Kinda cool, but it's a bit silly that they only accept submissions to add companies that are located in America. The Google maps exist and are detailed enough for Canada and the UK, not to mention the rest of Europe - why can't they have a submission feature for worldwide sites?
"-The company has to be in America, and you have to at least know what city they're in. (Preferably a ZIP code or better yet street address, but just city will work.) The main reason is that right now I don't have geocoding support for anything outside the U.S. If the site takes off, I'd definately like to add it, but for now, stick to U.S. companies."
kinda neat. hopefully they can get a gamasutra like database going on here.
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Kinda cool, but it's a bit silly that they only accept submissions to add companies that are located in America. The Google maps exist and are detailed enough for Canada and the UK, not to mention the rest of Europe - why can't they have a submission feature for worldwide sites?
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Well, didnt see THAT coming. Oh, gosh. Who'd have thought that within 3 posts we'd see somebody from the UK whining about the lack of UK support. Well...I guess thats what happens when you live on some irrelevant little island that nobody cares about!
Seriously though, it is suprising that they didn't support a more global view, but...hey. Maybe that'll be in v2.0.
Erol: Sorry, it wasn't as intuitive as it could've been. Now, you can click the marker for a company, and click the "Modify" link to edit details for that company.
For now, all modifications have to get approved by me, which sort of sucks, but I don't want someone to be able to trash the database. I plan to add user accounts and a history for entries, and then I'll make it so additions changes go live instantly. (I can always review them later.)
International support is my top priority right now. The problem is "geocoding", which is turning an address or other location information (like in the US, a ZIP code) into a latitude and longitude. Google Maps doesn't do this for you when you use their API. In the US, I managed to find a free database of ZIP codes and city names, and I use the geocoder.us website to geocode addresses.
I've found a free geocoder for Canada (geocoder.ca), but I still need to find a database that maps city names to latitude and longitudes. Also, I want to make it possible to add a company anywhere in the world, even if I can't geocode the address. (Maybe the user could zoom and pan and find the location on the map, and then click to plot the marker themselves?)
My goal is for the website to be a community resource. I want to make it as easy as possible for people to add and update companies, and make the whole site as user-friendly as I can.
I intentionally started with US-only, because I wanted to get something online, and because it's easier to start with a smaller focus and expand it then to try to narrow it down if you bite off too much.
This is awesome csbrooks. Many thanks. Tried to submit the new combined Lucasarts and ILM studio, but I'm getting 'couldn't understand location'. Is there a format to the address I'm getting wrong?
Daz: Addresses go through geocoder.us, and sometimes it can be finnicky. You may try leaving off the ZIP code; sometimes it thinks that address is in a different ZIP code. Also, try leaving off commas, or adding commas.
If you just can't get it to take the address, you can try nearby major cross-streets. And if that fails you can just put in only the ZIP code and it least it'll be in the general neighborhood.
Replies
kinda neat. hopefully they can get a gamasutra like database going on here.
*waves american flag and gives UK the finger*
:-)
Kinda cool, but it's a bit silly that they only accept submissions to add companies that are located in America. The Google maps exist and are detailed enough for Canada and the UK, not to mention the rest of Europe - why can't they have a submission feature for worldwide sites?
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Well, didnt see THAT coming. Oh, gosh. Who'd have thought that within 3 posts we'd see somebody from the UK whining about the lack of UK support. Well...I guess thats what happens when you live on some irrelevant little island that nobody cares about!
Seriously though, it is suprising that they didn't support a more global view, but...hey. Maybe that'll be in v2.0.
SAD. Americans. Some even supported the iraq war because they thought Canada is Iraq....
SAD. Americans. Some even supported the iraq war because they thought Canada is Iraq....
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Yeah, well their enormous breasts and winning smiles in the swimsuit ads they starred in redeemed them. :-)
Scott
edit: bah, it was on the frappr beta and it appears to be gone now. Too bad, it had hundreds of companies on it.
For now, all modifications have to get approved by me, which sort of sucks, but I don't want someone to be able to trash the database. I plan to add user accounts and a history for entries, and then I'll make it so additions changes go live instantly. (I can always review them later.)
-csbrooks (the gcdb.org guy)
I've found a free geocoder for Canada (geocoder.ca), but I still need to find a database that maps city names to latitude and longitudes. Also, I want to make it possible to add a company anywhere in the world, even if I can't geocode the address. (Maybe the user could zoom and pan and find the location on the map, and then click to plot the marker themselves?)
My goal is for the website to be a community resource. I want to make it as easy as possible for people to add and update companies, and make the whole site as user-friendly as I can.
I intentionally started with US-only, because I wanted to get something online, and because it's easier to start with a smaller focus and expand it then to try to narrow it down if you bite off too much.
Thanks for all your comments and suggestions.
-csbrooks- (the gcdb.org guy)
'1 Letterman Drive, San Francisco, CA, 94129'
Daz: Addresses go through geocoder.us, and sometimes it can be finnicky. You may try leaving off the ZIP code; sometimes it thinks that address is in a different ZIP code. Also, try leaving off commas, or adding commas.
If you just can't get it to take the address, you can try nearby major cross-streets. And if that fails you can just put in only the ZIP code and it least it'll be in the general neighborhood.
http://www.us.playstation.com/about.aspx?id=locations