{"id":67775,"date":"2019-06-25T08:27:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-25T15:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/?p=67775"},"modified":"2019-07-02T09:29:12","modified_gmt":"2019-07-02T16:29:12","slug":"geocaching-etiquette-201-cache-ownership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/2019\/06\/geocaching-etiquette-201-cache-ownership\/","title":{"rendered":"Geocaching Etiquette 201: Cache Ownership"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/2019\/06\/geocaching-etiquette-201-finding-and-logging\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">first of this two-part series<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, we shared some guidance that Geocaching HQ and community volunteer reviewers provide when asked about finding and logging caches. In this second installment, we\u2019ll cover the guidance we provide regarding cache owner etiquette.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It should go without saying, but let\u2019s say it anyway: It\u2019s very important to read and understand the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/play\/guidelines\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Geocache hiding guidelines<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> before placing a cache. When you submit your cache for review, you check a box stating that you\u2019ve read and agreed to those guidelines. The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/help\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Geocaching Help Center<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is another valuable information source.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Don\u2019t damage the environment to place a cache, or place the cache in a way that finders will damage the environment to find it.<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This topic is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/play\/guidelines#nature\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">addressed very clearly<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the guidelines. Still, we sometimes receive complaints from property owners about caches that cause a geotrail through undergrowth, or caches nailed into trees, just to name a few examples.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If property owner sentiments don\u2019t convince you, \u201cDoes not harm the environment\u201d ranked as the second most important factor to a high quality cache in our recent <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/2019\/05\/results-of-2018-cache-quality-survey\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cache Quality Survey<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. That means it\u2019s important to your fellow cachers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If yours is an extremely rare situation where a property owner has given you permission to hide the cache in a way that might be seen as damaging the environment, include that explicit permission on your cache page. We still recommend against that kind of hide, because it could inspire someone to place a similar hide somewhere without permission.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Proper use of the Owner Maintenance log<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Post an Owner Maintenance log every time you perform maintenance on your cache.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t use the log when you\u2019re just <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">planning<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to perform maintenance.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t use the Write Note log for owner maintenance. If the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/help\/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&amp;id=38&amp;pgid=404\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Needs Maintenance icon<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is on your cache page, only the Owner Maintenance log will make it go away.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Vacation cache? Think long and hard about it<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The guidelines <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/play\/guidelines#beforesubmit\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">strongly recommend against<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> hiding caches far from home. Such caches are often not published because they\u2019re difficult to maintain.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you insist on hiding a cache far from home, you need a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/help\/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&amp;id=128&amp;pgid=709\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">maintenance plan<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, usually including a local person who can help you maintain the cache. This is something you need to take care of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">before<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> submitting the cache for review.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Proper use of attributes<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/about\/icons.aspx\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Attributes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are intended to communicate what to expect at a cache location. Please use them for that purpose.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t intentionally add incorrect attributes to help people with challenge caches, or for a puzzle, or just to be funny. It defeats the purpose of preparing finders for the cache location.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Be especially mindful of the Wheelchair accessible attribute. If you\u2019re unsure if your cache location is wheelchair accessible, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.handicaching.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">handicaching.com<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is an excellent resource to help you figure it out.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Other things to consider about cache ownership<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Give your cache <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/help\/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&amp;id=97&amp;pgid=82\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">accurate difficulty and terrain ratings<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> so that finders know what they\u2019re getting into.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you must delete a finder\u2019s log, communicate with them about it. Most of the time, the reasons for log deletion (ex. including a spoiler in the log) are innocent mistakes.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t add content to your cache page after publication that doesn\u2019t comply with the guidelines. If it is brought to a reviewer\u2019s or Geocachging HQ\u2019s attention, the cache may be archived.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t maintain an archived geocache. In many cases, a cache is archived because it caused a problem or a property owner didn\u2019t want it there. By maintaining an archived cache, you could be unwittingly exacerbating a problem. Instead, submit a new cache page for review.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check out the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/podcast\/episode-26\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inside Geocaching HQ podcast<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for more discussion of the items in this post and in the Finding &amp; Logging article!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the first of this two-part series, we shared some guidance that Geocaching HQ and community volunteer reviewers provide when asked about finding and logging caches. In this second installment, we\u2019ll cover the guidance we provide regarding cache owner etiquette.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":67777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[134],"tags":[158],"series":[],"class_list":["post-67775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-weekly-newsletter"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/d3mo08i005h0zn.cloudfront.net\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Mailer_Suite_062519_Geocaching_Etiquette_Part_2_vFINAL_Mailer_Blog-800x450-1.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/feed\/podcast\/inside-geocaching-hq-podcast","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"amjq06dPEy\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/2019\/06\/geocaching-etiquette-201-cache-ownership\/\">Geocaching Etiquette 201: Cache Ownership<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/2019\/06\/geocaching-etiquette-201-cache-ownership\/embed\/#?secret=amjq06dPEy\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Geocaching Etiquette 201: Cache Ownership&#8221; &#8212; Official Blog\" data-secret=\"amjq06dPEy\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! 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