To those who like to “push the envelope” with creative puzzle caches and such:

Back in February, one of the changes to the placement guidelines was a ban on required file downloads. This served to prohibit both puzzles where the puzzle was located in an external file, such as a pdf, and puzzles where a special external program was required to solve the problem. The only exceptions were files which could be read by all browsers without additional plugins (basically .jpgs, .gifs, .bmps and other “picture” formats and HTML files.)

This guideline has been since been eased to allow for downloading of audio, video, text and pdf files. The only catch is that they now require the following “boilerplate” to be included in the cache description:

Alert: You are about to download a file in order to obtain further details needed to find this geocache. As the cache owner, I represent that this file is safe to download although the files needed to complete this geocache have not been checked by Groundspeak or by the Geocache Reviewer for possible malicious content. As a result, you are downloading this file at your own risk.
[insert link here]

Note that you still cannot require a download of an executable file, an “active document” files (such as a Microsoft Word file), batch files, or any other file type commonly used by “virus spreaders”. Other file types will need to be handled on a case by case basis. Also note that if you host your file on commercial websites (such as Youtube) you will need to get specific permission from Groundspeak before you publish your cache.

Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Wis Kid
[email protected]