Do You Read The News?
A staple of this site has been the posting of stories about geocaching in our region every week or two. As part of our process of evolving as times change, I thought I would pose a question to our readership.
How often do you read the articles posted here? We see some comments but usually from the same folks so it begs the question as to whether or not people are actually reading the content.
If you read it, do you like what you see? What would you rather read about? Are there topics you think would work better for a site like this? Or would you prefer to just use this site as a place to connect with other geocachers, and have less news.
Please provide your feedback on how/if you read our news here.
I usually read them when I’m in a geocaching phase, not so much when I’m in a “busy with other priorities” phase. 🙂
I like to keep up to date on geocaching stuff so I read lots including what is published here
I read the articles, not so much the chats as they seem to be more localized.
Guilty of reading, chatting, and commenting.
I think there is a little bit of wasted space, maybe a lot, in the left and right columns. What could you put there?
Oh look! There are tabs at the top, drop down menus. To be honest, I haven’t looked at those in ages. Maybe move some of the more consulted tabs to the sides? How about photos on the sides with thumbs up and down. Anotherwards, maybe make the news easier to find and see.
Having said all this, I love all the news here. All of it. If there is something I read less of, it is the older content. Bit I rely on this page to keep up to date AND to connect with cachers.
Terrific job here, as always.
I read them and write them but man it is hard to come up with new stuff. After 15 years it is really hard to find something to discuss that hasn’t been hacked to death a few times already. I find that this website is great to let people know what is coming up event or coin challenge wise and letting cachers connect but for geocaching related stuff there isn’t much new. The regional stuff is unavoidable as people go out with their neighbors or people close by. Over all in NB, we all do a great job trying to encourage others to come to other areas with events and letting as many people know about what is happening all over the province. I also think we all do a great job supporting each other regardless of the area. Even if it seems slow in here there is still stuff going on, stories to tell and information to share. I also hope it keeps civil and encourages others or new cachers to visit often and feel like they can share without fear of being attacked or accused of something.
amen
Well said.
This is so true. You and I have both struggled with trying to keep the content fresh here without rehashing the same things. But the reality is, as you said, a lot has remained the same in geocaching over the last 15 years so it’s a bit harder to try and find interesting topics to discuss.
I guess I’m guilty of only reading, and not posting. I like scrolling through the site, getting a little bit here, finding out something new over there. I may not agree with it all, but I tend not to fan the flames, as I’ve never seen anyone change their nind. Anyway, keep up the fantastic site.
I am on it pretty much every day. I don’t post much, but i do read most everything posted and chatted about. Cableguy did have a few good ideas I think about the sides, like the pictures. I would enjoy seeing that as I know I really enjoyed looking at all of the caching related pictures during the M3 contest. 🙂
Guys, I really want to extend a heartfelt thank you to putting these comments in. It REALLY helps to get feedback. I know sometimes its hard to say what you’re thinking but I really am glad to get some feedback from folks.
I love the idea of some of the suggestions you guys are making. The idea of incorporating photos into this site has been something I have wanted to do for ages, but the mechanics of it are difficult. People post photos in so many different places it’s hard to find a way to pull them all into a single spot like here, but I do love the idea of trying to make that kind of stuff more visible.
Again, HUGE thanks for the feedback. Keep it coming.
I love the site and similar to what others have said, a few changes might help “spruce it up”, but overall, I think it is a great way to communicate and share interesting tidbits.
Some of the other comments included some ideas to add (or remove) and I will add one to that – maybe a dedicated “Wanna Cache” page where people can post where they are headed to try and get a little group going… I know the scribbles “can” be used for that but most do not post there.
I really have to hand it to those that do the posting, especially Zor and Rev, for being so dedicated to keeping it going.
Thanks guys!
Based on what I am seeing here, I’ve compiled a list of some things I think might be useful to add into the site. Here’s what I’ve got so far:
– Display geocaching related images posted by folks in our region
– Have some means of being able to ask the community quick and easy questions such as “how do I?” or “anyone wanna go caching this weekend in wherever?”
– Remove / Reorganize all of the pages/info sections in the menu to somewhere more friendly or usable, such as a “wiki” style database for looking up help
– Find a way to better make use of the space available on our site
I also have some other items that I thought may be of interest:
– A quick list of upcoming geocaching events in our region and surrounding areas
– Quick access to recent Facebook postings on various regional groups
– Bring back the weather widget
– Perhaps a “Find Me Some Geocaches” button/link that would randomly select a series of geocaches for you to go find within a certain radius of your home coordinates (as a means of perhaps getting you to find caches you may otherwise skip)
– We could also bring back the old “Random Geocache” from our province that we had quite awhile ago
– A limited forum that would provide an alternate way to post/interact with comments on our system, without diverting everyone from the news feed
Let me know your thoughts on some of these suggestions.
I would use the forum as I did in the past, but only if it wouldnt be hidden away like the quickies, otherwise, I will continue to post on the 3 city facebook groups.
I come here to use the necessary features that a basic membership won’t provide. I’m looking forward to the add-ons being discussed and the recently added ones are much appreciated. I also get around to reading pretty much everything while I’m not searching for archived caches or on Instagram. This site is ideal for every area to take advantage of the opportunity provided to post what they want to share with everyone else. However, before I make it all about myself, is there not a podcast stuck in the system somewhere?