Swaggies - why aren't they being used?

ozwanderers · Post by **ozwanderers** » 10 April 07 2:30 pm

CraigRat,
I've now placed my swaggie in the cache and want to register that fact to show his current location. The options on the right of screen show "dropping" a swaggie as an Outside Aust/NZ option only. Why is that? I would have assumed you could "grab" a swaggie from his existing cache and "drop" him in another anywhere, not just outside the country.

Also, any idea when the changes will be made to the main website to allow an image to be uploaded for the gallery?
Cheers
Oz

Post by **CraigRat** » 17 April 07 4:33 pm

ozwanderers wrote:CraigRat,
I've now placed my swaggie in the cache and want to register that fact to show his current location. The options on the right of screen show "dropping" a swaggie as an Outside Aust/NZ option only. Why is that? I would have assumed you could "grab" a swaggie from his existing cache and "drop" him in another anywhere, not just outside the country.

Also, any idea when the changes will be made to the main website to allow an image to be uploaded for the gallery?
Cheers
Oz

You need to go to the CACHE to drop off the swaggie... when you get to tyhe caches page there is an option on the right to drop a swaggie

Sorry about the delay in the reply, I've been (and still are in) NZ and I've been net-less for 2 weeks ....<shake><nervous twitch>

GIN51E · Post by **GIN51E** » 18 April 07 12:03 am

ozwanderers wrote:Hi all,
I'm new to this game but have watched the process since I first found out about it several months ago. About to place my first cache and I'm wondering why swaggies aren't more popular? I'm planning to put a swaggie in the cache and look forward to it moving, if only across SE Qld. But when I look at the swaggies created recently there are very few. Am I the only one who finds this side of GC interesting?
Cheers
Oz

Why no interest?

Well check out how well mine went.

http://geocaching.com.au/swaggie/sw0031

a couple of dogs then picked it up probably 1 1/2 years ago and despite emails and messages it still hasn't been logged or relocated to another cache.

i guess due to that i haven't had a great deal of interest in making another swaggie but thats not because i don't like them, they are a great idea and we could do with a few more of them out in more caches.

Don't mind me just having a late night whinge

'GIN51E starts looking around for a new item to turn into a swaggie'

zactyl · Post by **zactyl** » 26 May 07 10:44 pm

Just picked up my first Swaggie today! ozwanderers Wanderoo.
A few suggestions:
Search box at the top of the page when clicking on Swaggies tab, or instructions to use the search box in the top right, which needs to return results for Swaggies as well, if I search for the swaggie "wanderoo" I only get results for
"Caches with names like "wanderoo".
And the tracking number doesn't work either:
"Caches with names like "sw00063"
So playing dumb the only apparent way to find it is to scroll through an ever growing list. I can see it listed on the GCA cache page, but I'm coming to www.geocaching.com.au to log a swaggie, not to visit the cache page, and we don't want it to be any harder than it has to be for a GC cacher visiting for the first time. The website address, Tracking Number, Name and Password are all the information I have.

Error when I try to edit my post to add the thumbnail after attaching an image:

Warning: pg_exec() [function.pg-exec]: Query failed: out of memory for query result in /home/geocaching/svn/gca-prod/include/gca_database.php on line 73
Error: Invalid Log
This log does not exist or you do not have permission to edit it

No icon for swaggie logs on the Cacher page, just a black dot next to the cache name.

No cache names listed on the Swaggie page, just "Dropped Wanderoo" "Grabbed Wanderoo".

Post by **CraigRat** » 26 May 07 11:03 pm

Swaggies don't seem to be in the search doover, I'll see what can be done about adding them in some way.

Given the low use of swaggies to date there are still a few useability issues we need to hammer out. We (the developers) know HOW to use em, therefore we don't hit the same obstacles that normal users do... so feedback like this is REALLY needed!

I'm not in a fit state right now to play with the code (curse you, $9 deathbag.....curse you!), but I'll look during the week to see what I can do.

zactyl · Post by **zactyl** » 26 May 07 11:22 pm

CraigRat wrote:Given the low use of swaggies to date there are still a few useability issues we need to hammer out. We (the developers) know HOW to use em, therefore we don't hit the same obstacles that normal users do... so feedback like this is REALLY needed!

That's why I grabbed this one

Not a fan of trackables myself!

But a fan of GCA and usability, yes.

penguin · Post by **penguin** » 28 July 07 7:45 pm

Hey guys - swaggie question here:

I recently picked up a swaggie from the cache "Shark Territory" (GCZFP2).

The swaggie is SW0072 "Jelly Belly".

I have tried twice to grab the swaggie, using the "Grab this swaggie" link, but it doesn't appear to let me grab it.

