[t4e]

Mario McTavish, on 18 August 2011 - 11:01 AM, said:

And the Avatars on each log? I know some people print the cache page off, it'll take up a lot more ink/paper now

have you actually looked to see what the page looks like if you want to print it?...i say no, otherwise you wouldn't make that comment

[Avernar]

Looks like coord.info is not yet accepting the new CX links.

[mamoreb]

Bug?

I created a challenge, with some text.
I clicked the button to edit the challenge.
I changed the text.
I clicked the button to publish the challenge.
The FIRST version of the text got posted.

Another bug?

I accepted the challenge I had just made.
The challenge got locked for edits.

[jason johnson]

Car54, on 18 August 2011 - 10:53 AM, said:

I don't usually respond to update "stuff" as I figure it won't make any difference, but add me to the folks who don't like the huge new logs on the cache pages. Don't need/want the avatar or the relative date - now have to scroll much more to get what I want. Also, for those of us who load the last 5 logs with our GPX file, I assume all those avatars are going to take up a chunk of memory, right? What in the world was wrong with the logs the way they were? Many site changes leave me wondering why???. Maybe you could add a brief reason to the changes?

Just my $.02......

Mrs. Car54

+1. I guess I`ll find out what happens when I`ve decided where I`m going at the weekend and upload a PQ of the area.
Also agree with the `about a week ago` comments, far too vague, bring back the last found on XX/XX/XXXX

[dfx]

Here's the ABP rule to take out the facebook/twitter/etc icons:

geocaching.com#p(class=SocialMediaIcons NoBottomSpacing right)

[BBWolf+3Pigs]

Pup Patrol, on 18 August 2011 - 11:06 AM, said:

dbox, on 18 August 2011 - 10:27 AM, said:

What was the reason to delete the exact date? I cannot remember that there was a hot feedback topic from the cachers to do this! Please bring back the exact dates. Only reading "about two years ago" is horrible!
And who wanted to have the avatars in the logs? Complete waste of space, espacially here on my ipad, and useless!

You should better use your time for the hot feedback topics. Why did you postpone to include the favourite points in the gpx files, for instance. THAT is what the geocacher want to have....

dbox.

Agree.

Please remove the avatars from the cache pages and return the correct actual dates.

+1.

And lose Challenges. Worse than the abused Virtuals and ALRs.

[The Chens]

It's nice to see the avatars, but we do need the dates back. The new system is much too vague. Hope to see dates back soon.

[HxRoamer]

Don't like the new log layout at all - a retrograde step in my opinion. I don't want to see a picture - it makes an already sluggish site even slower and it takes up real estate on my screen - keep them for Facebook! As for the dates ... madness! What was wrong with the previous logs?

[Alan White]

Please remove the avatars on logs - a waste of space and bandwidth.
Please put back the date on logs - I need to know exactly when the find/DNF/etc was made. You should be adding information to logs - the time - not removing it

[edscott]

t4e, on 18 August 2011 - 11:08 AM, said:

Mario McTavish, on 18 August 2011 - 11:01 AM, said:

And the Avatars on each log? I know some people print the cache page off, it'll take up a lot more ink/paper now

have you actually looked to see what the page looks like if you want to print it?...i say no, otherwise you wouldn't make that comment

I just did and the avatars are there unless you get rid of the logs altogether. I find it interesting that printing avatars on a page are important but having the aerial photos are not. Guess my priorities are all wrong.

[dfx]

Since I don't think they'll take the avatars out, here's the ABP rules to do that:

geocaching.com#p(class=logOwnerAvatar)

[doug_hollyNKC]

Are you serious Groundspeak? Are you guys looking at some of the so called challenges people are posting?

Hug Your Dog
Take a photo of a beer
Take a photo of a sleeping animal

Maybe someone will post "Lick a metal pole in winter"

This is not Geocaching and shouldn't be counted in finds. I went ahead and did one just to test it out and sure enough it counts in your finds. Make them like benchmarks and not part of your counts.

Please put the date back. About 9 months ago, and about 3 months ago is frustrating.

