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Feature Request

res2100

By res2100
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res2100

+res2100

Posted
Posted

Currently when you go to the cache listings by state/province/country or the closest caches from your home coords, and all the other things you can search on to get cache listing pages, it would be nice if users had the following options:

 

1) List more than 20 caches per page...is there a reason why it's limited to 20? I see no reason why we can't have a box/preference that lets us enter how many caches per page we want to list...it's a pain having to go through dozens of pages.

 

2) Be able to sort these cache listings on these pages by the various columns (Ie, Type, difficulty, Date Placed, Cache name (or waypoint ID), Last Found.

 

Would anyone else find these enhancements useful too?

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res2100

+res2100

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I see no benefit for me to use pocket queries. Since most people are not members, I thought my suggestion was a good one, and should be a fairly easy one to program.

 

When new caches are listed, and I am sent the weekly notification of these new caches, sometimes they are carried over onto the 2nd page, and this requires me to select the caches on each of the pages and download them into 2 different files. Just sort of a nuscance that I can see be easily avoided by allowing users to select how many caches they want listed on each page.

 

So I take it that by your answer to this request, it ain't gonna happen...oh well, I tried, even though I think most non-members will benefit greatly from this request.

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beejay&esskay

+beejay&esskay

Posted
Posted
I see no benefit for me to use pocket queries.

 

Well, the benefit is that you get what you have asked for.

 

So Jeremy could spend his time to add functions to make you (and others) less likely to pay a little to get pocket queries....or he could retain the income that he gets from that membership. Gee, I wonder which he'll pick. (Oh, wait. He already mentioned pocket queries, didn't he.)

 

You get a lot free here. It seems you could pay a little to get pocket queries.

 

And, by the way, pocket queries.

 

(I didn't use pocket queries that much before Jeremy added the interactive option. Now I have around 15 that I use frequently.)

 

Get GSAK and pocket queries.

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Marky

+Marky

Posted
Posted
I see no benefit for me to use pocket queries.

Wow, that's an interesting statement! I've not seen anyone ever say that. After having access to them, I don't think I want to live without them. They are too much fun.

 

As far as your suggestions #1 and #2, I'm thinking that both requests would add to the server load, which is a bit too high already. :D

 

--Marky

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ClydeE

+ClydeE

Posted
Posted
So Jeremy could spend his time to add functions to make you (and others) less likely to pay a little to get pocket queries....or he could retain the income that he gets from that membership. Gee, I wonder which he'll pick. (Oh, wait. He already mentioned pocket queries, didn't he.)

 

You get a lot free here. It seems you could pay a little to get pocket queries.

 

My thoughts exactly. Jeremy gives away enough free stuff already.

 

This amazes me.

 

The average goecaher has forked out the bucks for a computer and GPS (usually not trivial amounts) then thinks of nothing of the money they spend on motor car expenses, fuel etc for the cache hunt. It is all part of the fun and hence easy to justify. Just spend the extra 3 bucks a month to make your experience so much more enjoyable. Relative to your other expenses, it is bugger all.

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res2100

+res2100

Posted
  • Author
Posted
The average goecaher has forked out the bucks for a computer and GPS (usually not trivial amounts) then thinks of nothing of the money they spend on motor car expenses, fuel etc for the cache hunt. It is all part of the fun and hence easy to justify.

 

I couldn't agree with you more. Like most people I enjoy geocacing immensely, and I don't even think twice about driving 50 - 100 km to go geocaching, and the cost of gas is never an issue with me. I look at geocaching as an inexpensive sport/hobby with a huge return on enjoyment, compared to many others. At the moment I CHOOSE not to become a paying member. Given the choice of where to send my $30 to at the moment, I can't justify sending it to gc.com, but feel it I had the $30 to spend I would feel it would be better spent as a donation to my church or the Cancer Society, both of which have had bigger inpacts on my life. So instead I contribute to geocaching in other ways, by placing new caches, and I have about 5 of them in the planning stages or ready to be put out. And I introduce my friends and even strangers to the hobby.

 

The thought has crossed my mind too about becoming a paying member (I wish they accepted Credit cards (or do they now?)...I just don't trust PayPal) the next time I go on a long business trip, but that won't be until the summer, but talking with other members, it wouldn't be of much benefit, since I don't have a PDA and they offered to do pocket queries for me if I need them (which I haven't yet). Now you can see why I don't see the benefit in pocket queries, but then maybe I am missing something.

 

Anyways, back to the original ideas and my question to keep this thread on topic...is there a reason why the cache listings are limited to 20 caches per page? I can't see it being server load, atleast not significantly. If the answer to this is to encourage people to pay the $30 per year to become a premium member, then that is a perfectly acceptable answer...but please no smart a** comments.

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The Leprechauns

+The Leprechauns

Posted
Posted

res2100, you certainly don't need to have a PDA in order to take advantage of pocket queries. I used them for the better part of a year before acquiring a PDA. The benefit was being able to download huge cache files and then view, sort, filter and plan offline using Watcher. I only look at online cache pages now when I log my finds. This is great if you're using a slow dialup connection.

 

I also distrust PayPal. So I pay my $30 by personal cheque. Jeremy has mentioned in the past that he hopes to develop credit card functionality, which would be even more convenient.

 

May I ask you one favor? Don't let your friend violate the terms of use by lending you his pocket query file. That's unfair to those of us who do fork over the measly $3 per month to obtain them legally.

