Geocaching Australia

thanks malapertmike

we've just added a new (brainbending!) function: search for caches recommended by the cachers who recommended a cache. it's actually quite useful. here's an example

can we have the states next to the places on that search results page?

if you look at the other recommendations page from pollies perks, you'll get the idea.

All Cached Up wrote:can we have the states next to the places on that search results page?

good idea - done!

Ok, i!, here's a brain/tongue twister for you ...

Caches recommended by cachers who recommend caches that I recommend. That is, like the recently added links, but for all the caches in my recommended list, instead of a particular one. Something for "my cache page" perhaps?

Oh yeah, love your work.


- Rog

Well done so far guys. Looks good.

I am having trouble trying to recommend caches though. I have the forum listed on my favourites and I have always logged into the forums then entered the GCA site throgh the logo at top. When I select a cache to recommend it tells me I am not logged in. What did I do wrong or how should I enter the site to be logged in?

I can see one cache that has a recommendation, but the person recommending it has no log against is, either here or on the secondary site.

Can you recommend a cache that you haven't done yet?
Should you?

I know that sound silly, so I suppose I'm just asking whether or not there is validation to stop this as I can't think of any reason for recommending a cache if you haven't done it.

Mind Socket wrote:Caches recommended by cachers who recommend caches that I recommend.

oh dear, it makes sense! perhaps we should implement it through the concept of "similar cachers" where similar cachers are cachers who have recommended and done roughly the same caches?

Rabbitto wrote:When I select a cache to recommend it tells me I am not logged in.

it could be some weird cookie issue. can you please go to http://geocaching.com.au/logintest/ and let us know the cookie status

caughtatwork wrote:Can you recommend a cache that you haven't done yet? Should you?

there is no system validation to stop you recommending a cache that you haven't done yet. the reason is that we don't have all the logs on this system. we can't think of a reason to recommend a cache that the recommender hasn't done yet - in our opinion, it devalues all their recommendations. perhaps the person is just testing the system or has logged the cache under a different name, found it but didn't log it, etc. we suggest you pm them to find out what's going on.

we got all excited when we saw a recommended cache nearby, but then disappointed when we saw that it was recommended by its owner and none of the finders.

we think that recommending your own cache devalues the recommendations of finders. we would have discussed this with the owner but when we looked at the database, there were five owners who have recommended their own caches, so it's not an individual issue. as we mentioned before in this thread, we were considering putting in a system check to stop owners recommending their own caches, but given that five people have already done so, people obviously feel a need to do so.

so, rather than stopping owner recommendations, we've prototyped some changes to how they are displayed:
- owner recommendations no longer turn the cache gold. to make a cache turn gold, it needs to be recommended by a finder
- owner recommendations are indicated as such on the cache page

is this a reasonable solution?

*laugh* The ability for owners to recommend their own cache should just be stamped out. It should be a given that owners recommend their own caches.<p>

If I felt I that couldn't / wouldn't recommend a cache that I set then I wouldn't set it. For me this is the point of geocaching.

ideology wrote:we got all excited when we saw a recommended cache nearby, but then disappointed when we saw that it was recommended by its owner and none of the finders.

I would have thought that any cache would carry an implied recommendation by its owner, after all, a cache is usually placed to be found.

ideology wrote: we think that recommending your own cache devalues the recommendations of finders. we would have discussed this with the owner but when we looked at the database, there were five owners who have recommended their own caches, so it's not an individual issue.

It must be nice to be able to run ad-hock queries on the database

ideology wrote: so, rather than stopping owner recommendations, we've prototyped some changes to how they are displayed:
- owner recommendations no longer turn the cache gold. to make a cache turn gold, it needs to be recommended by a finder
- owner recommendations are indicated as such on the cache page

is this a reasonable solution?

That seems fair.

ideology wrote:thanks malapertmike

we've just added a new (brainbending!) function: search for caches recommended by the cachers who recommended a cache. it's actually quite useful. here's an example

I was just playing with this brainbending function...<p>
I used http://geocaching.com.au/cache/gckb8g and tried http://geocaching.com.au/search/?f=gckb8g as well as http://geocaching.com.au/search/?r=gckb8g <p>
the cache name is given as "Depreciated" in both cases. Is this some new naming convention or did you wake up Murphy?

riblit, we appreciate you pointing out the "depreciated" bug! the reason was that the search screen was using an old (or "depreciated") function to display cache names. we've updated it to the new function and it should work now.

dingbats and riblit, we agree that a cache owner's recommendation is implied. if we had our time over again, we'd have put in an owner-reccomendation check from the start. we just didn't want to unilaterally delete someone's recommendation without asking.

I think it should be up to the finders to recommend a cache and not the owners, if you were going to ask me of cause I would recommed all of my caches to you. but others may not feel the same.

Yep, I agree ... stamp it out now while it's only at 5 owners, before it gets out of hand

I'm all for self promotion, but recommending your own cache goes too far and devalues the whole system.

It's better to have your fellow players give you props for a good cache rather than doing it yourself.

I say can them.