What's new on Geocaching Australia

Discussion about the Geocaching Australia web site
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CraigRat
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Post by CraigRat » 20 February 08 1:41 am

Spindoc Bob wrote:Craigrat - regarding the zones feature. This is EXCELLENT. It puts the onus back on the hider to make the decision.
Thats part of the idea....it allows hiders to make a more informed choice...can't be a bad thing!

I'm about to add a few more zone categories, some serious, some fun, some restrictive, some informative to get people interested in contributing.... I was actually going to contact a certain podcast to pimp the idea once I get a few admin functions completed...

The zones stuff will eventually become part of the query functions so you will be able to search for 'caches in urban zones' or 'caches in the Mount Wellington area' and stuff like that.... I am hoping to see it used in ways that we haven't even thought about... already I've had emails from people wanting to do some exotic things with it....

I'm keeping all the restricted zone types as being moderated for now to prevent people doing strange things like tracing the outline of Australia to prevent any caches being listed :lol: (not that the system forbids it, but you get the drift...)
Is there a database already around that contains a list of NSW Parks boundaries?
I hope so, or I hope someone is keen enough to start adding some of the more prominent ones (like Lane Cove :lol:)

I'll be pushing the zones a bit harder once I sort out the interface and add more categories.

Glad you like the idea!

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caughtatwork
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Post by caughtatwork » 25 February 08 9:14 pm

Page Layouts

You may see some differences in some of the page layouts.

There is no structural change to the content, only the sidebar which contained links to a cachers information has been removed.

This permits more "real estate" to be utilised by the useful content on the page and allows a single point of access for all information relating to a cacher.

Before this change, there were bits and pieces of cacher information spread around the place. Some via the cacher page, some in the sidebar, etc. This change is intended to keep the access to a cachers information tidier and more intuitive.

All of the relevant cacher information is now available from the default cacher page via the new subtabs.

You can get to a cachers information pages by clicking on their cacher name link anytime it appears.

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McPhan
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Post by McPhan » 02 March 08 5:40 pm

There are some cute new icons on log pages etc.

Problem?

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caughtatwork
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Post by caughtatwork » 02 March 08 6:43 pm

McPhan wrote:There are some cute new icons on log pages etc.

Problem?
Problem? With my code? Pssssssshhhhhht!

I have a page or two left to complete, but I suppose that the remainder are obvious enough that the announcement should have been made.

They were published just before I went caching with the family this afternoon, so apologies for the lateness of the notification.

http://forum.geocaching.com.au/viewtopi ... light=icon

This that thread, some 2 and half years ago, we touted the desire for cache icons. Well, I finally remembered they were there and so the site is now littered with cache icons.

Most of them should be easy enough to identify what they mean, but if you mouse over them, they should also have alternative text telling you what they are. No more blindness with regards to what sort of cache you are looking at.

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SamCarter
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Post by SamCarter » 02 March 08 10:23 pm

Like the new gca cache-type icons, and the new "centre" stats that I spotted a few days ago (see tronador's separate thread).

However, I hardly recognised caughtatwork in his new avatar. :shock: Punch card? (I tried to enlarge it but it is a very small image (and sensibly so ... but ... !))

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caughtatwork
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Post by caughtatwork » 02 March 08 10:32 pm

SamCarter wrote:However, I hardly recognised caughtatwork in his new avatar. :shock: Punch card? (I tried to enlarge it but it is a very small image (and sensibly so ... but ... !))
No idea what you mean :twisted:

Swampy
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Post by Swampy » 02 March 08 11:25 pm

caughtatwork wrote:
SamCarter wrote:I hardly recognised caughtatwork in his new avatar. :shock: Punch card? (I tried to enlarge it but it is a very small image (and sensibly so ... but ... !))
No idea what you mean :twisted:
Looks like an early CPU chip to me....
Been wrong before tho... :shock:

Edit:Now its storage tape. For how long?
Last edited by Swampy on 03 March 08 9:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

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SamCarter
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Post by SamCarter » 03 March 08 7:39 am

Ahh, Swampy, you blinked and missed the one in between. If it changes again, you're going to look as daft suggesting that his avatar is a chip as I now do suggesting it is/was a punch card. :D

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caughtatwork
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Post by caughtatwork » 03 March 08 9:14 am

Swampy wrote:
caughtatwork wrote:
SamCarter wrote:I hardly recognised caughtatwork in his new avatar. :shock: Punch card? (I tried to enlarge it but it is a very small image (and sensibly so ... but ... !))
No idea what you mean :twisted:
Looks like an early CPU chip to me....
Been wrong before tho... :shock:
Bwuh?