It seems everything that was done on this update was not requested, high in like counts or anything and just made up out of randomness.

The last couple of updates had some great new features, but it sure seems someone laid an egg with this one.

BOOOOO Challenges
Bring the real date back
Get rid of the avatars....If I want to see there picture I'll go to there profile, that's what it's for.

[mamoreb]

Another vote to get exact dates back.

And why, oh why, isn't the bug with PQ updates not being reflected on the map fixed?
(PQ map view doesn't update when PQ content is updated (http://uservoice.com/a/c8oRY))

[t4e]

edscott, on 18 August 2011 - 11:35 AM, said:

t4e, on 18 August 2011 - 11:08 AM, said:

Mario McTavish, on 18 August 2011 - 11:01 AM, said:

And the Avatars on each log? I know some people print the cache page off, it'll take up a lot more ink/paper now

have you actually looked to see what the page looks like if you want to print it?...i say no, otherwise you wouldn't make that comment

I just did and the avatars are there unless you get rid of the logs altogether. I find it interesting that printing avatars on a page are important but having the aerial photos are not. Guess my priorities are all wrong.

you see them because you use the wrong "print" function, that of your browser...you should use the printing function of the cache listing,which is set as "printer friendly" version so avatars don't show

This post has been edited by t4e: 18 August 2011 - 11:44 AM

[JJnTJ]

Problems like the PQ maps are STILL unfixed, yet you have time to implement new features that few (if anyone) asked for! Are you TRYING to infuriate us?

People asked Virtuals, but you implemented something completely different.

This post has been edited by JJnTJ: 18 August 2011 - 11:43 AM

[Alan White]

doug_hollyNKC, on 18 August 2011 - 11:37 AM, said:

Are you serious Groundspeak? Are you guys looking at some of the so called challenges people are posting?

Hug Your Dog
Take a photo of a beer
Take a photo of a sleeping animal

BOOOOO Challenges

Agreed. So much for bringing back virtuals without bringing back their problems. What's this got to do with geocaching? Please move it to another site like Waymarking.

[Ragfoot]

I have completed quite a few GEOCACHING CHALLENGES and I am still trying to complete a couple more. Now, when I look at my "stats", I see that I have not completed ANY GEOCACHING CHALLENGES. I referred back to the home page at geocaching.com and the FIRST paragraph that I read is "Geocaching is a real-world outdoor treasure hunting game. Players try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using GPS-enabled devices and then share their experiences online" Please explain what "kissing a frog" has to do with GEOCACHING.

[The Geo-Secret Agent]

Adopt NOT working.....WHY?

[lodgebarn]

JJnTJ, on 18 August 2011 - 11:42 AM, said:

Problems like the PQ maps are STILL unfixed, yet you have time to implement new features that few (if anyone) asked for! Are you TRYING to infuriate us?

People asked Virtuals, but you implemented something completely different.

Says it all for me

[The Trekbuddies]

Please remove the avatars from the cache pages and return the correct actual dates.
People asked Virtuals, but you implemented something completely different. what we want and what we get are never the same!.
how about a watch your friends option, email notification when your friends find caches?

This post has been edited by The Trekbuddies: 18 August 2011 - 11:51 AM

[natterjacktoad]

PLEASE listen to what almost everyone is saying;

BRING BACK THE DATES - numerous PROPER challenges rely on caches being logged within certain time frames

LOSE THE AVATARS - unnecessary space-fillers

LOSE THE CHALLENGES - what on earth has this got to do with geocaching?????

[starzinger]

The Trekbuddies, on 18 August 2011 - 11:49 AM, said:

Please remove the avatars from the cache pages and return the correct actual dates.

+1 to that! Really annoying update!

This post has been edited by starzinger: 18 August 2011 - 11:55 AM

[niraD]

michaelnel, on 18 August 2011 - 09:45 AM, said:

Groundspeak has to be the only business in the world who repeatedly schedules server updates in the middle of the day on a weekday. What's up with that?

There are good reasons for scheduling server updates in the middle of a workday. The engineers responsible for the changes are available to fix anything that goes awry, for example. I've worked for companies that routinely perform server updates during the middle of the workday.

