How to find caches with specific attributes

[+bUTCH46]

I have been trying to find caches with specific attributes, such as "Not in Front Yard" or "Cacti Present" and keep getting a zero caches result when I click those attributes in my PQ. Just to check to see that there are truly no such attributes available in Arkansas, I ran a PQ with "Parking Available", the another with "Wheelchair Accessable", and still got a zero although I have found many caches with those attributes listed.

 

What am I doing wrong?

 

If anyone can help me I am looking for the following in Arkansas, and if none there then in the USA:

 

Not In Front Yard

Not Available During Winter

Wireless Beacon

Cacti Present

Lost And Found Tour

Partnership Cache

 

bUTCH46

EuGene Smith

bigusmith@yahoo.com

[+geodarts]

It's hard to know what you are doing wrong without looking at all the settings you are using. I would test the pocket query by using the "submit information" button to see if it returns any results with no attributes selected. If that works, I would add one attribute at a time, but not include multiple attributes in any one search.

 

I think you might be searching for for multiple attributes, some of which do not exist in Arkansas - like the former lost and found attribute or the partnership attribute. Including these in a query would return no results even if other valid attributes could be found.

 

The pocket query is searching for caches that include all the attributes you select, not just caches that may have one. For instance, I see 20 "not in my front yard" caches and 4 wireless beacons, but no caches that have both of these attributes. Try looking for the attributes one at a time.

Edited March 22, 2017 by geodarts

[Moun10Bike]

You would be hard-pressed to find more than a handful of caches with the Partnership Cache attribute anywhere in the world, let alone one that also has the Wireless Beacon attribute, the Lost & Found Tour attribute, etc. By selecting multiple attributes like that, you are limiting your search to only those caches that have ALL of the chosen attributes.

 

For what you are intending, you are better off creating separate PQs for each individual attribute you wish to seek out (as geodarts has suggested).

[+bUTCH46]

Thanks guys for the education. I'm not always the brightest bulb in the box, so it never occurred to me that I was creating an impossible situation when I put multiple attributes into a PQ. Some of those attributes may be so rare that I am wasting time in thinking that can finally pull off the completion of the "Found All Attributes" thing for that badge.

[+hzoi]

Lost And Found Tour

This one's gone. It was associated with 10 Years! events in May 2010 -- and not just any 10 Years! events, but those with Groundspeak lackeys present. If you weren't at a 10 Years! event with a lackey present, you're out of luck. (I'm in the same boat, and I hosted a 10 Years! event. I guess I should have sent more bribe money.)

 

There was a traditional cache in Europe that was misassigned this attribute, either mistakenly or in bad faith, until it came up in the forums -- and then that attribute was stripped. Now there should be none left in existence.

[+DragonsWest]

I checked my stats on MyGeocachingProfile and found only one I didn't have. I suppose there are some challenges rattling around, but anything which takes me more than a few minutes to figure my compliance I lose patience with (aside the major Fizzy, USGS-quad & Delorme pages challenges, which are among the finest anywhere.)

 

I wasn't aware there was a Lost And Found Tour one, I wonder what else is lurking in the code that we don't know about. Watching the game, controlling it (props to anyone who gets the reference)

[+bUTCH46]

I guess the Lost and Found tours being eliminated in 2010 that means that anyone who came later into geocaching (as I did in 2014) cannot possibly get all of the attributes to earn that "All the Attributes" badge. I need only 6 attributes, have located 3 of them {in nearby areas), and hope to find the remaining 2 (Cacti Present & Partnership Cache) to have logged all but the Lost and Found. Why do they keep the Lost & Found on the All Attributes list if they don't exist and thus cannot be found?

 

Also, for those 2 not in Arkansas, I cannot find the United States in the list of countries for a PQ, and doing PQ's state by state is a big job.

Edited March 22, 2017 by bUTCH46

[+The A-Team]

Why do they keep the Lost & Found on the All Attributes list if they don't exist and thus cannot be found?

Because even though they can't now be found, they did and still do exist. For example, the archived listing for the Lost & Found Celebration at HQ in 2010 still has the Lost and Found attribute.

 

...and for anyone thinking of bogus-logging that event in order to get the cache type icon, souvenir, or attribute, don't bother trying. The listing was locked years ago thanks to the actions of the "Greetings from..." gang.