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calumphing_four
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Post by calumphing_four » 03 March 08 12:32 pm

caughtatwork wrote:
Swampy wrote:
caughtatwork wrote:
SamCarter wrote:I hardly recognised caughtatwork in his new avatar. :shock: Punch card? (I tried to enlarge it but it is a very small image (and sensibly so ... but ... !))
No idea what you mean :twisted:
Looks like an early CPU chip to me....
Been wrong before tho... :shock:
Bwuh?
Maybe this should be his new avatar. I'm suprised at how few actually know what these are:
Image
Most think they are for a hoop toss game.

Cheers 8)

smerrall
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Post by smerrall » 03 March 08 6:52 pm

Been a while since I've seen a tape write ring, but I guess c@w's latest avatar must have them in the back in order to write the code...

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caughtatwork
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Post by caughtatwork » 04 March 08 11:06 am

People who rate "cache" also rated ...

There are now over 10,000 cache ratings here at Geocaching Australia.

To better help you identify which caches you might want to go about finding, you can now see a list of caches that people have rated the same.

eg. If caughtatwork rated a cache a 4 and Facitman rated it a 5, then you can see all of the other caches that caughtatwork rated a 4 and Facitman rated a 5.

This should give you an insight into seeking other caches in the same area that have been rated the same. They are sorted by distance from the original cache, but the distance will be shown from your home co-ordinates.

Example:
http://geocaching.com.au/cache/gcqark
This cache has two ratings. One a 4 and one a 5.
pickupfamily rated it a 4.
SecretSquirrel-BJC rated it a 5.

If you click on Also Rated it will take you to this page.
http://geocaching.com.au/search/?ra=gcqark

You can now see the caches that pickupfamily rated as a 4 and SecretSquirrel-BJC rated as a 5.

If you think you'll like the same caches as pickupfamily or SecretSquirrel-BJC, then you now have a list that you can easily view and choose from to make the most of your caching experience.

How do you get there?
From any cache page that has been rated, on the right hand side there is a new link called Also Rated. Click that and some magic should happen.

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caughtatwork
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Post by caughtatwork » 12 March 08 10:01 pm

My Profile Content.

You may have noticed a few "consolidations" over the last few weeks to bring all of a particular cachers information under one page and set of subtabs.

This has been done to reduce server load as well as great suggestions from the greater community.

Up until now the basic information on the cacher page has been, er, um, basic. It is based on your information from your forum profile.

We are now offering a new function where you can include additional information about your and your caching adventures, using a simple WYSIWYG (what you see if what you get) editor.

Your basic information will continue to come from your forum profile. We hope to reduce the need to update profile information in more that one place when we upgrade the forum software.

Your new funky information will come from a new input function which you can find here:

http://www.geocaching.com.au/my/profile/

As an example of what the page layout will look like, you can check out my profile page which will give you an idea of the sorts of things you can do all with a few clicks of a button or two.

http://geocaching.com.au/cacher/caughtatwork

The WYSIWYG editor should work in Firefox, IE6, IE7, Netscape 8, but regrettably not Opera.

Opera users will see a basic page where you can construct your HTML outside of the tool and simply paste it in. This is a known problem with Opera and the developers of the WYSIWYG editor are working with the developers of Opera to come up with a solution.

You will need to have Javascript enabled which means your little wonder toys like phones and PDA's and stuff probably won't work. Sorry about that.

We hope you enjoy this new functionality and use it to convey more about you, your adventures and friends.

Jezzza_Xtreme
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Post by Jezzza_Xtreme » 13 March 08 5:14 am

As much as I love all the new features of the website, I have to say I'm not the biggest fan of the new cache icons. I don't mind if they stay the same, but as a suggestion, maybe if they were a little smaller and a little rounder, they would fit in better with the website. The little buttons at the top of this forum page are exactly what I mean. I would be happy to make some samples!

Having said that I like the way my 'homepage' [I have the 'JezzzaXtreme' page as my GCA bookmark] has evolved and become more organised over the past few months. I especially like the 'logs in Google Earth' as it seems to be less of a pain than the GC.com version of the same.

Thanks!

PS. I made something.... Image although it's like 13k.

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caughtatwork
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Post by caughtatwork » 13 March 08 9:32 am

All of the icons across the site are 16x16. Some look smaller because they only have the "interesting" component shown and the surrounding area is transparent. Anything smaller than 16x16 tends to cause problems in clarity and for those who are sight impaired. We found 16x16 to be a decent compromise.

We'd be happy with having someone design new icons for the caches.

If you go with rounded corners, please ensure that the images can handle transparency (i.e. .gif or .png) as white corners on a .jpg will show up white on a blue background.

Please resurrect this thread which discusses cache icons.
http://forum.geocaching.com.au/viewtopi ... light=icon

Then the community can provide feedback on your proposals and come to agreement as to the icon sets.

The following icons would be needed.

cito
earth
event
letterbox
locationless
moveable
multicache
mystery
other
podcache
traditional
virtual
webcam
wherigo

Thanks for your feedback.

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