War Diaries Talk

Small problem with the Google Box for tagging palce names.

  • marie.eklidvirginmedia.com by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

    Small problem with the Box for tagging place names. When I try to add them to the map, the map on the box disappears. (all white). I can put the places in and choose where they are but they do not appear on the google map. The map does not show. Thought it might have been because I zoomed in too much, but tried not doing this but the google map still disappears.

    Posted

  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator

    I can't replicate this. What browser are you using and is it still happening?

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    I've been having the same trouble. I'm using the latest version of Firefox. It just updated a couple of days ago, and the problem has developed since then. I've found that if I sign out, close the browser, and then sign in again, it works better for a while but it's not consistent. It may be working fine and then for no apparent reason, the map box goes all white, sometimes with the symbol of a circle with a red line through it.

    I had thought I might switch to Chrome today if this continues. I just prefer to use Firefox because I'm used to it.

    I haven't actually done any tagging yet today, but I did have this problem last night, about 12 hours ago.

    ETA: I forgot to mention that a couple of days ago, when I went to the OWD home page, there was a message that said something about Google forbidding use of map app. I admit I didn't completely understand it.

    Posted

  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator

    Which FF version is this? I'm on 34.0 which says it is the up to date one. I haven't tagged more than a few pages at any time though so that might affect it.

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    That's the same Firefox version I have. They update so often I lose track, but that's it.

    I just tagged a couple of pages on it and had no problem with the map, but the weather tag started behaving oddly. I tagged a weather comment on about the third or fourth page, and after that the weather box kept popping up wherever I moved the browser without me clicking on it.

    I'm now in Chrome.

    I should maybe add that not too long ago, maybe two or three weeks ago, I updated to Windows 8.1. I greatly regret doing this, because it seems like nothing has worked right on my computer since then. It's very slow. We'll see if Chrome is an improvement.

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    After about three or four pages in Chrome, the map box suddenly went white.

    Posted

  • marie.eklidvirginmedia.com by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com in response to HeatherC's comment.

    Heather it is still happening. Forgot to mention I am using Windows 7, Chrome.

    Posted

  • vishep by vishep

    Had the same problem with tagging places yesterday. A few mins ago when I logged in, I had the google message. I am a user of Ghostery, so I unblocked the Google Analytics tracker & the Message disapeared. It may all be connected.

    Posted

  • vishep by vishep

    The map problem seemed to have gone, but no, it's back.

    Posted

  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator

    @vishep - and with what browser and operating system are you getting this?

    Posted

  • marie.eklidvirginmedia.com by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

    Heather, since my message 2 hours ago regarding the Google map problem. It seems to have rectified itself. Hope it continues to do so.

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    I had an odd message about google maps on another website the other day. Are people still experiencing these issues?

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    For me, yes, as of about 12 hours ago. I haven't tried to do any tagging since then.

    Posted

  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator

    OK I now have the same issue. First page I tried to tag. Windows 7 PC, Firefox 34.0

    The Google maps box just stays blank white so it's impossible to see the map at all when doing a place tag. Some bug with Google Maps perhaps? It is a bit of a show stopper as you cannot enter any option for the place tag except "don't know / none of these" since you can't see the map!

    Posted

  • vishep by vishep

    Heather - Firefox 34.0, Windows 7

    Posted

  • DZM by DZM admin

    Hm... I was about to submit this as a bug, but now I'm wondering if the problem is on Google's end, not ours. Especially sine @ral104 mentioned Google Maps issues on another website, too ... ?

    Posted

  • DZM by DZM admin

    I will put it through, anyway, and see if I can get a dev's attention to it... !

    Posted

  • marie.eklidvirginmedia.com by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com in response to marie.eklid@virginmedia.com's comment.

    Thought the problem with the Google Map had rectified itself Sunday. Today Monday it has returned. I know you are all trying to rectify this.

    Posted

  • DZM by DZM admin

    I've put through a bug report.

    Definitely keep talking, though, and see if we can lock down if this happens more in certain browsers, and/or if it's Google's issue more than it is ours...

    I'll keep an eye on this thread!

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    I also had a message about something being forbidden, which goes with the circle with a red line through it that sometimes appears in the map window. But sometimes it is just white. And sometimes it works. And I only had the message once, on the OWD home page, about three days ago now. Nothing since.

