduce the number of page loads by first not having to find the cache page and second not having to load the cache page at all.

 

For example: My Project A.P.E. cache (Mission 12: Blind Canal) is GC1596. You can get DIRECTLY to the log page by going to http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?WP=GC1596 - the cache title is even referenced on the log page as a double check to make sure you're logging the correct cache. I'm sure Jeremy could build an interface that allows people to input the GCxxxx and take you directly to the logging page.

 

But all this is chipping away pepples at the Great Wall of China. You'd need a whole lot of people (a lot more than read the forum) to hit the logs this way to see any noticeable affect.

 

I presume that Jeremy is working feverishly on trying to improve site performance. This seems to happen every spring, and the issue gets resolved (until the next Spring).

 

How about a markwell from exactly one year ago...

[+Hi-Tek]

It may also reduce server load if something could be done in GSAK or other offline programs that take you directly to the cache log page.

GSAK (Version 5.1.4 ) already does this with sort of 'semi-auto logging' -

 

1. double click on the cache user notes column - a dual window pane opens - use the lower one to compose your log.

 

2. press the 'Log Cache' button. You then get taken to the cache log page.

 

3. select your type of note and do a ctrl V to paste the previously written notes from GSAK (note there is no need to do a ctrl C at 2.)

[+Hynr]

It may also reduce server load if something could be done in GSAK or other offline programs that take you directly to the cache log page. If you're certain of the waypoint (and the cache name appears on the log page anyway, you could reduce the number of page loads by first not having to find the cache page and second not having to load the cache page at all.

This is already available in GSAK as follows (I use this extensively to do exactly what Markwell proposes):

in GSAK select Tools, Options, select the HTML tab and insert into the list of Custom URLs on a new line, by itself:

Log at GC=http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?ID=%gcid

Click "OK".

 

Now in GSAK display the cache you wish to log, right-click on it, select "Custom URL" and "Log at GC" and it takes you directly to the screen where you can create a log for that cache.

 

If you are apprehensive about being at the correct cache, you can turn the off-line viewer on in GSAK, select the cache you are considering, and verify that you have the correct cache before you do this.

[+Hynr]

So you have two ways to do it in GSAK. My approach is great for short notes, and the method described by Motley Crew allows you to create the messages off-line, store them in the GSAK database on your hard drive, and transmit them to the GC site one at a time, possibly at a later time or date.

[+StarBrand]

Or about 1000 of us could pony up an extra $25 or so and the admins can add some more servers.

 

 

(i'd do it.....if they ask.......)