The trick is to do it in such a way that your customers don't experience any service downtime. That's the part that Groundspeak is missing.

[tommiB]

JJnTJ, on 18 August 2011 - 09:08 AM, said:

I've been using Neongeo for a week or so. It's everything the official app should've been months ago, and more. I finally uninstalled the official app for good yesterday.

I paid for the official App much money and it's unusable. Much other Tools can more and cost less or are free!! I want my Money back

[nittany dave]

Dates: Bring 'em back.
Avatars: Meh. Don't really care if it doesn't slow page display. Maybe allow an individual preference to show or not show (and remember it!).
Challenges: I wasn't a fan of locationless caches. Tried them and then ignored them. I did one of the photo challenges just now. I think I've found my new thing to ignore. I'll have to try one of the action types but I'm not hopeful from what I've read. I'm expecting a lot of junk to be published but there may be some that resemble a quality virtual. Like some others, I'd much prefer resources spent on core geocaching upgrades.
Geocaching API: Loving the newest version of GSAK and looking forward to more phone apps and app upgrades.

[TheCacheSeeker]

OpinioNate, on 18 August 2011 - 10:07 AM, said:

OK I'm pursuaded to return the date to the log. I'm not sure yet if this will be in addition to or in place of the timeago display. Thanks for that feedback guys.

Thanks, Dates are Very Important to me.

[Dgwphotos]

nittany dave, on 18 August 2011 - 12:11 PM, said:

Dates: Bring 'em back.
Avatars: Meh. Don't really care if it doesn't slow page display. Maybe allow an individual preference to show or not show (and remember it!).
Challenges: I wasn't a fan of locationless caches. Tried them and then ignored them. I did one of the photo challenges just now. I think I've found my new thing to ignore. I'll have to try one of the action types but I'm not hopeful from what I've read. I'm expecting a lot of junk to be published but there may be some that resemble a quality virtual. Like some others, I'd much prefer resources spent on core geocaching upgrades.
Geocaching API: Loving the newest version of GSAK and looking forward to more phone apps and app upgrades.

I didn't think the API for GSAK was part of this release?

Add my vote to remove the avatars. Too many users don't have one.

[GothNRoll]

Maybe someone should start a challenge: "Make Groundspeak undo the last update and repair the problems with the PQmaps instead."

[Aspelin]

I might be echoing a bit but, yeah, honestly - a lot of discussion and comments on getting back virtuals and why it might or might not have to do with geoaching, and how Waymarking was moved to another forum as it hasn't got too much to do with geocaching. And then: challenges! Goto http://www.makeadare.com/

Why not keep to the original plan and focus geochaching.com on geocaching?

[Biggi_H]

GothNRoll, on 18 August 2011 - 12:23 PM, said:

Maybe someone should start a challenge: "Make Groundspeak undo the last update and repair the problems with the PQmaps instead."

Just do it !

I like it.

[dfx]

Aspelin, on 18 August 2011 - 12:25 PM, said:

Why not keep to the original plan and focus geochaching.com on geocaching?

Maybe because people wanted virtuals back so badly?

[Joshism]

1) If I create a Challenge and complete it myself, should I log it as a Completed challenge? This is considered bad form on Geocaches but I wasn't sure about the new Challenges.

2) GeoCacher A posts a Photo Challenge "Take a photo of you with the Eiffel Tower". GeoCacher B also posts a Photo Challenge with the same goal. Is there any way to mark these as duplicates?

Given the amount of - to be blunt - garbage listings of Challenges so far I wonder if this is what it was like to be on a certain other geocaching website when it debuted and bunches of people were posting totally bogus cache listings to screw with them and/or prove why not having a Review process is a bad idea.

I think Challenges are going to need a review process of some kind; just being able to thumbs up/down or flag them seems insufficent.

[nittany dave]

Dgwphotos, on 18 August 2011 - 12:23 PM, said:

...I didn't think the API for GSAK was part of this release?

It isn't. Just saying I like it and am glad to see other apps being released using the API.

