Groundspeak Portal

Starting this new topic to collect a list of things that all of you would view as the critical items to be tended to.  These can be things you want added or things that don't work properly in your eyes.  We are looking for items that a majority have raised not one-off items.

Things we know already include, for example

• [FEATURE] - Pocket Queries
• [BUG] - Cannot filter out already visited listings

Please use that format to post here and a brief reason or demonstration, with a link if applicable.   This is also not to say that everything can be addressed and some items might be handled with a different solution.  It is more to gather a list of big wish items that have been frequently raised over time.  We also know about the aptly named abandoned category issue.

 

Okay...

[FEATURE] - Image Share

Being able to tie an already uploaded image to multiple Waymarks and/or Galleries. I'd rather see images uploaded to my own gallery then take the link to it and add it into a field on page two of the Wizard. I do think that the image must be stored on a Groundspeak server though.

BQ

[BUG] Random time out errors encompassing the entire site. Happens on IE, Firefox and Chrome. Reminds me when GC.com would crash from everyone posting their cache runs and travel bug logs after events on the weekends.

[FEATURE] Searching for new waymarks posted since a certain date, instead of 1 month, 6 months etc.

[FEATURE] Automatically plugging in the country and state based on the coordinates inputted.

[FEATURE] Copying an owned waymark for cross posting purposes. If it copied the Title, Coords, city/state at the very least, that would help as it seems this and the photos takes the longest to complete. Even better would be copying the Short & Long descriptions, and the ultimate is if it would copy only the owner's originally posted photos. (Copying someone else's waymark & data/photos for cross-posting purposes would also be great, but maybe there's an ownership/rights issue?)

[BUG] When clicking on "Add new Waymark" it times out. Refreshing the page usually doesn't work, nor re-clicking. Often clicking on "Show additional information" in the description area, then clicking on "Add New Waymark" does the the trick. This happens in IE and Firefox but more frequently in Google Chrome.

[BUG] In Google Chrome, when you select the United States drop down, the State drop down remains static and the states do not appear. Once you click "Continue" to the next screen, then it gives you the error that you did not select a state and the drop down box becomes active.

[BUG] Filtering in general is hit or miss on whether it errors out. Especially when Found by Me or Owned by Me is checked, but it also does it on plain searches from the home page.

[BUG]? Once a category has been denied in peer review, the group and owner no longer has access to that category text and has to re-create everything from scratch. Perhaps there is a way that I don't know about?

[FEATURE] When the group needs to vote on a category (during the Call for Officer Vote stage), it would be nice to have a link to that category that pulls up in another window so you know what you're voting on.  Also it would be nice to include notes in addition to the Yeah/Nay/Abstain. It should work similarly to the waymark vote page.

[FEATURE] Ability to expand/collapse all the visits/logs on a waymark instead of clicking on them one at a time.

[FEATURE] Sort waymarks I've visited by the visit date instead of the date the WM was approved/listed.

[FEATURE] Ability to view a gallery of all the waymarks I own, then each photo would link to the log entry. This is probably a daunting long-term task. With geocaching, most people do not post their pictures and since most people own less geocaches than waymarks, its not so bad to review the galleries of each of those caches. With waymarks, there really should be a photo for every visit and when you start having hundreds of waymarks, it's not practical to view the individual gallery for each waymark. I receive the emails when someone visits my waymark, but its not really practical to click on each email to see that person's photo (especially when the photo is the main requirement/proof for visiting).

I'm sure I'll think of more, but thanks for asking all of us for input!

[FEATURE] A "Find another player" lookup area like on GC.com.

[FEATURE] A link or notation of the "grid coordinates" listed on the category page.

[FEATURE] A Google Earth KML layer for ALL waymarks, similar to the Geocaching layer. The current KML files for our owned and visited are cool, but are static files. (and need some editing to get them to work right. I guess that's technically a bug)

dopeyduck:

[FEATURE] A "Find another player" lookup area like on GC.com.

[FEATURE] A Google Earth KML layer for ALL waymarks, similar to the Geocaching layer. The current KML files for our owned and visited are cool, but are static files. (and need some editing to get them to work right. I guess that's technically a bug)

Both of these already exist.

