Site Update Dec. 20 2013

[Corfman Clan]

Hi,

I just pushed out a site update. The changes were significant. I tried to test things thoroughly though I may have missed something. If you see anything not working right, please let me know here.

The updates include:

• On the geocacher page, I changed the sort order for Owner Find Accolades to be by points, then ranking instead of by ranking and then points. I meant to change the list to show the points but that will have to wait for the next update.
• Revamped how a user's session data is stored and managed. Session data includes a logged in user's LonelyCache profile data and Geocaching.com profile data. This was needed to be able to add member features that take advantage of the Geocaching.com Live API.
• Your LonelyCache Most Wanted list is now available. This is only available for LonelyCache members that are logged in. Your home location as set on Geocaching.com is used as your home base. By default, a cache must be worth 25 or more points with the next find and be within 100 miles of your home base. If you are a premium member, then caches on your ignore list will not be shown as most wanted. These three items may be changed and the list updated. By clearing the minimum cache points, only caches that will increase your backcountry score will be used. At this time, the home base cannot be modified other than changing your home location on Geocaching.com. Premium Member Only caches will only show up on a Premium Member's Most Wanted list.
• On the geocacher page, when logged in and viewing your page, a link to your LonelyCache Most Wanted has been added. This link is at the bottom of the "Finds" summary near the top of the page.
• The query to retrieve nearby caches has been updated to limit the distance from the cache to a 100 mile search radius. It may also include the cache in the search results. The search now responds much more quickly.
• Added Premium member Ignore List handling. Basically, a user's ignore list will be retrieved when needed on a session basis. This means that once per user session, the Ignore list will be retrieved and saved. This allows the user to make changes to the Ignore list (add or remove caches) and have those changes show up in LonelyCache. Changes to the Ignore List will not show up on LonelyCache until the user's next session. Currently the Ignore list is only used for the Most Wanted but it's use is also planned to be added to the Nearby Cache search.

Enjoy,
Russell

[CopperWings]

I have noticed several problems.
First, my recent finds are not updating. I found seven caches Thursday and entered them late last night. Only one has appeared on lonely cache.
Second, I can't access my profile. I get the login page instead.
Third is the minor point that my avatar picture isn't displayed.

[Corfman Clan]

I have noticed several problems.
First, my recent finds are not updating. I found seven caches Thursday and entered them late last night. Only one has appeared on lonely cache.
Second, I can't access my profile. I get the login page instead.
Third is the minor point that my avatar picture isn't displayed.

It appears that, for some reason, LonelyCache is unable to retrieve your Geocaching.com profile information. That would be why your avatar isn't being shown and why your finds aren't being updated. Perhaps the access key LonelyCache uses to access your account is no longer valid? Normally I'd say to go to the LonelyCache profile page and authorize LonelyCache again. Unfortunately, an unanticipated side affect of this update is that you can't do that without having received your geocaching.com profile information. I'll work on a fix for that.

[ktTris]

Hey Russ,
Something seems to be broken. I'm not getting my most recent caches.
Oh and now I see copperwings said the same thing.

[Fugads]

Nice update. I haven't found a cache in a while, so maybe I'm missing any issues relating to recent cache finds... better fix that by getting out. I tried out the Most Wanted feature, and was at first surprised to see one of my own caches listed. You would think that the list would filter out your own caches. But it is the only one of my caches that is unfound, and it makes sense to me now that I think about it. This cache would improve my score if someone were to go out and find it. Maybe it's time for me to offer to take someone up there? Still, perhaps it would make more sense if it was filtered out from the most wanted list. Another aspect which made me smile was when I tried the filter for caches that would add to my backcountry score: there aren't any within 100 miles . So, thanks for the fun update, I look forward to playing with this feature a little more.

[ktTris]

So it's not just I don't see recent finds. I can't click on my name at the top right next to "log out." I don't get "you've found" and "you haven't found" when I go to another CO.

[Corfman Clan]

I tried out the Most Wanted feature, and was at first surprised to see one of my own caches listed. You would think that the list would filter out your own caches. But it is the only one of my caches that is unfound, and it makes sense to me now that I think about it. This cache would improve my score if someone were to go out and find it. Maybe it's time for me to offer to take someone up there? Still, perhaps it would make more sense if it was filtered out from the most wanted list.