 

BTW, there's no such attribute at "Cacti present". Are you maybe thinking of the "Thorns" one? Here's the full list of attributes.

[+hzoi]

Why do they keep the Lost & Found on the All Attributes list if they don't exist and thus cannot be found?

Because even though they can't now be found, they did and still do exist. For example, the archived listing for the Lost & Found Celebration at HQ in 2010 still has the Lost and Found attribute.

 

...and for anyone thinking of bogus-logging that event in order to get the cache type icon, souvenir, or attribute, don't bother trying. The listing was locked years ago thanks to the actions of the "Greetings from..." gang.

 

BTW, there's no such attribute at "Cacti present". Are you maybe thinking of the "Thorns" one? Here's the full list of attributes.

There is a "Cacti present" attribute claimed at project-gc.com on the "Found attributes" page, but I've never seen it in real life.

 

edit: maybe not at project-gc, but I know I have seen it somewhere.

Edited March 22, 2017 by hzoi

[+geodarts]

 

Also, for those 2 not in Arkansas, I cannot find the United States in the list of countries for a PQ, and doing PQ's state by state is a big job.

 

You can select each of the states and run a single PQ. I once had all the attributes but now am missing the Partnership attribute -- the attribute is eliminated when the partnership expires. Out of curiosity, I selected all the states and ran a pocket query for that attribute - most of the caches that were displayed are "ghosts" -- caches that once had the attribute but no longer. I counted four caches in the United States that currently have it.

 

The last I heard about a cactus attribute was this post from Jeremy:

 

The cactus hazard has been removed and the hazards have been re-added for event pages. Thanks for pointing this out. Unless people lobby for the cactus hazard to return we'll leave that off the list.

 

I assume that "Thorns" takes care of it.

Edited March 22, 2017 by geodarts

[+HHL]

Btw: currently there seems to be an issue with the PQ editor and the image of attribute "Quads allowed".

 

Hans

[+bUTCH46]

I don't know how to do quotes in a box like some have done in above replies, so I'm scratching my head and dropping it like this:

 

[...and for anyone thinking of bogus-logging that event in order to get the cache type icon, souvenir, or attribute, don't bother trying. The listing was locked years ago thanks to the actions of the "Greetings from..." gang.]

 

I understand that since the "Lost & Found Caches" were archived in 2010, it would not be possible to log that attribute nowadays. So, why is it on my statistics list as an unlogged attribute that I must log to earn the "5 Star Attrubute Badge" medal? The same question applies to the "Cacti Present" attribute which is no longer available.

 

Because I am relatively new to this hobby I am often confused by such apparent contadictory messages I get from the system.

 

If I knew who is responsible for the requirements for the Attributes Badges, I would appeal to the to remove the non-existant attributes from the qualifications list so that it is actually possible to find 100% of the attributes.

 

Am I just whistling up a tree? Maybe I need to forget it and repeat the Serenity Prayer every time the absurdity of it ruffles my feathers.

 

EuGene

[+noncentric]

I understand that since the "Lost & Found Caches" were archived in 2010, it would not be possible to log that attribute nowadays. So, why is it on my statistics list as an unlogged attribute that I must log to earn the "5 Star Attrubute Badge" medal? The same question applies to the "Cacti Present" attribute which is no longer available.

Where are you seeing the badge? Can you provide the URL of the site where you're seeing the badge?

[+hzoi]

I understand that since the "Lost & Found Caches" were archived in 2010, it would not be possible to log that attribute nowadays. So, why is it on my statistics list as an unlogged attribute that I must log to earn the "5 Star Attrubute Badge" medal? The same question applies to the "Cacti Present" attribute which is no longer available.

 

Because I am relatively new to this hobby I am often confused by such apparent contadictory messages I get from the system.

 

If I knew who is responsible for the requirements for the Attributes Badges, I would appeal to the to remove the non-existant attributes from the qualifications list so that it is actually possible to find 100% of the attributes.

 

Knowing whose badge it is would help. Is this on project-gc? mygeocachingprofile.,com? The badge generator on GSAK? Someplace else?

 

Am I just whistling up a tree? Maybe I need to forget it and repeat the Serenity Prayer every time the absurdity of it ruffles my feathers.

Perhaps so. But then I've been doing this for a while, since before badges and belts were really a thing, and I have the luxury of not having to care since I've already qualified for many of them.

