Proposed redesigned geocache page

[caughtatwork]

A change to the design of the geoache page (see link).

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6RUXq ... sp=sharing

The main data of the cache details, description and logs remain displayed immediately. All other "interesting" data about a cache is now controlled by AJAX. You want something? You click on the controller, it fires a request to the DB and displays the data without having to refresh the page.

In this manner, the main data can be presented in less time that it takes now as there a number of queries which are no longer firing against the DB. It also removes a bunch of clutter from the page which is confusing to me and I suspect highly confusing to new comers. Keep the main data there and they can click for other stuff. The navigation to the right has been re-organised to make the most important things available "above the fold". GPX and LOG are near the top. Other stuff is further below.

The navigation all tappable with a finger which the current site suffers a bit from as you can't hit a thing without mashing a bunch of other things. I may have to increase the tappable area for the side navigation once I see it on a mobile device.

I have kept things purposefully in grey tones as I'm terrible with colours. Happy to take comment on colour if needed.

Remember the idea is to give the needed information about the cache, including description and logs, with other information available "on request". This is for speed and clarity. Interested in your feedback as to its potential usability with the finger and the mouse.

[Snuva]

No comment on the tapability as I'm looking at it on a big screen, however it amused me that I was just caught at work checking it out.

[fluffyfish]

I like the concept.

[oldfella]

I like this idea. Thanks for plodding on and on for us.

[The Morris]

I'm not quite clear - will the page you go to show the description or will you have to click something else to see it?

[caughtatwork]

The cache details (such as the terrain, difficulty, distance, direction, map, etc) as well as the description and the logs will all appear without any action. It's the rest of the less important details which will be "hidden until clicked". Have no fear the information needed to find the cache will be there as soon as the page loads.

[WazzaAndWenches]

I like the new (proposed) look. A couple of comments...
Does anyone use the "mates" or "mayoralty" features these days?
Perhaps a "log a find" and "log a dnf" button on the same top row as "found", "planned" et al. Green and Red, perhaps.

A TP at Barmah piqued my interest. Hey, it's only 25k's from home and I didn't know there was a TP out there. Further checking revealed some shonky stuff going on. Hmmm. Maybe this new front end is not such a good idea.

[caughtatwork]

Oh, the data is definitely not real.

I'm interested in the "Log a Find" and "Log a Did Not Find" as prominent links. My concern over that is that because they are prominent and there is no other information, to a newbie there are only two options. I found it or I didn't. That would stop them looking for the "Log this cache" link to create a different log type. That doesn't make it a bad idea, just how to reconcile the actions of the two most prominent log types vs. the rest.

[fluffyfish]

Maybe in a drop down list, just place them prominently at the top. Maybe then "Moved". But I think people should be shown all the options for logging.

[caughtatwork]

It's already in a drop down, but that's on the log page. I think we're talking about how to prominently mark the link to the log page, but rather than a simple "Log this cache" on the right, something more obvious, but which also covers all log actions.

[Richary]

I don't have a huge preference for how caches are displayed on the GCA site as long as the "log it" is easily accessible. The reason is that I download the caches to the phone as a GPX, and will go out searching using that when I am in an area (is there a cache or trig here?). I generally only look at the caches online when I am logging them as found (or not).

[Laighside Legends]

Yes, a large "Log your visit" button at the top of the page would be good! (and perhaps the "Recommended" and GPX download buttons to?)

I am currently in Estonia (in Europe) and they have there own site similar to GCA. If you ignore the language problem, they do have some neat features. Below is a screenshot of a cache page with explanations in red.



The fact that the built in checker was so obvious and easy to find was really helpful. I also found the list of nearby caches useful but that is maybe just because the search/query part of the site made little sense to me...

[caughtatwork]

The more buttons you have the less obvious the functions. Too much clutter and people need to read and every button to find out which is which causing people to leave. I can see that people would like a more prominent "Log Your Visit" link. I'll have a look at what can be done.

As far as your image above goes:
- we have a prominent description
- we have a prominent hint
- we have a built in geochecker
- opencaching encourages dual listings, we don't, so there is no need for the dual listing link (they encourage dual listings to bulk up their numbers, we'd prefer geocaches to be unique to a site)
- log count is behind the "Log Count" button
- nearby caches, we don't list them, but you can get to them from the nearby links GCA, unfound, recommended, etc, in the navigation.
- we have prominent logs
All of those neat features are at GCA.

My personal opinion of that page is that it's too cluttered. I prefer data in columns so it can be read straight down. With data laid out in lines, I cannot easily distinguish where elements end and start, so I find I have to read each word to identify what is what. In columns, I can cast my eye down the list and move right when I spot the element I'm interested in. When I go caching, I want to know about the physical cache (difficulty, terrain, distance and direction from my home and a map showing surrounding roads), about the cache (description), any hints and whether the last logs are finds or not. Close caches are not in my sphere of interest by the time I am looking at the cache page. I would like to be able to get to them, but not have them there immediately. Most of the time I am running off a search, so I return to my search for any other caches of interest. We can do this, but it's a bit of a drain on the machine while it finds close caches. The http://www.geopeitus.ee/ site only lists 2,500 or so caches, so geospatial queries are ever so much faster with that smaller number. Our new machine will help that sort of query, but I question the immediacy of the data on the page.

The data seems to be the same. It's the presentation that is different. I am open to ideas and information and appreciate your feedback. I see nothing compelling me to change the design with the possible exception of adding "close by" caches in an AJAX box and your initial comment about a more prominent LOG ME link.

[Sol de Lune]

From the screen shot of the pages I can see, I like the look of it......anything with less clutter is a good thing.

[fluffyfish]

Anything which makes it more mobile usable is good. The need for an Apple app is reduced if the web page can be successfully navigated on a phone or tablet.