Navicache - is it just me?

[Alan White]

In order to widen my horizon a bit I thought I'd create a Navicache account. Thinking about it was the only easy part .

I filled in the form but it wouldn't accept the "&" I wanted to put in the first name. No problem, I changed it to "and". But then it wouldn't accept the CAPTCHA word even though I could clearly see it was correct and the same as it had previously been (which it says it wouldn't be). I tried a couple more times to submit it and then it said "too many attempts try again in 30 seconds".

So I waited a couple of minutes and then successfully created the account after refreshing the page because it was still showing the previous information even though I was using a new IE window.

But the verification email didn't arrive and on checking the form I found I'd put "@@" in the email field. No problem, I thought, I'll just log in and fix it. Nope, NC won't even let you log in until the account has been verified. Catch-22.

So I've sent them an email and I'll see what happens.

And during this whole process I several times received the "too many attempts try again in 30 seconds" message. If I can only use NC a few pages at a time then it's not much use.

Fine, so the error in email address was mine but if I hadn't needed to enter the information several times then I might not have made it. And the page doesn't refresh properly, and the 30 seconds limit is really daft.

Not impressed so far, and I haven't even managed to look at any caches yet .

I had no problems registering myself.

[Happy Humphrey]

I don't remember having any particular problems, but Navicache is a rather basic and old-fashioned web site so it doesn't surprise me that there are bugs. Quaint and charming, I'm tempted to say.

I imagine it's run by some bloke in his spare time. And he probably only logs on if someone reports that the site is down.

Apologies to Navicache Inc., if it's actually a Groundspeak-style corporation with huge swanky offices in Texas.

[sandvika]

I think, Alan, as well as having 99% of the caches and 99% of the cachers, Groundspeak has 99% of the resources to create an all-singing all-dancing site.

You've been spoiled for too long, time for some hardship Well, tongue is in cheek of course because all the listing sites are merely a means to an end, namely..... Tupperware!

The other listing sites are definitely primitive and clunky in comparison to Groundspeak, the "30 seconds" problem on Navicache is surely a "legacy" feature that should have been ripped out when tabbed browsers were invented and you could open a dozen cache listings in 30 seconds.

However, for life in the slow lane you can't beat Terracaching. I think the database server is a Nintendo Gameboy because the front end times out at peak periods and gives a ghastly "500 server error" which roughly translates to "Please come back later when the Americans are sleeping".

[Mr'D]

Alan -you think this is bad?
you tried cists? (and I'm not talking medical stuff) :-)

[Bill D (wwh)]

Alan -you think this is bad?
you tried cists? (and I'm not talking medical stuff) :-)

Les cistes

[Alan White]

You've been spoiled for too long, time for some hardship

You may be right, but it won't be any hardship . Two days on and I've had no reply either to the message about the problem above or to the two forum messages. It isn't me that loses out as a result: just Navicache and therefore listing site competition.

[amberel]

It isn't me that loses out as a result: just Navicache and therefore listing site competition.

To answer your original question "Is it just me", no, it's not just you.

The NaviCache site is nothing like as good as the Groundspeak site, even with the small number of caches it lists. With the same volume of caches as Groundspeak list, the NaviCache site would be unusable. There is no doubt that this is a major concern to me, because as things stand I don't think it is up to the job of providing an effective alternative if Groundspeak do something to seriously alienate a large number of users. Whether or not it would be in a position to respond to such an event by making improvements is a moot point - I fear it probably wouldn't, but I'd love to be wrong.

HOWEVER. While it's certainly not just you, it might be a little bit you . The vast majority of people have no difficulty joining, but the attitude of most people who join is probably a great deal less negative than I suspect yours was even before you hit these problems. With a negative attitude you are more likely to hit problems and less likely to resolve them.

It's a shame you've had no response to your email. I have raised issues 3 times and have had replies twice. So they don't always manage to respond - I'm pretty sure there are no full time employees, maybe the person concerned was on holiday and missed the forum messages, I don't know. But I have a worse response ratio from Groundspeak, and they have a lot more resources than NaviCache.

I'll go and have a look at the NaviCache forum later and see if there is anything I can contribute.

Rgds, Andy

[Matrix]

Les cistes

Thats cool there are 7 in Wales :cheers:

[Icenians]

I think there are some rather unfair comparisons between Navicache and GC going on here. There have, in GC's history, been times when it han't been able to cope and as a company GC has upgraded it's servers to manage.

I think it's a little unfair to expect anyone to start out with a fully fledged system that is ready to cope on the off chance that everyone has a hissy fit with a competitor. The Navicache servers and system I'm sure were fine at the outset and given the activity level on them they see no reason to throw more money at something, again on the off chance that GC users decide to switch.

We don't do it that way in business so I fail to see why we should expect a small group do it from their home.

At the end of the day this game is about going outside, finding a box hidden somewhere nice, and logging it on a website. There are only two things required of any listing site to do that

1. List the locations of boxes
2. Allow you to log a find against it

All the rest is fluff and not really necessary.

GC has lots of revenue from folk that use the site to plough back into funding it's servers. The other sites have very little of that.

As to getting a response. GC has many voulntary reviewers and users to respond to direct emails or via forums. Navicache doesn't have anything like the same numbers.

I woud suggest that had Alan not entered too many '@' in the email address then perhaps his whole experience at signing up may have been less dissapointing

Us software developers can't second guess every mistake a user makes

Kev

[amberel]

Hi Kev,

Re-reading my post it does look more negative than I meant it to be. I was trying to be realistic about the current situation without noting the reasons for it. I agree with your post.

Rgds, Andy

[jacobite]

There have, in GC's history, been times when it han't been able to cope and as a company GC has upgraded it's servers to manage.

Very true, I remember it well.

[Bill D (wwh)]

There have, in GC's history, been times when it han't been able to cope and as a company GC has upgraded it's servers to manage.

Very true, I remember it well.

I think they feed the hamsters better now, too...

[Alan White]

I woud suggest that had Alan not entered too many '@' in the email address then perhaps his whole experience at signing up may have been less dissapointing

Sorry, that's not so. The mistake was made on, if I recall correctly, my fourth attempt to complete the form, the previous three having failed because of unnecessary validation of the first name and NC's failure to generate a new CAPTCHA image.

And four days on, still no response to either forum or direct messages.

I do agree with the rest of the post, though .

[Icenians]

Sorry, that's not so. The mistake was made on, if I recall correctly, my fourth attempt to complete the form, the previous three having failed because of unnecessary validation of the first name and NC's failure to generate a new CAPTCHA image.

And four days on, still no response to either forum or direct messages.

I do agree with the rest of the post, though .

My apologies Alan. I'm guilty again of not reading the post correctly.

Kev