    The really odd thing about this issue as far as I can see is the inconsistency of it.

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    It's working fine for me on Chrome. Thanks for reporting it, @DZM.

    Posted

  • DZM by DZM admin

    Is anyone else having issues with it on Chrome?

    Posted

  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator in response to DZM's comment.

    Check out page 1 - at least two people were having this in Chrome as well which tends to indicate it's not browser-related?

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    Just to confirm, I've had trouble with this using both Firefox and Chrome.

    I've been using Chrome this morning with no difficulties, but most places I've been tagging are those that say only None of These, i.e. little villages, wooded areas, etc. Don't know if that makes a difference.

    Posted

  • wildcatjenny by wildcatjenny moderator

    Using Chrome on Windows 7 Pro. Tagged 30 places. 18 of them unique. 27 of them found and 3 were "Not sure...". No problem.

    (Once I did manage to get into" street view" while scrolling around. But I just closed the dialog and was able to reopen it and proceed.)

    Posted

  • marie.eklidvirginmedia.com by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

    Using Chrome Windows 7. No problem with the Google Box tonight.

    Posted

  • DZM by DZM admin

    ... maybe it's fixed itself... I hope... ? 😃

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    Just tried on a different machine, IE9, Windows 7. All seems okay.

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    I didn't have any problems with either Firefox or Chrome yesterday. (It's now early morning where I live.) But I did hold my breath every time I needed to tag a place!

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    Perhaps that's the key!

    Posted

  • DZM by DZM admin in response to ral104's comment.

    Like in a gas attack?

    Hold your breath, wear a mask, urinate into a rag...

    (Does the urinate into a rag thing really work? For gas, not Google Maps. I don't recommend anyone use it for Google Maps!)

    Posted

  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator

    I think I might be too scared to actually do it and find out if I was in a gas attack... Actually it sounds like the perfect answer for Google Maps too!

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    Pretty sure it was proven to work as a crude form of gas defence. A Canadian medical officer who happened to have a background in Chemistry knew that urea neutralised chlorine and happened to be in the right place at the right time to make sure others knew too.

    I'm sure David from the TNA will know more!

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    Not to sidetrack the discussion back to the original topic...but I have not had any trouble with the place tag in Firefox with Windows 8.1 for two days now! Still occasionally holding my breath.

    Posted

  • David_Underdown by David_Underdown moderator

    Don't know anything definitive, the reference in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_poison_gas_in_World_War_I#Effectiveness_and_counter-measures may be worth following up though.

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist in response to cgastwein@aol.com's comment.

    Good to know! Let's hope it's all sorted now.

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist in response to David_Underdown's comment.

    Thanks, David. I'll check that out.

    Posted

  • DZM by DZM admin

    We've closed this issue, figuring that it seems to have resolved itself.

    Let us know if it reappears!

    Posted

  • Jan_Greenslade by Jan_Greenslade

    Sorry to bring this subject up again after so long, but I'm having the same Google map problem as per the previous messages. Blank screen and sometimes the previous place name I have entered cannot be removed. I have found that going back to place tagging after doing a lot of other tags it has sometimes righted itself, but not always. This is not a daily problem but is very irritating when it does. I am using Windows 7 Chrome - Regards Jan

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist in response to Jan_Greenslade's comment.

    Sorry to hear that, Jan. Has this issue just started again now, or has it been happening for a while? I'll check it out.

    Rob

    Posted

  • marie.eklidvirginmedia.com by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

    Had a problem also with my Google map box yesterday Thursday. It sorted itself out when I logged out and signed back in again. I did have a problem also with the tags. Whenever I tagged anything, the tag would not stay in the place intended on the page, it just appeared somewhere else, could only then drag it every time I tagged anything. That sorted itself out when I signed out and signed in again. I am using Chrome and Windows 10.

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    I haven't had any actual problems with it recently, but it has seemed to be running more slowly than usual. I'm using Firefox and Windows 8.1.

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    Is anybody still having these issues today? The google maps widget does play up every so often, but in most cases seems to fix itself after a while, but if this is still ongoing we'll need to get the Zooniverse tech guys to investigate.