Player look up: Go to your MY PAGE tab, remove your name and enter the name of the player you want to look at.





Done simply by taking my account name out and entering yours. I can also then click on various links there to look at your stuff. But the links in the right column still route to my stuff.

As for GOOGLE EARTH to see them all, install the .KML found on the Home Page seen here



BQ

BQ= Player look up: Go to your MY PAGE tab, remove your name and enter the name of the player you want to look at

DOH! I never noticed that box before. Thanks. I guess I was stuck in the GC way of doing things. :-)

And re: the KML plug in, I can't wait to check that out!

[edit re: Google Earth - I'm now holding my head in shame that I didn't know this was here all along after two multi-state road trips. It's awesome! Between this and WM functionality in GSAK, I'm just giddy!]

dopeyduck:

[BUG]? Once a category has been denied in peer review, the group and owner no longer has access to that category text and has to re-create everything from scratch. Perhaps there is a way that I don't know about?

This is really not a bug but is working as designed.  The reason being was to prevent category being resubmitted without being reworked. Whether the method used is good is debatable.

[bug] Photo uploading is still problematic.  Now we have to resize all photos.  Even then, I'd say about 1 in 20 attempts to upload fails.   It just goes through as if it uploaded, but it just reverts back to the start, and the upload has to be redone.  The second attempt goes through.  It seems random.  Sometimes it is the same photo that has already been uploaded for another waymark.

[bug] There are still seemingly random errors - time outs, invalid objects, SQL not found, etc.  (I've stopped collecting and submitting these error reports).  Better than it was, but still annoying.

[feature] Although we've been told it can be done soon, being able to sort for submitted but unreviewed waymarks is a big thing for a lot of us. Same for search for waymarks that have been declined in review.  Got some of these I could now edit and resubmit, but they're buried too deep to find going through page by page.

[feature] Several things need to be added to the peer review process.  The most critical is some sort of notification system for the results of peer review.  After a category completes peer review, there should be some way for the community to know if it passed or failed, instead of waiting to see if it becomes visible in the directory.  There have been some unpleasant experiences with this.  Personally, I think the vote counts should be made available.  Seems odd to vote on something and not really know the results.  This should be more of an open process.

[feature] Perhaps not major, but a couple that I know have been requested for several years -- a multi-option variable (choose all that apply) and a year-only date field.  Also, would like to see the state map visible to those with non-U.S. locations.

[feature] Although others have mentioned it, I'll chime in.  I think at the very top of many of our lists is the ability to upload photos once and be able to use them for multiple waymarks.  As the number of cross-posting possiblities increases, this is becoming more and more critical.  I have no idea how this could be implemented, but it would be a huge boon to us all!

--There are more, of course, but these are the critical ones as far as I'm concerned.  I personally woulld probably not use PQ's but that seems to be a biggie to many others.

Thanks for asking!

Larry (silverquill)

[FEATURE] Website variable could identify as (optional) when it's optional like other variables do.

[BUG} Each category has it own sub-forum. Each waymark has an option to post  to the category forum. When a post is made in the forum it generates a link referring back to the waymark the post is associated with. The link does not work.

It would be nice to promote this feature somehow. It could be very useful but most waymarkers do not know it exists.

dopeyduck:

[FEATURE] Automatically plugging in the country and state based on the coordinates inputted.

Thinking about this some more, I realize this would be difficult to program globally (vs just the USA). If you could set a default country and/or state in your preferences area, then the "create waymark" page would pull from that default. Just having the country box already chosen would help shave off some time waiting for the second drop down box (state field) to activate. I'm sure this would also help those in Canada and the rest of the world as there would be one less drop down box to choose.

If the state were also to be set in a preferences area, it would still benefit those of us who waymark in multiple states/countries. For instance, I would set it to Utah, then add a bunch of waymarks for UT, then set it to AZ and add those, then set it back to CA as my regular default.

dopeyduck:

dopeyduck:

[FEATURE] Automatically plugging in the country and state based on the coordinates inputted.

