Groundspeak Portal

As a newbie I want to ask whats the difference between waymarking and geocaching? The question is probably obvious and I probably seem really stupid right now but I don't know what to do!!!! Can anyone help?

Geocaching, as I'm sure you know is taking a GPS and finding something someone else has hidden, or hiding something yourself and wait for others to find.

Waymarking started out as "virtual caches", things that people found while out looking for for actual caches. Eventually, it became its own game and is now called Waymarking. You find and post what you find according to whatever category your find will fit. You can also post a visit to a waymark somebody else posted. Check out the list of categories, there's a lot of them, so you're sure to find at least one that'll interest you. Check the category's long description to see what's expected to post a waymark. If it seems complicated check out other waymarks posted to get a better idea of how it's set up.

Also, when you get a minute, check out the FAQs.

Good Luck and Happy Waymarking,
TF7

I always think of it boiling down this way:  In Geocaching, people place containers at places they find interesting in order to share the place with others. (some Geocachers really enjoy highway guardrails...etc. but we'll let that slide)  In Waymarking, people make waymark pages to highlight things that are interesting in order to share the place with others.  In Geocaching, the container is the find, in Waymarking, the place is the find.

yramc600:

In Geocaching, the container is the find, in Waymarking, the place is the find.

I think that is a good summation and also why I like Waymarking.

Fatcat

fatcat161:

yramc600:

In Geocaching, the container is the find, in Waymarking, the place is the find.

I think that is a good summation and also why I like Waymarking.

Fatcat

Yes this is a good summation. A bit more history though.

Not only is the waymark like a virtual cache it is similar to a locationless cache. Waymarking replaced both at the geocaching site. Locationless cache types were locked completely in geocaching in 2005 when waymarking came about. Virtuals were grandfathered and allowed to live in a lingering state on geocaching.com.

Finding the item for the category is very similar to the locationless cache experience. Creating the page for the item you found is similar (but not identical) to the virtual cache hide. Visiting a waymark is similar to visiting a virtual cache but most times without the additional logging requirements that virtuals had. 

Some categories tried to incorporate the logging aspect of virtual caching early on but that has gone by the wayside for the most part with the exception of the Best Kept Secrets category which was designed to fulfill the virtual cache mold.

Early on I included the options to have a virtual cache type question in my categories as an alternative to the required photo but very few took the hint and I eliminated the wording some time ago since it had become archaic.

Waymarking is two fold.