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,

[mfarmerhi]

The 2.2 World Map works like a charm for 3.0.7 boards if you follow the instructions in this thread: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...205#post745205

[Pseudomizer]

Originally Posted by mfarmerhi

The 2.2 World Map works like a charm for 3.0.7 boards if you follow the instructions in this thread: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...205#post745205

Sorry, but why should users place a PIN and enter their information again? They did it already during registration by entering their ZIP code. This hack provides map details by using the ZIP codes. No placing of PINs required.

Ok, it's flash and nothing special.

Thanks for this link but I know many of these manual map methods and I kicked all of them.

Cheers,

[mfarmerhi]

My post was in response to those seeking a map for the US, Canada, Latin America or Europe besides the few countries you've included.

Until you include those maps, it seems to me that the 2.2 hack is the best available, certainly for any board with an international membership...

Your hack is great. And when it includes the rest of the world will be wonderful.

[m0nde]

Originally Posted by mfarmerhi

My post was in response to those seeking a map for the US, Canada, Latin America or Europe besides the few countries you've included.

Until you include those maps, it seems to me that the 2.2 hack is the best available, certainly for any board with an international membership...

Your hack is great. And when it includes the rest of the world will be wonderful.

I agree completely. Whatever solution comes out will have to include the rest of the world for it to be embraced by the whole vBulletin community. This is especially true because vBulletin was developed in Great Britain. I, myself, live in Canada and, though my board has a large American membership, would definitely like Canadian postal codes included.

I will try to find latitude/longitude & postal code information for Canada as well as the rest of the world and will post it here once I find it.

- Sid