GUK - has it finally bitten the dust ??????

[markandlynn]

I cant even get the front page anymore.

Is everyone else seeing the same ?

I thought about it during the power outage at GC last week and how it had a facility to allow you to see basic details if GC was down.

The advanced search facilities.

The ratings for when you went on holiday.

The handicaching ratings links.

The stats.

Funkybro you expressed a desire to create applications GUK used to do all this and more and was very widely used by UK cachers.

[Bill D (wwh)]

I make no promises, but this is something that GAGB's committee has discussed and has considered providing a replacement for. I can't really say any more than that at the moment.

And before anyone comments, despite our "open" committee forum, yes, we discuss some things in secret out of necessity.

[Gushoneybun]

I can not see it anymore either

[JeremyR]

I get the impression that the very rapid growth of geocaching in the UK since it's been down probably makes it unlikely that G:UK could operate in the way it did any more. When it opened, the technicalities of mirroring some of GC.com's data weren't too much of challenge but today? It would be almost impossibly complicated to gather and update the data on all active UK caches.

You would need at the very minimum, 94 PQs to capture the 46619 active caches and that's assuming you could capture the full 500 in each PQ (probably couldn't). Further, a new one would be required every 1-2 weeks at the current growth rate (and the rate is also growing). So there would need to be either PQ 'donors' (which I think is how G:UK used to operate?) or ever-deepening pockets to pay for them all.

Clearly a 'new G:UK' would need some considerable assistance from GSP either in the form of permission to use donated PQs (since their TOS don't allow it) or a direct data feed/API which they do have (Garmin, Trimble, etc) but they charge a lot for access to. GSP don't exactly have a reputation for working with people who mirror their data, though

[Brenin Tegeingl]

I get the impression that the very rapid growth of geocaching in the UK since it's been down probably makes it unlikely that G:UK could operate in the way it did any more. When it opened, the technicalities of mirroring some of GC.com's data weren't too much of challenge but today? It would be almost impossibly complicated to gather and update the data on all active UK caches.

You would need at the very minimum, 94 PQs to capture the 46619 active caches and that's assuming you could capture the full 500 in each PQ (probably couldn't). Further, a new one would be required every 1-2 weeks at the current growth rate (and the rate is also growing). So there would need to be either PQ 'donors' (which I think is how G:UK used to operate?) or ever-deepening pockets to pay for them all.

Clearly a 'new G:UK' would need some considerable assistance from GSP either in the form of permission to use donated PQs (since their TOS don't allow it) or a direct data feed/API which they do have (Garmin, Trimble, etc) but they charge a lot for access to. GSP don't exactly have a reputation for working with people who mirror their data, though

G:UK did in fact operate with the full permission of Groundspeak, and if GAGB can put something similar together. I'm prepared to support it by contacting Groundspeak with the request. Groundspeak are prepared to work with Local Geocaching Organisations, within certain frameworks.

Deci

[GAZ]

I remember one good feature on G:uk that wasn't on GC.com......you could search for caches nearest to you incuding archived ones......made for good reading, did that......you could see how many caches that had been placed without you realising!

[JeremyR]

G:UK did in fact operate with the full permission of Groundspeak

Oh I know that, such a high profile site operating without Groundspeak's permission wouldn't have lasted long. However, I suspect their attitude to such things may have changed a little bit in the last 18 months or so...

[The Hornet]

Oh I know that, such a high profile site operating without Groundspeak's permission wouldn't have lasted long. However, I suspect their attitude to such things may have changed a little bit in the last 18 months or so...

You can say that again! From my recent (and no so recent) dealings with Groundspeak I would be flabbergasted if they allowed anything along the lines of the late lamented GCUK to get established these days.

However, if they did I would be delighted and if the new site wanted a new URL I would consider handing over www.geocache.co.uk which I currently own. At present I use it to list all my caches that Groundspeak have banned from their site.

[Bill D (wwh)]

I do actually think that our starting up something on these lines, with gc.com's permission, is a realistic possibility, despite the way some things have gone on the other side of the pond.

[Teasel]

I'm sure that writing a new site from scratch would be far more satisfying for those involved(*). (Nearly as satisfying as writing a new cache listings site from scratch! ) But I'm open to offers from anyone who wants to take over the running of geocacheuk. The code would need a bit of a patch up to cope with the increased volume of caches, of course...! I'd still want to stay involved, but I no longer have the time or energy to be responsible for the day-to-day running of the site.

(*) at one point, I started rewriting the G:UK site from scratch, in Java. Sadly, both a busy time at work, and some dismal behaviour from our friends in Seattle coincided, and it never got past the proof of concept stage.

[Guanajuato]

I can't help with any of the running or coding - that's WAY over my head. But I'm willing to donate PQs as I did when G:UK was going. I don't use a lot of PQs, so I'd happily donate a couple a day (To be honest, I could cope with only one spare a day except for Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays). I'm sure there are plenty others that would be happy to do the same.

This is all sounding really positive though. I'm sure GS, after the recent events should be happy for a subset of their database to be remotely mirrored, even if it isn't live mirroring. Also a one-stop-shop with GS, TC & other listings (?) all in one place would be good.

[gse1986]

I'm sure that writing a new site from scratch would be far more satisfying for those involved(*). (Nearly as satisfying as writing a new cache listings site from scratch! ) But I'm open to offers from anyone who wants to take over the running of geocacheuk. The code would need a bit of a patch up to cope with the increased volume of caches, of course...! I'd still want to stay involved, but I no longer have the time or energy to be responsible for the day-to-day running of the site.

(*) at one point, I started rewriting the G:UK site from scratch, in Java. Sadly, both a busy time at work, and some dismal behaviour from our friends in Seattle coincided, and it never got past the proof of concept stage.

I would be willing to assist as I have experience with PHP and MySQL and also have wondered about the logistics of putting together such a service (I wasn't aware one existed already and that it got past groundspeak!). However due to time constraints I don't know whether it would be something I could do alone. I have contacted a friend of mine but also if there's anyone else in the same position (would like to help but isn't sure the amount of time they can commit) get in touch either through the message system here, on the gc forums. Emai is gareth AT gsellis DOT com

[WARlrus]

I believe I am the friend gse1986 is talking about!

I've got some fairly extensive knowledge of PHP and MySQL, having built and worked with websites based on them both for many years.

I do have some time to dedicate to any project coding-wise, however my knowledge of 'making it look pretty' is very limited, so if anyone could step up and help with graphics I think we have the start of a good team!

[StuartP]

Teasel, you've got mail.

Cheers

Stuart

[gazooks]

I too used to dontate three PQ's a day to the old site (turned them off after three months of GCUK inactivity) and I am still happy to do so if needed - just let me know. :socool:

[Mr Hedgehog]

I too would be more than happy to donate PQ's to any replacement/rebirth of GUK

Richard

[agentmancuso]

I'm sure that writing a new site from scratch would be far more satisfying for those involved(*). (Nearly as satisfying as writing a new cache listings site from scratch! ) But I'm open to offers from anyone who wants to take over the running of geocacheuk. The code would need a bit of a patch up to cope with the increased volume of caches, of course...! I'd still want to stay involved, but I no longer have the time or energy to be responsible for the day-to-day running of the site.

(*) at one point, I started rewriting the G:UK site from scratch, in Java. Sadly, both a busy time at work, and some dismal behaviour from our friends in Seattle coincided, and it never got past the proof of concept stage.

As a side issue, if you're looking for someone to help updating the T:UK database (I mean sorting out type, current use, Gridrefs etc for 'user added' trigs) then I'd be keen to get involved.