This post is also available in:
Deutsch (German)
This blog post is our monthly(-ish) newsletter style blog post. Cachetur.no has always been open, and to ensure that we stay open we want to use this newsletter to share information about what’s going on.
Recent changes
Administrator and moderator tools have been neglected for a long time. So this is where we’ve spent the most time during the last month.
We released the new version of the app a couple weeks ago, and we made the new route optimization a permanent solution. We also added a calculator for the last YMBAGI-souvenir.
We have also added information pages about our Slack and how to report map errors.
Things we’re working on now
Since administrator and moderator tools have been neglected for so long, we will continue to work on improving them.
We are also still planning and designing the switch to the new geocaching.com API.
If you have’t already, please take the time to complete our app survey.
Things we intend to work on soon
We intend do continue working on the switch to the new geocaching.com API, which we expect will take some time.
The new API is very different from the old, and does in some cases allow us to do more than the old API. So we expect to be able to improve the user experience in some areas (import/export of bookmark list, corrected coordinates, notes etc) after the migration is done.
Upcoming events
Attending a cachetur.no event, class, talk etc. is a nice way to learn more about the site. Our wonderful ambassadors, and even some really cool users, will be attending several events during the next months.
| Event | Region | What |
|---|---|---|
December 29th GC80XCH cachetur.no workshop |
Falls Church USA |
workshop with platoaddict |
Our economy
Running cachetur.no require a constant focus on our expenses, we want to provide you the best service we can, but we can’t consume more services than we are able to pay for.
We saw a nice increase in donations after we wrote the blog post a couple months ago. But it didn’t last, and November turned out to be the worst month in more than a year.
We still have enough money to operate the site, but we need to turn the trend and keep it on a more stable level before we run out. Currently it looks like 2018 might be the first time ever we’re ending the year with a negative balance.
Remember that all of us that work on this site (and app), including developer and all ambassadors, do this for free in our spare time. Cachetur.no does not pay anyone 🙂 Positive feedback is the only pay we get, so please, do give us the feedback you think we deserve.
Our future
We are still seeing a steady increase in new users. But we’re having a hard time keeping users, and engaging users. The amount of feedback we receive on surveys, blog posts, Facebook posts etc. are also declining. And more and more of the feedback is leaning towards the negative side.
This is affecting the motivation for running this service. Remember that none of us get paid to do this. Spending 20-30+ hours a week running and developing this site isn’t a problem at all, when people appreciate it…
Other related news
Remember the current and upcoming souvenirs:
You might be a Trackable Lover if…
Earn 80 individual Friend League points between December 3rd and December 31st- Thanks 2018
Earn the Thanks 2018 souvenir by finding any geocache or attending an event on December 31, 2018 - Hello 2019
Earn the Hello 2019 souvenir by finding another geocache or attending a different event on January 1, 2019
This post is also available in:
Deutsch (German)