    Posted

  • Jan_Greenslade by Jan_Greenslade in response to ral104's comment.

    Rob it's been happening for a couple of months. Since I wrote my last message I hav been constantly getting a white blank screen but by decreasing size of map other towns in the area come into view but never the place name it's supposed to be indicating! Regards Jan

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist in response to Jan_Greenslade's comment.

    Okay, thanks Jan. Sorry to hear it's an ongoing issue. I'll raise it with the Zooniverse people and see if they can suggest anything which might help.

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    I've discovered that when there is a list of places to choose among, sometimes after looking at the first two or so names, I get a blank screen for the following ones. However, when this happens, if I go back and click on the "none of these" option, and then go back to the place that gave me a blank screen, I will get a map.

    Although I've worked out this way to cope with the problem, the really aggravating part is the inconsistency. Sometimes it seems to be fine and other times not. I use Firefox and Windows 8.1.

    Posted

  • marie.eklidvirginmedia.com by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

    Sometimes refreshing the page helps. I have had this problem before.

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    I've gone so far as to restart my computer, which usually helps quite a bit.

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  • Jan_Greenslade by Jan_Greenslade in response to ral104's comment.

    Rob, Just thought I'd let you know that the maps are back to normal. Thank you for whatever you did. Jan

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    Glad it's working now, Jan - I think it actually was one of those situations where it fixed itself after a while!

    Rob

    Posted

  • deehar by deehar

    I had a strange response today. I wanted to enter Cassel but it returned "none of these". When I entered Kassel it gave me a long list including a Cassel (which was in the area I was expecting). I guess the helpful algorithm that updates old names was responsible.

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    Hmm. I just gave it a try with Cassel and got the usual list, including the one northeast of Saint-Omer, which I'm assuming is the one you were looking for. I also typed in Kassel, and it gave me Cassel with the C as one of the choices.

    Maybe you had mis-typed? The Place tag is very unforgiving of misspellings. Add a letter, drop a letter, reverse two letters, and you get "None of these" more often than not.

    This particular Cassel is in France so its spelling should not have changed. It's the towns and cities in Belgium that have different spellings now.

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    Cassel's working for me too - could have been a typo, or just one of those odd glitches which happen every now and again. Is it still an issue?

    Posted

  • deehar by deehar

    Typical! No problem now. The usual demonstration effect - when you want to show someone the problem it disappears : )

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist in response to deehar's comment.

    😄

    Glad it's working!

    Posted

  • Jan_Greenslade by Jan_Greenslade

    Me again I'm afraid! Google points at the correct location of place but the name is not shown, map is blank by indicator. If I enlarge map town name appears but when I go back to look at the tag later the map has reverted to blank. Is there anyway I can get the town name to stay visible? This has been happening for past few weeks, thought it would rectify itself so only reporting it now. Names do show for cities only. I am using Google Chrome is this the problem? Regards Jan

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    This is an issue I also intermittently have in Chrome. I'd suggest clearing your cache and seeing if that helps to begin with. It might also be worth trying Firefox to see whether the experience is better there.

    Let me know whether the problem persists after trying one or both of those and I'll see whether the Zooniverse people can shed any light on it.

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    I've had an odd thing happen with the Place tag a couple of times now. The most recent was within the past week. I can only describe it as the geo-locater freezing up. In the most recent case, I had typed in the name Kemmel and tagged it with no problem. The next name was Messines. I typed that in, hit enter, and saw only Kemmel as an option. The same thing happened with Wytschaete.

    I handled it by signing out of OWD, closing my browser (Firefox), and restarting the computer. I have fairly recently cleared my cache, so I didn't do that again. The Place tag then worked normally for any new name, but those two spots of Messines and Wytschaete still gave me only Kemmel for a choice. I just left them untagged and moved on, hoping that people who follow me through this diary, the 12th Royal Irish Rifles, will be able to tag them.

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    That's weird. If this continues, I will collect all these little place tag issues together and see if the Zooniverse team can work the whole lot out - perhaps they're linked.

    Posted

  • LinsladeLad by LinsladeLad

    Here's another one. Might just be me, but others may have come across it as well.....

