By Mike Malvick (GreatlandReviewer)
When the time comes to remove a cache page from the public-facing geocaching.com website and geocaching application, the “archive” log type under “admin tools” on the website and the “archive” log type in the application is the correct step to take. The local Reviewer or the Cache Owner using the “archive” log type has the effect of removing the cache from cache maps, pocket queries, lists, and other places. The cache page remains visible on the Cache Owner’s “Geocaches Owned” list, but it appears greyed out with the “archived” notation. The cache page may still be logged, but not edited, unless the cache page is locked by a site administrator or the local Reviewer. Only a site administrator at Geocaching HQ or the local Reviewer can “unarchive” the cache page to return it to active status.
Different from the “archive” log is the “disable” log. This log type “disables” the cache page which normally indicates the cache container is unavailable in a field due to the container missing, the location being closed, or for other reasons. The cache page may still logged and edited, and the cache still appears on maps, pocket queries, lists, and other places, but the icon’s appearance is different to signal its disabled status. The Cache Owner and the local Reviewer may “enable” a disabled cache page when the cache is ready to be found.
Cache Owners are encouraged to archive their own cache pages when they are no longer able to perform maintenance on a cache in the field, they move away after removing their container from the field, land manager policy (permits) change, etc. If the Cache Owner only “disables,” the cache page, the cache page remains public-facing and a thirty-day clock starts running which will lead to a follow-up Reviewer Note reminding the Cache Owner to perform the necessary maintenance and “enable” the cache page. If the Reviewer Note is not acted upon, the local Reviewer will eventually archive the cache page, but not before the defunct cache page has continued to be visible for several weeks after the cache itself was no longer viable. This interim period of the cache page being disabled when the Cache Owner knows maintenance will not be performed and the cache page will not be enabled can be skipped by the Cache Owner going directly to the archive step.
Ideally, as Alaska State Parks permit compliance work continues and caches are removed from the field by cachers other than the Cache Owner, an “owner maintenance required,” log should be written to the cache page to notify the Cache Owner that the cache page may be archived. The Cache Owner should then archive the cache page themselves.
By following these logging guidelines, Cache Owners can reduce their local Reviewer’s workload and do their part to keep the playing field clean.