 

Also, to quote someone's post, just click the Reply button (look right at the bottom of this post). Or you can click more than one of the "MultiQuote" buttons and then reply and have the stack of them in the message box.

[+bUTCH46]

I understand that since the "Lost & Found Caches" were archived in 2010, it would not be possible to log that attribute nowadays. So, why is it on my statistics list as an unlogged attribute that I must log to earn the "5 Star Attrubute Badge" medal? The same question applies to the "Cacti Present" attribute which is no longer available.

Where are you seeing the badge? Can you provide the URL of the site where you're seeing the badge?

 

I an not the brightest bulb in the box when it comes to anything about computers, so a friend runs a PQ on my finds and posts the results on the left hand PROFILE tab on my profile page. I had asked him to do that for me because the STATISTICS tab on the right gives so little info that it is about as useless as a tit on a boar hog.

 

Apparently it does not involve GSAK (Which is on this computer but I don't know how to use it for anything) or any other outside program . . . he says it is done completely through Geocaching.com, so I guess the URL is for Geocaching.com. ???

[+cerberus1]

I understand that since the "Lost & Found Caches" were archived in 2010, it would not be possible to log that attribute nowadays. So, why is it on my statistics list as an unlogged attribute that I must log to earn the "5 Star Attrubute Badge" medal? The same question applies to the "Cacti Present" attribute which is no longer available.

Where are you seeing the badge? Can you provide the URL of the site where you're seeing the badge?

 

I an not the brightest bulb in the box when it comes to anything about computers, so a friend runs a PQ on my finds and posts the results on the left hand PROFILE tab on my profile page. I had asked him to do that for me because the STATISTICS tab on the right gives so little info that it is about as useless as a tit on a boar hog.

 

Apparently it does not involve GSAK (Which is on this computer but I don't know how to use it for anything) or any other outside program . . . he says it is done completely through Geocaching.com, so I guess the URL is for Geocaching.com. ???

At the bottom of the very-long stat info on your profile page, just below the "geoachievement badges" , it says, " profile created using MyGeocachingProfile.com".

Wouldn't they be the ones to ask?

[+bUTCH46]

I gotta ask my buddy about how to make that MyGeocachingProfile.com thing take a My Finds PQ and convert it to My Profile!! Thanks for the info . . . I guess I never noticed it down at the bottom of that long "scroll down" listing of stuff.

[+noncentric]

I gotta ask my buddy about how to make that MyGeocachingProfile.com thing take a My Finds PQ and convert it to My Profile!! Thanks for the info . . . I guess I never noticed it down at the bottom of that long "scroll down" listing of stuff.

Check out this page: http://www.mygeocachingprofile.com/default.aspx#news

The attributes profile section now includes both "Cacti Present" and "Lost and Found Tour" attributes, however these attributes won't be included in the calculations to determine what level Attribute GeoAchievement badge you earn. The cactus attribute is no longer present in the geocaching.com system, but it is still included in several older caches. The Lost and Found Tour attribute is very rare and is only connected to archived 10 year event celebrations.

 

It sounds like not having these 2 attributes should not affect your ability to get the highest level badge.

 

You can go to this page if you need to contact MyGeocachingProfile.

[+Brainzane & Yossface]

Hi all - As of March 28th, the Lost & Found attribute and the Cactus Present attributes do not count toward the 5-star Attributes Badge on mygeocachingprofile.com. They can still be seen in the Attributes Found section (since many cachers have found these attributes and want to see that in their profile,) but they won't count against you for getting the GeoAchievement badge. If you ever have any questions about the website, you can email contactus@mygeocachingprofile.com! Thanks!

[+bUTCH46]

Hi all - As of March 28th, the Lost & Found attribute and the Cactus Present attributes do not count toward the 5-star Attributes Badge on mygeocachingprofile.com. They can still be seen in the Attributes Found section (since many cachers have found these attributes and want to see that in their profile,) but they won't count against you for getting the GeoAchievement badge. If you ever have any questions about the website, you can email contactus@mygeocachingprofile.com! Thanks!

 

Thanks for the updated info, Brainzane & Yossface. So, all I need to worry about now is the Parthership Cache, and I will be traveling very close to one this Summer and can make a side trip and grab it. That will complete all of the attributes for me.