BETA VERSION: Map Locator Hack

Welcome to my first BETA Release of

Map Locator Hack or How-to-Find members in a nutshell

This is my first try to get help from you guys. I tried to develop this on my own but i failed. I need help from all of you.

Before i start to describe what this hack does please take a look at the live demo. It makes my life much easier. Live demo can be viewed here.

Please move your mouse over the marks. You will see userinformations.

So this hack provides a map for VBulletin to show where your members are living. But i do not have the data for the US. I just have the data for germany and due to this i can only provide the german map. I have added the US map and a map of india but without the data i will not be able to finish this hack for other countries.

Please read my installation instructions completly BEFORE you start installing this hack. This hack is not easy to install and it will take you at least 30 min to get it running with the german map.

I would like to add: This is not an official release. This is a BETA version which is currently in production. I would not post this in this BETA section when i would not need your help. So what i need from you ? Please read my install instructions and read the part about the US data. If someone can provide this kind of data, i will be able to publish this hack.

If no one can provide this data, i will not continue with this hack because it works for me and due to the help of an indian VB member i will finalize this hack for him for india. So it is up to you.

UPDATE BETA 1.01:
After having done the base work, i focused now on the performance. If you have many members in your domain and many people open this map, your server will struggle. The heavy SQL part of this hack will bring down your server. Due to this i implemented a performance improvement.

I created the following logic around the hack:
- check if the number of ZIP code entries of the members has changed.
- if yes, then redraw the map with all queries ( a lot of queries which are required )
- if no, then take the already drawn map and take the userinfo which has been saved into a file rather then redo all queries again

Improvement:
- Up to 800% because people do not change their ZIP code so often
- if new ZIP codes are added only 1 person will issue the heavy SQL load to your server and this just ONCE
- every other person will get the cached version of the map with a really nice performance ( 5 queries in total )

And on top of that i added the Locator template to the cached templates. So this hack should be performing very well now. You can check it on my live demo site.

I have updated the ZIP file with the new locator.php file. For upgraders, just replace the locator.php file in your forum root folder. Then please do a "chmod 777 data" in your forum root folder. All set all done.

Cheers,

[Torben]

Im anxious for this release in the US. Is there any word on the US release?
Thanks!
~Torben
www.desmonorthwest.com

[royals]

that looks great! I'll wait eagerly for a US version

[Pseudomizer]

Originally Posted by Torben

Im anxious for this release in the US. Is there any word on the US release?
Thanks!
~Torben
www.desmonorthwest.com

Hi,

i have massive problems with the US map details. The geographical locations are not set where they should be set. I am trying to figure out why. I am still working on this but please be patient.

Cheers,

[teksigns]

Originally Posted by Pseudomizer

Let me check this. I am a little bit confused because some map details have e.g. San Francisco with -122 and others have +122 for the coordinate. I am not a GEO expert. I have to check this.

At the moment with the current map information i have, it puts San Francisco into the center of Iowa. *weird*

Cheers,

hmmm maybe your file is bad ....redownload .......


i downloaded the file and -122 does not exist in the file .

[Andreas]

Nice hack, but this one seems to be much more powerful (but for phpBB )
http://217.160.138.71/development/ph...wforum.php?f=5

I'd really love to see these features (eg. hightlight, zoom, distances, next members, etc.) in your hack

[Pseudomizer]

Hello @LL,

first of all i want to comment on the last info and then i will give a general update about this hack.

@KirbyDE: I know this hack already and this hack is only for phpBB and i tried to convert it to vb and i failed. It is much more then just an adjustment. It is fully integrated into phpBB. In addition i do not think that it is much more powerful. The official version does not have the features you are mentioning. Only the development link you just posted have these features and it is not finished yet. It still has bugs in it. Regardless of this i want to add this for all people here.

@ALL: I just installed this hack on a board with over 10000 users and my hack failed miserably. The performance was reduced due to my SQL loads and the complete server stopped for about 1 minute every SQL request. This is UNACCEPTABLE. I had to remove the hack immediately.

As it looks like this hack works fine for small communities but not for large boards.

2 options now:

1) discontinue the hack completly
2) start from scratch with a complete new system/concept

The OpenGeoDB is not optimized for so many SQL queries. It is for finding one specific location + nearest locations and nothing else.

Sorry for that but i do either create an overall good working hack or none but nothing between.

Cheers,

[Andreas]

Hmm ... bad.
Seems lik I have to port the phpBB mod myself then.
Gonna let you know if it works out (my board has approx. 18.000 members).

[Pseudomizer]

Originally Posted by KirbyDE

Hmm ... bad.
Seems lik I have to port the phpBB mod myself then.
Gonna let you know if it works out (my board has approx. 18.000 members).

Hi @LL,

i just found a modification of the GEO DB class which is much more efficient. I would have to test this version and then come back to you. Give me time and i think i will be able to bring out something. Remember: This is still BETA.

Cheers,

[shortbus1662]

hey guys, I don't know how you are doing this hack, but I have one similiar for my site. go to www.ultimatenurse.com and click on "user map" and see it.

It doesn't use zip codes or anything. A user simply places a "pin" in the place they are located. Would this improve the way this works?

[Pseudomizer]

Originally Posted by shortbus1662

hey guys, I don't know how you are doing this hack, but I have one similiar for my site. go to www.ultimatenurse.com and click on "user map" and see it.

It doesn't use zip codes or anything. A user simply places a "pin" in the place they are located. Would this improve the way this works?

This would be an easy way of implementing a PIN solution which would not check if the location is right. The ZIP code would be a way to check if the ZIP code exists. But this depends on the requirement. So if a user is looking for a solution like yours ... GO FOR IT. Every solution is welcome which enhances the vbulletin.

Cheers,