It would appear that the swaggie had not been "dropped" by the previous person that moved it, and I'm wondering if that is why I can't grab it, or whether I have just had some sort of brain fart.

Any thoughts?

Nilbog_Aus · Post by **Nilbog_Aus** » 28 July 07 8:17 pm

Would it be possible to add a number of swaggies moved line to the stats page?

I know "its not about the numbers"

but its still fun to see the numbers.

Post by **caughtatwork** » 28 July 07 9:37 pm

penguin wrote:Hey guys - swaggie question here:

I recently picked up a swaggie from the cache "Shark Territory" (GCZFP2).

The swaggie is SW0072 "Jelly Belly".

I have tried twice to grab the swaggie, using the "Grab this swaggie" link, but it doesn't appear to let me grab it.

It would appear that the swaggie had not been "dropped" by the previous person that moved it, and I'm wondering if that is why I can't grab it, or whether I have just had some sort of brain fart.

Any thoughts?

http://geocaching.com.au/swaggie/SW0072
What happens when you hit the Grab this swaggie link from the Actions (Aus/NZ) section?

forthferalz · Post by **forthferalz** » 29 July 07 12:58 am

CraigRat wrote:oh, I forgot to say thanks for the feedback about the bugs, it's stuff like that that helps us improve the geocaching experiences of our users!

I enjoy ANY type of trackable - and of the 5 or 6 types I've tried the swaggie is pretty easy to use so thanks for all the work. I've been playing with some close to home so I can see how they work (or don't) before dropping some for real. The swaggies main user drawback seems to be that they do not retain an automatic link to the caches they have visited. They would be ideal for introducing a school class, scout troop or other large group to Geocaching otherwise.

Post by **caughtatwork** » 29 July 07 10:18 am

forthferalz wrote:
CraigRat wrote:oh, I forgot to say thanks for the feedback about the bugs, it's stuff like that that helps us improve the geocaching experiences of our users!
I enjoy ANY type of trackable - and of the 5 or 6 types I've tried the swaggie is pretty easy to use so thanks for all the work. I've been playing with some close to home so I can see how they work (or don't) before dropping some for real. The swaggies main user drawback seems to be that they do not retain an automatic link to the caches they have visited. They would be ideal for introducing a school class, scout troop or other large group to Geocaching otherwise.

The swaggie page will contain the caches that the swaggie has visited in the next release.

penguin · Post by **penguin** » 29 July 07 10:27 am

caughtatwork wrote:
http://geocaching.com.au/swaggie/SW0072
What happens when you hit the Grab this swaggie link from the Actions (Aus/NZ) section?

I fill in the password, add my comment, hit "grab" and it then tells me that my move has been saved to Jelly Belly.

The move doesn't appear to have been saved on any of my three attempts to grab the swaggie. I can't work out if I have done anything wrong here.

Post by **caughtatwork** » 29 July 07 11:49 am

penguin wrote:
caughtatwork wrote:
http://geocaching.com.au/swaggie/SW0072
What happens when you hit the Grab this swaggie link from the Actions (Aus/NZ) section?
I fill in the password, add my comment, hit "grab" and it then tells me that my move has been saved to Jelly Belly.

The move doesn't appear to have been saved on any of my three attempts to grab the swaggie. I can't work out if I have done anything wrong here.

Ahhhhhhh!

There is a bug in that at the moment a swaggie cannot be grabbed from a cacher, only a cache. Thank for highlighting this.

I have updated the database to simulate a drop of the swaggie into the cache you grabbed it from, so you should now be able to grab the swaggie out of the cache GCZFP2.

I'll report this bug to our swaggie developer expert for rectification.

penguin · Post by **penguin** » 29 July 07 7:17 pm

Groovy. Thanks for that. Jelly Baby is now on the move again.

Cannibal Smurf · Post by **Cannibal Smurf** » 02 August 07 7:49 pm

So, to answer the initial question . . . they are too hard to use. 

I love my trackables but don't bother with Swaggies because they are a pain in the behind. Also there is no tracking of Swaggies you've found in your profile, it may not be all about the numbers but if there is no simple way of tracking the Swaggies I have picked up. . . I'm likely not to bother.

Sounds like some work is being done to make them more user friendly, so I might look at making a couple and sending them out. So perhaps a FOUND section in the Swaggies tab listing the Swaggies you've found OR better yet, a SWAGGIES option in the MY tab listing Swaggies Found and Swaggies Owned

Another suggestion, icons for swaggies. Maybe a default icon of a Swag & you can customise the Icon for your own Swaggies when creating them (or later) if you choose.

Geocaching Australia

Swaggies - why aren't they being used?

Swaggie process

Re: Swaggie process

Re: Swaggies - why aren't they being used?