Thinking about this some more, I realize this would be difficult to program globally (vs just the USA). If you could set a default country and/or state in your preferences area, then the "create waymark" page would pull from that default. Just having the country box already chosen would help shave off some time waiting for the second drop down box (state field) to activate. I'm sure this would also help those in Canada and the rest of the world as there would be one less drop down box to choose. If the state were also to be set in a preferences area, it would still benefit those of us who waymark in multiple states/countries. For instance, I would set it to Utah, then add a bunch of waymarks for UT, then set it to AZ and add those, then set it back to CA as my regular default.

I like having the country pre-populated and defaulted  and at least the list of states being pre-populated if not defaulted.  Maybe if it just set them to what you used for your last waymark.  I typically do a list from one state and then move on to another. (unless it is a time where a new category comes up and I am cross-posting and then it might be 10 or more different states in a row but I know then I have to reset state each time anyway)

My only concern on defaulting county and state is that when state was defaulted to Alabama we had several waymarks end up in Alabama which are else where (and many are still that way). 

Not major, but I'd like to see these (neither exists AFAIK):

[FEATURE] Automatically default the coordinates to match the related waymark when adding coords to a photo

[FEATURE] Ability to view photos for visits AND waymarks in one gallery

dinoprophet:

[FEATURE] Ability to view photos for visits AND waymarks in one gallery

I think this exists,   if you view the gallery for the waymark you will see the photos of the visits also.

[FEATURE] - Read photo metadata and show the photo's date and not the upload date on the gallery page.  Compromise: Let me set the date that shows on the photo page.
Either way, default to log date if gallery for visit log (or if metadata non-existent).

[FEATURE] - Add a bookmark or reminder function for reviewers to assist follow up on requests on waymark submissions.

[FEATURE]  Function similar to bookmarks at geocaching.  Be able to add waymarks to a collection so that I can have a list like "BruceS' Recommended St. Louis Waymarks" etc.  Be able to have both private and public lists.

[FEATURE] The ability to Pin topics in the Waymarking Forums like they do on the GC side.   I suspect this thread will drop off the first page after awhile and get lost in the ether otherwise :)

BruceS:

dinoprophet:

[FEATURE] Ability to view photos for visits AND waymarks in one gallery

I think this exists,   if you view the gallery for the waymark you will see the photos of the visits also.

I'm sorry, I meant my own photos, not a waymark's photos.

BruceS:

[FEATURE]  Function similar to bookmarks at geocaching.  Be able to add waymarks to a collection so that I can have a list like "BruceS' Recommended St. Louis Waymarks" etc.  Be able to have both private and public lists.

We could call these "Check-Marks" as they would represent the ones we want to check out, or for others to check out, or things to check on...

BQ

TheBeanTeam:

[FEATURE] - Add a bookmark or reminder function for reviewers to assist follow up on requests on waymark submissions.

YES! Oh Please this this this!!

[FEATURE]  There is currently no way to add caption/description info to an image after it is uploaded.  There are times this would come in handy instead of needing to re-upload the image to add the text.

Also as others have said, the ability to cross-post the same uploaded image to multiple waymarks would be great.  And the year only option for a date instead of having to enter the most likely incorrect 01/01/xxxx would be nice too..

Finally, I don't know if there is already a way to do this, but I think it would be neat if you could view a "slideshow" of the images in a waymark's gallery instead of needing to individually open each image, then go back and open another, and so on.

Wampa-One:

Finally, I don't know if there is already a way to do this, but I think it would be neat if you could view a "slideshow" of the images in a waymark's gallery instead of needing to individually open each image, then go back and open another, and so on.

You can get this by installing Cooliris  which is an add-on for your browser (available for Firefox, IE, and Safari).   The Waymark pages are enabled to work with Cooliris.

[FEATURE] Search engine, I guess this may also fall under the category of ones you already know about.  But the way it is now has very limited usefulness trying to find any specific waymark by name if you type what you are looking for into the search box.  For example, if you type "Grant's Farm" there, the waymark for Grant's Farm is nowhere to be seen.  http://www.waymarking.com/wm/search.aspx?f=1&kw=grant's%20farm