When searching for the most wanted, owned caches and found caches should be excluded. The check for owned caches also checked whether they were found or not. That check has now been removed. Thanks for pointing this out.

[Corfman Clan]

So it's not just I don't see recent finds. I can't click on my name at the top right next to "log out." I don't get "you've found" and "you haven't found" when I go to another CO.

I believe this is all part of the issue with not retrieving your Geocaching.com profile information.

Just for grins, please try logging out and back in. Logging out will end your session. Logging back in will start a new session and another attempt to retrieve your profile information from Geocaching.com will be made. Perhaps the new attempt will be successful. Let me know if that helps or not.

Thanks

[Corfman Clan]

Okay, I found out that LonelyCache is being picky about the case you use when logging in. It is also picky about leading and trailing spaces. For example, if I log in as "corfman clan" instead of "Corfman Clan," I see the behavior that ktTris and CopperWings describe.

Until I update the site to not be so rigid with user names, the work around is to log in to LonelyCache with the exact user name as on geocaching.com.

ktTris, use "ktTris", not "kttris".

CopperWings, use "CopperWings" not "Copper Wings " (note the space) and if that doesn't work then maybe I have it backwards so try "CopperWings " (note the space).

[rocketsciguy]

Here's my experience so far...

LC.com seemed to be having trouble retrieving my profile from GC.com, despite logging out and back in, using a clean cookie session. I would log in, be returned to the home page, my LC.com username would be shown in the upper right next to Log Out, but there would be no shortcut link to go to my Geocacher page. I click on Profile to re-authorize, and it would just take me back to the Log In page. I theorized that my problem is that my GC.com username is no longer the same as my LC.com username, so I started a clean session with LC.com, created a new account with my new username and authorized it, et voilà, the site starts behaving as I would expect having logged in.

So a tip, make sure your LonelyCache.com username matches your Geocaching.com username, otherwise you may run into trouble.

Next, I went to my recent finds. Some were showing, but not all, so I went to my Profile page, checked Update Recent Find (and set the correct time zone) and clicked the Update button. Gave it a minute, then went back to my Recent Finds. No update. Something's not right there.

Tried the Most Wanted list. Cool! I have my new wish list! But I immediately notice a glaring omission. There is a 3.75+ year-old unfound puzzle cache less than one mile from my home coords (sadly not owned by me), which is not on my Ignore List... and it doesn't show on my Most Wanted. To me it was a "CP/Mile" score of 524, so I don't know if that makes it fall off the top of the chart (overflow error? ) or if there is a catch that prevents caches from showing that are less than 1 mile away.

Will have to play around a little more to see the rest of the changes, like the nearest to cache. Great new features, Russ, but still a couple bugs looks like. Thanks!

[Corfman Clan]

So a tip, make sure your LonelyCache.com username matches your Geocaching.com username, otherwise you may run into trouble.

Yes, LonelyCache does not handle Geocaching.com user name changes well at all. I'm still debating on the best way to deal with this but in reality I haven't spent much time on it.

[Corfman Clan]

Next, I went to my recent finds. Some were showing, but not all, so I went to my Profile page, checked Update Recent Find (and set the correct time zone) and clicked the Update button. Gave it a minute, then went back to my Recent Finds. No update. Something's not right there.

Actually, everything is fine here. At least that is the behavior I would expect. Let me explain. When a user first logs in to LonelyCache (starts a new session), a job is kicked off to retrieve that user's recent finds if provisioned to do so. When your session was started, your account wasn't provisioned to update recent finds so the job to do so wasn't initiated. You updated your account to update recent finds so the next time you start a new session, your recent finds should be updated. I'm not sure how easy it would be to kick that job off if you change the provisioning but I'll check.

A session ends after some amount of time with no activity. I think 15 minutes, but I'm not sure. It will also end if you log out.

[Corfman Clan]

Tried the Most Wanted list. Cool! I have my new wish list! But I immediately notice a glaring omission. There is a 3.75+ year-old unfound puzzle cache less than one mile from my home coords (sadly not owned by me), which is not on my Ignore List... and it doesn't show on my Most Wanted. To me it was a "CP/Mile" score of 524, so I don't know if that makes it fall off the top of the chart (overflow error? ) or if there is a catch that prevents caches from showing that are less than 1 mile away.