[JJnTJ]

dfx, on 18 August 2011 - 12:27 PM, said:

Maybe because people wanted virtuals back so badly?

I think people wanted the "good" virtuals back. But Challenges are like the worst of the old virtuals. You don't have to maintain them (actually, you can't maintain them once they've been accepted; they're out of your control forever), they can be logged anywhere by anyone, and there's no review process whatsoever.

Challenges completely miss the point. And they're here to stay, according to Jeremy.

[Phizy]

Ditto.....no avatars, bring back the dates. "About 2 days ago"? Come on....

[dfx]

JJnTJ, on 18 August 2011 - 12:34 PM, said:

dfx, on 18 August 2011 - 12:27 PM, said:

Maybe because people wanted virtuals back so badly?

I think people wanted the "good" virtuals back.

Yes of course. But the problem is, as we all know, that "good" can't be quantified. So it's either all or nothing. People still wanted them, so they got it all.

At least they got the part about separating it from geocaching right, apart from the website where it's hosted on, and the semi-combined count.

This post has been edited by dfx: 18 August 2011 - 12:39 PM

[Hurricane Luke]

<<<<<<<< Just do what I'm doing! Now that avatars are so much more visible, I can get my point across a hell of a lot quicker!

This post has been edited by Hurricane Luke: 18 August 2011 - 12:40 PM

[Cachew Nuts NY]

blb9556, on 18 August 2011 - 09:44 AM, said:

Corfman Clan, on 18 August 2011 - 09:40 AM, said:

OpinioNate, on 18 August 2011 - 08:49 AM, said:

Cache logs update (note the breakdown of finds/completions on hover):

So the log date is no longer going to be displayed? Just some ambiguous time span such as "about 6 months ago".

Please bring the date back!

Seriously guys? Some people need to see specific dates.

[mamoreb]

Two potential bugs with the challenges:

* What is the distance number? Apparently there's a challenge "0,51870" south from here. Is that 5,2 kilometers? When I search for New York, I get something like 28 kilometers away.

* When I have searched for challenges, I often want to click back to search at a different location. "Back" doesn't take me back, it reloads the results page. Clicking back again takes me two steps back. Firefox 6.0.


Sorry, I can't post this to UserVoice, because I've spent all my votes on cases that are more important to me, and that remain to be solved.

[niraD]

OpinioNate, on 18 August 2011 - 08:49 AM, said:

Profile update:

Here's the profile update with the browser's minimum font size set just a little smaller than the normal font size, to preserve legibility:



What is it with all the microfonts? You start reducing the font size for body text to only 75% of my normal font size, and then the statbox font is reduced to only 80% of that (only 60% of my normal font size). It's nonsense like this that led browser suppliers to implement minimum font sizes in the first place.

Please leave the font size alone:
http://tobyinkster.c...icle/web-fonts/

OpinioNate, on 18 August 2011 - 08:49 AM, said:

Cache logs update (note the breakdown of finds/completions on hover):

FWIW, I actually like the avatars on the logs. And if people don't like seeing a lot of blank space next to their name, then maybe they'll start writing longer logs. Or maybe not...

I miss seeing the actual dates though. Maybe showing them on hover (the way you show the breakdown of finds/completions) would work, but I really don't like the "days/months/years ago" approach.

OpinioNate, on 18 August 2011 - 08:49 AM, said:

Challenges is a work in progress!

Agreed. But given that determining who has completed a Challenge is entirely on the honor system, there will be abuse and the number or challenges competed is completely meaningless. Still, Challenges may turn out to be an interesting addition to the game. I'll wait and see.

[webscouter.]

I like the Challenges. It will take a while for them to calm down but in the end I think it will be a nice addition for Geocaching.

[nsa_sailor]

+1!
Bring back the log date!

[Happy Humphrey]

Another vote for removing avatars and reinstating dates.

There are times when page load speed is already very slow. Broadband speeds are not available the whole time, even in major cities.

[pikacu]

natterjacktoad, on 18 August 2011 - 11:50 AM, said:

PLEASE listen to what almost everyone is saying;

BRING BACK THE DATES - numerous PROPER challenges rely on caches being logged within certain time frames

LOSE THE AVATARS - unnecessary space-fillers

LOSE THE CHALLENGES - what on earth has this got to do with geocaching?????