 

Pocket queries. And more pocket queries.

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Mopar

+Mopar

Posted
Posted

I used the PQs LONG before having a PDA. Even now, since I'm one of those cachers he still prefers to find the cache without hints or clues, the PDA is secondary. It's just a backup if I can't find the cache with just the info in my GPS.

Which brings us back to PQs.

With all the free or almost free 3rd party apps out there, the PQs have become more useful to me then the actual website. With the PQs, I only need to access the website to play in the forums, submit a hide, or log a find. I can't wait for the day I can log finds via some sort of reverse PQ!

You can do all the things you requested with the PQs and more.

You can use them to plot caches along a route.

You can use them to create a route, so you can cache more efficiently (thereby saving on other costs like fuel).

You can use them to easily filter out cache types or sizes you don't care for, or cache HIDERS, for that matter.

You can use them to add enhanced waypoint info to the GPS (my GPS not only gives me the GC#, but tells me cache size, type, name, D/T, if there is a TB in it, and if it has a lot of previous DNFs)

You can easily keep a file of all your found logs.

When you are caching with a friend, you can merge/filter the PQs to easily create a list of caches neither of you has found.

Those are just SOME of the non-PDA things I do with PQs on a weekly basis. I'm sure others have more ideas.

A year of PQs for less then a tank of gas or a few lunches. Not a bad deal.

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res2100

+res2100

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
May I ask you one favor? Don't let your friend violate the terms of use by lending you his pocket query file. That's unfair to those of us who do fork over the measly $3 per month to obtain them legally.

 

You're not serious that this is considered illegal? :lol: (sorry I never read the terms for this, but will) I currently keep all of the caches in my province within 100 miles in my Magellen MapSend software, which I update every week by downloading the new caches based on the email notification every Thursday. When I find caches archived, then I remove them from MapSend. I then transfer the updated list of waypoints to my GPS every week. I find this method works very very well for me. In the past I used to keep the "master" list of unfound caches on my GPS, but find it a lot easier to maintain in MapSend.

 

And thank you Mopar and Leprechauns for the information on PQs. Which gets me thinking of anohter feature :D How about the web site have some kind of sample/demo PQ, so that non-members see (and understand...since I obviously don't) exactly what they would be getting and which shows the benefits of PQs, for premium members. Sort of like a tutorial or something. :lol: Ok, I better stop thinking now and get some work done. :blink:

 

Previously the only benefit I saw was using the PQs in conjunction with a PDA, so that I would have all the cache descriptions on the PDA and not need to print out every single cache page. Hence I would find this useful on my next business trip, instead of printing out 200 pages of caches and killing a bunch of baby trees. That was a factor to me in considering to become a premium member, but not until the summer.

 

Can I send my cheque in CDN$? with the appropriate conversion of course. :lol:

Yes I think that accepting credit cards would make things very convenient.

Edited by res2100
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Markwell

+Markwell

Posted
Posted

There's some more information about Pocket Queries here.

 

ClayJar's website has a sample GPX file (download it here) to show you how his Watcher program can work.

 

I have been using Pocket Queries since the first day they came out. I use them to keep my GPS current and up-to-date, and also to filter what kind of stuff I put into my GPS. Not interested in micros? Not interesting in multis? Not going north of N 42° in the next month? Watcher will limit all of those.

 

I do not own a PDA.

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The Leprechauns

+The Leprechauns

Posted
Posted
May I ask you one favor? Don't let your friend violate the terms of use by lending you his pocket query file. That's unfair to those of us who do fork over the measly $3 per month to obtain them legally.

 

You're not serious that this is considered illegal? :D (sorry I never read the terms for this, but will)

Well, yes, I actually was serious. Being a lawyer, I do read the fine print license agreement. Among other things, it says:

 

Licensee shall not sell, rent, lease, sublicense, lend, assign, time-share, or transfer, in whole or in part, or provide unlicensed third parties access to the Data...

and

Licensee shall not remarket, resell, and/or redistribute the Data or any derived portion(s) of the Data in its digital form to unlicensed third parties.

 

Of course, since you haven't yet become a premium member and ordered your first PQ, it would be quite understandable that you wouldn't have given the license terms very much thought! If you are interested, you can read the full license agreement here.

 

I am glad that you're finding the posts helpful. Do what Markwell suggests, and download Watcher and the sample pocket query file to take a test drive.

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Team Lawrence

+Team Lawrence

Posted
Posted
Well, yes, I actually was serious. Being a lawyer, I do read the fine print license agreement.

Although I agree that PQs are well worth the fee and that it would be wrong to share them, I'm suprised that a lawyer would characterize a license violation as "illegal." A tort at best, not a crime.

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The Leprechauns

+The Leprechauns

Posted
Posted
Well, yes, I actually was serious.  Being a lawyer, I do read the fine print license agreement.

Although I agree that PQs are well worth the fee and that it would be wrong to share them, I'm suprised that a lawyer would characterize a license violation as "illegal." A tort at best, not a crime.

If you read closely, I never used the word "illegal." I said "violation," as in violating the terms of a written contract. It's a contract law issue, not a tort or a crime. I did use the word "legally." To a contract lawyer, that means "not in violation of the contract terms." It was Res2100 who used the term "illegal." As he is not a lawyer, who cares?

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