Geocaching Site Nearby Cache Sort by Difficulty

WHAT IT DOES

This script scans geocaching site pages—Geocaching.com, Opencaching, and others—for nearby cache listings and extracts cache data including GC code, cache name, difficulty rating (1-5), terrain rating (1-5), cache type, size, distance, and description. It displays a floating panel showing all nearby caches sorted by difficulty rating (ascending or descending) with color-coded difficulty indicators: green for easy (≤2.5), yellow for moderate (3-3.5), orange for hard (4-4.5), red for very hard (5). Users can toggle sort order between ascending and descending, filter by cache type, terrain rating, or size, and click any cache card to view detailed information. A one-click export function saves the cache list as CSV or plain text. All sort preferences are stored per domain for reuse across visits.

WHERE IT RUNS

Works on any geocaching site page that displays nearby cache listings—Geocaching.com, Opencaching, or any page with cache entries containing GC codes, difficulty/terrain ratings, and cache metadata. The script detects cache entries using common patterns and selectors, making it compatible with most geocaching platforms.

HOW TO USE

The panel appears automatically when you visit a geocaching listing page. It detects caches and displays them sorted by difficulty (default ascending). Each cache card shows the GC code, name, difficulty rating (color-coded), terrain rating, distance, and cache type. Use the "Sort by" dropdown to sort by Difficulty, Terrain, Distance, or Name. Click the "↑ Asc / ↓ Desc" button to toggle sort order. Use the "Type" and "Terrain" filters to show only specific cache types or terrain levels—click "Apply" to update the view. Click any cache card to expand it and show the description. Export the cache list as CSV for spreadsheet analysis or as plain text for quick reference. Use "Reset Preferences" to clear all sort and filter settings. The panel remembers your sort preferences for each domain.

TECHNICAL MECHANISM: CACHE ENTRY DETECTION WITH DIFFICULTY/TERRAIN PARSING AND SORTING

The script uses a multi-pass detection strategy to find cache entries. It searches for common cache containers (.cache-entry, .cache-item, .geocache, .cache-listing) and falls back to scanning table rows, list items, and divs that contain GC code patterns (GC[A-Z0-9]+). For each entry, it extracts the GC code using regex, the cache name from "Name: [Name]" patterns or from surrounding text, difficulty from "D: [value]" or "Difficulty: [value]" patterns, terrain from "T: [value]" or "Terrain: [value]" patterns, cache type from "Type: [Type]" patterns or by checking against a list of common cache types (Traditional, Multi, Puzzle, etc.), size from "Size: [Size]" patterns or by checking against common sizes (Micro, Small, Regular, etc.), distance from patterns like "[value] mi" or "[value] km", and description from "Description: [text]" patterns. The sorting algorithm uses a switch statement based on the selected sort field, with null values pushed to the end. The difficulty color-coding uses thresholds: ≤1.5 = Very Easy (green), ≤2.5 = Easy (light green), ≤3.5 = Moderate (yellow), ≤4.5 = Hard (orange), >4.5 = Very Hard (red). Filtering uses case-insensitive string matching for type and numeric comparison for terrain. Export functions generate CSV with headers or plain text with formatted entries.

THE PANEL

The geocache sorter appears in a draggable, resizable panel that remembers its position per site. The panel shows the cache list with color-coded difficulty badges, summary count, sort/filter controls, and export buttons. Click any cache card to expand and show the description. Drag by the header to reposition, collapse to a compact icon with a click, and resize using the bottom-right corner. The panel snaps to screen edges for tidy placement and closes with the Escape key. All settings—sort by, sort order, filter type, filter terrain, and panel position—persist per website using GM_setValue, so your view returns exactly as you left it.

PLEASE NOTE

This script requires the free BotGentz extension to run. The script relies on common geocaching page structures—if a site uses a non-standard layout, cache detection may be incomplete. The difficulty and terrain parsers look for "D:" and "T:" patterns; if a site uses different labels, parsing may not work correctly. The cache type detection uses a list of common types; custom or new types may be missed. The script does not access your geocaching account credentials or modify your cache data—all data is read from the visible page and sorted/exported locally. The script is designed for viewing and sorting nearby caches, not for logging or managing cache finds.