    Sometimes when you select a place name from the list there is insufficient information shown to be able to identify where the map window is showing (eg most of the area has no detail). Logic suggests click and drag on the map image to move it to a position where you can read a town or settlement name and identify if you're in the correct area. What has been happening is that the area of map shown within the window will move - but there's nothing else around it, just grey background. Very weird & unhelpful.

    Even if you know exactly where you are, but try to move the map window, there is nothing there. Maybe it is a flat earth after all.

    Peter

    Posted

  • bje by bje in response to LinsladeLad's comment.

    I find the same thing. I can remember, quite some time ago, being able to move the map around, but it's so long since I've been able to do it that I've given up trying

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator in response to LinsladeLad's comment.

    I didn't understand what you meant, but I've given it a try and I see it now. Although you can move the map in the window around, you never see any more area than what was originally in the window.

    You can use the zoom in and out boxes on the left side of the window to get a larger or smaller area. That sometimes helps identify where the town on the geo-locator's menu actually is located. Or you can click through to Google Maps, but that can get tedious if you have several options to check and none of them are the town you want!

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    Thanks, Peter et al. I've just tried that too and the same thing happens to me. I'll see if any other issues creep in today and then get the Zooniverse technical team to take a look at things.

    Posted

  • LinsladeLad by LinsladeLad in response to cyngast's comment.

    The zoom in box I was aware of, but not the zoom out option - there is no label or symbol underneath the zoom in control, so I didn't think to go there.

    I've just tried playing with this to see if it fixed the problem, but no. I can zoom out to see a larger map area, but if I then try to move that I can't see any more than what was in the small window. Depending on geographical location this may help to narrow down a unit's position, but I suspect it would prove to be inconsistent.

    Peter

    Posted

  • Jan_Greenslade by Jan_Greenslade

    I am finding that the red indicator points to the correct place, but there's no name - I then zoom in and out until the town name appears by the red indicator and click OK but if I open the place tag again town no longer shows - I go through the whole process again, which is no problem, but does this mean when someone comes to read the page the tag will not show the town name?
    Jan

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator in response to Jan_Greenslade's comment.

    Jan, can you clarify what you mean by the "town no longer shows"? Do you mean the map doesn't stay where you left it or does the name of the town not show in the space right underneath where it says Name?

    Posted

  • Jan_Greenslade by Jan_Greenslade in response to cyngast's comment.

    Sorry for the poor explanation - some diary pages have the Unit staying in the same place for many days. Once I have managed to pinpoint the place name on the map [as explained above] and saved it on the first date I then go to last date on page to tag the same place again, but although the town name is still written in the box, it is not visible on the map, only the red indicator in the area where the town is. So I then have to go through the zooming process again. Apologies for being long-winded and hope this is clearer. Regards Jan

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    Jan, I don't think that what the map portion of the Place tag shows is recorded as part of the data. I think that the map is just provided to help us decide which place named Bailleul or Arras, as examples, is the correct one to choose when there are multiple towns with the same name. The important data is the name (or the designation None of these) that you select.

    Even as a moderator, I have to admit I don't know all the technical details about how the site works. Rob and Heather are much better versed in this than I am, so you may have to wait a few days for a definitive answer from one of them. I'll pass your question along, though.

    Posted

  • David_Underdown by David_Underdown moderator

    It just records coordinates (lat and long) and if you have been able to select the town on the map, it means we should be able to normalise the name using the geonames database which should make the data consistent even if there have been variations in spelling and so on

    Posted

  • Jan_Greenslade by Jan_Greenslade in response to cyngast's comment.

    Sorry I didn't realise that, thought whoever was looking at the diary page would want to see exactly where the town was on the map -
    Thank you for your help - I'll wait and see whether Rob or Heather have any further suggestions - Regards Jan

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    There are some weird things going on with the map box, Jan. Hopefully we'll get to the bottom of them. In the meantime, as long as there's a red indicator and the town name is still showing in the list, then the data is being recorded correctly (even if the map itself isn't visible).

    Posted

  • David_Underdown by David_Underdown moderator in response to Jan_Greenslade's comment.

    Recording the coordinates is enough to that - you can include them in a Google Maps (or other mapping service URL) and you will get back the same view you see during the tagging

    Posted