The cache should be included in the list. Would you pm me with your home coordinates, your user name, and the cache in question and I'll investigate why it isn't showing up.

One note, for caches less than a mile away, 1 is used for the divisor, not the actual distance. Basically, if dist < 1 mile, use nfCPs otherwise use nfCPs / dist. It didn't make a lot of sense to inflate the Pts/mile for caches very close and it was a nice way to avoid the divide by zero error for a cache at the same location.

[CopperWings]

I found the cause of my problem. Corfman Clan was right that it was due to precision in spelling. The autocomplete function on my smart phone automatically added a space after my name.

[ktTris]

Ah ha! CopperWings's note about autocorrect led me in the right direction. I found my saved passwords area and deleted all the lonelycache website saved passwords. Now I can type the T and it stays put.
Thanks for this fun website!

[ktTris]

Wow, the "most wanted" list is interesting. Some caches I've been saying I'll get "someday" have surprisingly high points.

One enhancement I'd like is the ability to sort by max points rather than having them sorted by points per mile.
thanks again

[Corfman Clan]

Wow, the "most wanted" list is interesting. Some caches I've been saying I'll get "someday" have surprisingly high points.

One enhancement I'd like is the ability to sort by max points rather than having them sorted by points per mile.
thanks again

Yep, I agree. I was thinking it would be nice to be able to sort by points/mile (current), miles, or points. The changes were getting too extensive though, so I decided it would be best to reign things in and deploy.

[rocketsciguy]

Next, I went to my recent finds. Some were showing, but not all, so I went to my Profile page, checked Update Recent Find (and set the correct time zone) and clicked the Update button. Gave it a minute, then went back to my Recent Finds. No update. Something's not right there.

Actually, everything is fine here. At least that is the behavior I would expect. Let me explain. When a user first logs in to LonelyCache (starts a new session), a job is kicked off to retrieve that user's recent finds if provisioned to do so. When your session was started, your account wasn't provisioned to update recent finds so the job to do so wasn't initiated. You updated your account to update recent finds so the next time you start a new session, your recent finds should be updated. I'm not sure how easy it would be to kick that job off if you change the provisioning but I'll check.

A session ends after some amount of time with no activity. I think 15 minutes, but I'm not sure. It will also end if you log out.

And as one would expect by this explanation, when I returned to the site this evening (and started a new session), my recent finds quickly appeared. All is well. I would consider adding a note on the profile page (perhaps that only appears after clicking the Update button) that says something like, "Please log out and back in for changes to take effect." Even if that were a slight fib (maybe the timezone change is immediate), it may preempt some questions when users fiddle with these settings.

From a user experience frame of mind, when I click a UI button and see it "depress and release", my impression is that I've told the computer "go do this now", especially in this context where the button says "Update" and the checkbox says "Update Recent Finds". Those words plus the button give an impression which does not completely match reality. I think the reality is just fine, but a tweak to the UI could help prevent the misconception.

[rocketsciguy]

Tried the Most Wanted list. Cool! I have my new wish list! But I immediately notice a glaring omission. There is a 3.75+ year-old unfound puzzle cache less than one mile from my home coords (sadly not owned by me), which is not on my Ignore List... and it doesn't show on my Most Wanted....

The cache should be included in the list. Would you pm me with your home coordinates, your user name, and the cache in question and I'll investigate why it isn't showing up....

PM sent with requested info. I can provide a screenshot too if that helps. Thanks!

[rocketsciguy]

Wow, the "most wanted" list is interesting. Some caches I've been saying I'll get "someday" have surprisingly high points.

One enhancement I'd like is the ability to sort by max points rather than having them sorted by points per mile.
thanks again

Yep, I agree. I was thinking it would be nice to be able to sort by points/mile (current), miles, or points. The changes were getting too extensive though, so I decided it would be best to reign things in and deploy.

Ditto to that here. New features invite new requests. Having minimum CP values and maximum distance is a great idea. Great job getting this up and running.

Would love to eventually have column sorting and on-the-fly movable center point (basecamp) with smart enough geocoding to recognize coords of different formats and ZIP codes and city/state and street addresses, but which can be quickly reset to the home coords. And then, put all those on an embedded Google or USGS Topo map (fully annotated), select/deselect caches of interest, save or print, and download a GPX as well. I must be pretty tired, because I think I'm already dreaming....