Agree 100% with that.
There are numerous requests for changes which we wote for them. Why those are not solved? How avatars and vague dates got prioritized over requests from geocachers?

[Joshism]

Here's an idea for fixing the quality issue on Challenges:

When a user submits a Challenge (still PMO and 1 per 24 hours), the Challenge goes into a public voting queue.

Each geocaching.com account (free or premium) may vote once on each submitted challenge - Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down. They can also leave comments.

After a Challenge has been in the voting queue for some minimum amount of time (24 hours?) and has achieved some minimum threshold of total votes (1000?), it leaves the voting queue. If it has more Thumbs Up than Thumbs Down it is published; otherwise it is deleted.

[sassydil]

Too many people above to quote - I agree with everyone who says:
ditch the avatars
reinstate the exact dates

no opinion on "challenges" yet - so far not excited about them

[WizCreations]

ATTENTION Half of you that post in this thread:

OpinioNate, on 18 August 2011 - 10:07 AM, said:

OK I'm pursuaded to return the date to the log. I'm not sure yet if this will be in addition to or in place of the timeago display. Thanks for that feedback guys.

Please stop asking! Your wish has already been granted (perhaps at the next website update).

Alan White, on 18 August 2011 - 11:44 AM, said:

doug_hollyNKC, on 18 August 2011 - 11:37 AM, said:

Are you serious Groundspeak? Are you guys looking at some of the so called challenges people are posting?

Hug Your Dog
Take a photo of a beer
Take a photo of a sleeping animal

BOOOOO Challenges

Agreed. So much for bringing back virtuals without bringing back their problems. What's this got to do with geocaching? Please move it to another site like Waymarking.

Virtuals are great. They actually involve you going somewhere specific and learning something you would otherwise miss.


Challenges are not "bringing back virtuals" but rather bringing back Locationless caches, which, let's face it, sucked. The new "Challenges" feature on geocaching brings back exactly the problem that was solved when the Waymarking website was created. I completely agree that in their current state Challenges need to be moved to Waymarking.com.

HOWEVER, I have actually completed one of the older challenge caches and have started attempts on a few others. I think Challenges are great, if performed correctly. The "Hug Your Dog" challenge is not performed correctly.

Of course, the old rules on posting a Challenge cache specifically directed the poster to create something challenging (go figure), the new feature does not have any real rules in the FAQ. This can be solved by directing all those Premium Members to the proper resources before allowing them to submit a new Challenge:

Quote

A challenge cache is a variation of a puzzle cache. This will typically require the cacher to meet a reasonable Geocaching-, Waymarking- or Wherigo-related qualification. An example is finding a cache in each county of your state. If you are thinking of creating such a cache, be sure to do your research first.

Everyone should be required to read this info on Challenge Caches

This post has been edited by WizCreations: 18 August 2011 - 01:11 PM

[tvchick]

Er, the avatar thing is a neat idea, but way too cumbersome in current form. It's annoying to have that much space for a log when all the actual log on the cache I'm looking at says is "TFTC." The avatar might be nice on the more extensively written cache logs, but it's weird when there's an avatar and a huge chunk of white space to the right of it.

Just a thought!

[mamoreb]

WizCreations, on 18 August 2011 - 01:10 PM, said:

Everyone should be required to read this info on Challenge Caches

OK, but everyone should also be aware that "challenge caches" and "challenges" are not the same thing:

Challenges FAQ

[Gushoneybun]

I normally like the updates but really wonder if anyone tests or looks at what is planned:blink:

Found dates have gone, but we are told roughly when someone found a cache, very strange!

Avatars on cache pages, why waste the space on the cache page, apply extra work for the servers sending them to me coupled with a slow down on my poor old PC.

And Challenges why were these not put on geocachingchallenges.com and an optional link into a cachers GC profile with a link to the challenges, they wanted to complete, I really do not see what these have to do with caching these seem to be locationless caches, which served their purpose all those years ago, but should they really be on here?