User Locations are back!

Blog Discussion in 'BeerAdvocate Talk' started by Todd, Mar 4, 2013.

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  1. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,518) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    STAFF Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah

    Prior to installing our new forum/user registration over a year ago we had the ability to properly capture and use the data. Since then we've had to deal with a free for all open field that isn't very useful at all. In fact, it's been rather frustrating and was one of the major reasons why we had to disable showing user locations in the forum, on reviews and cease email blasts as we couldn't target users by location.

    Long story short, I hacked some code together in order to bring user locations back; we'll make it less hacky later.

    Here's the deal:
    • Go to your Account/Personal Details and select "edit your location."
    • Select your country (and state/province if you're in the US or Canada).
    • Done.
    Using historical data, I automatically updated roughly 286,000 accounts prior to the forum update. Users within the past year will need to manually update their location, as will those who have moved since the update. City is not included in this round of updates.

    Where is it displayed?
    Currently:
    • User profile page and popup user info cards.
    • Forum posts.
    • Beer/Place reviews.
    Soon:
    • Beer/Place reviews.
    • Wants/Gots for each beer.
    Clicking on a user location takes you to Google maps; forum default that we plan on changing with the site redesign.

    Washington Bug
    • Google maps defaults to "Washington, DC" when given "Washington," however it's the reverse with Google search. We've put in a ticket with Google.
    Right now location is optional, but we plan on making it mandatory soon. User location is now mandatory (again) in order to better customize your experience on BA now and with future updates.

    Enjoy!
     
    #1 Todd, Mar 4, 2013
    BEERchitect, queens1130, drewone and 16 others like this.
  2. corby112

    corby112 Initiate (0) Nov 19, 2008 Pennsylvania

    Very cool. Looking forward to seeing this again in beer/place reviews. Hopefully city will be included in future updates.
     
    #2 corby112, Mar 4, 2013
    xxcarpxx likes this.
  3. KenC

    KenC Pundit (865) Jan 21, 2011 South Carolina
    Trader

    Cities would be nice, esp. for those looking to do some IP trading.
     
    #3 KenC, Mar 4, 2013
    jgluck likes this.
  4. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,518) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    STAFF Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah

    Yes. We plan on adding a city field.
     
    #4 Todd, Mar 4, 2013
    lemongelo, xxcarpxx, EyePeeAyBryan and 3 others like this.
  5. corby112

    corby112 Initiate (0) Nov 19, 2008 Pennsylvania

    Nice. Will it be manually entered like before or will it be a choice of real cities, not land of walezbro, PA?
     
    #5 corby112, Mar 4, 2013
    liamt07, ant880, benjaminahudson and 1 other person like this.
  6. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,518) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    STAFF Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah

    We'll be aiming for real cities as anything else won't be useful.
     
    #6 Todd, Mar 4, 2013
    UncleJimbo likes this.
  7. notjustgc

    notjustgc Devotee (389) Nov 15, 2008 New Jersey

    This rocks! Much easier to make sense of big/popular threads at a glance.
     
    #7 notjustgc, Mar 4, 2013
    corby112 likes this.
  8. benjaminahudson

    benjaminahudson Initiate (0) Sep 29, 2012 North Carolina

    I'll bite: why does it have to be mandatory?
     
    #8 benjaminahudson, Mar 4, 2013
    williamjbauer and BlakeSmith like this.
  9. jmgrub

    jmgrub Initiate (0) Nov 20, 2010 California

    To better customize your experience on BA now and with future updates.
     
    #9 jmgrub, Mar 4, 2013
    DaveHack, NABS, kevanb and 9 others like this.
  10. wagenvolks

    wagenvolks Initiate (0) Sep 23, 2005 Texas

    Not sure if this has been addressed lately, but is there any chance we'll get back our review data at some point (# styles, # states, etc...) ?
     
    #10 wagenvolks, Mar 4, 2013
    Duff27 and ehammond1 like this.
  11. BillyLrsn

    BillyLrsn Initiate (0) Oct 12, 2012 Minnesota

    I think it would be great if we could sort recent reviews by state.
     
    #11 BillyLrsn, Mar 4, 2013
    MattyG85 likes this.
  12. kmello69

    kmello69 Initiate (0) Nov 27, 2011 Texas

    I keep going into my profile and inputing my location, then saving my profile, and my location doesnt stick. Even though I've saved it, it keeps going back to blank and telling me to input it. Am I doing something wrong?

    Edit - figured it out. For some reason, when I save my profile after entering my location, it reverts back. If I change the location and DON'T save it, but just navigate away to another page, it works fine. Seems opposite of what it should do, but oh well, now it worked!
     
    #12 kmello69, Mar 4, 2013
    JxExM likes this.
  13. Archemedies

    Archemedies Initiate (0) Dec 8, 2011 Massachusetts

    Is there any plan on putting a user location somewhere in the review like on the old site? This may sound silly but it was always interesting reading someone from Europe, or outside the U.S perspective on an high sought after, or coveted American beer.
     
    #13 Archemedies, Mar 4, 2013
  14. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,518) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    STAFF Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah

    Yes. This is mentioned in my original post.
     
    #14 Todd, Mar 4, 2013
  15. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,518) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    STAFF Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah

    Good catch. I updated the Personal Details form. Tested. Working now.

    (Reload the form if you're having the same issue to get the new code.)
     
    #15 Todd, Mar 4, 2013
  16. Archemedies

    Archemedies Initiate (0) Dec 8, 2011 Massachusetts

    I got to learn to read. Thanks Todd.
     
    #16 Archemedies, Mar 4, 2013
  17. Bitterbill

    Bitterbill Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,036) Sep 14, 2002 Wyoming
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    I just noticed this and I reckoned there would be a post about it here. Well done!
     
    #17 Bitterbill, Mar 4, 2013
  18. Fenski

    Fenski Pundit (791) Apr 24, 2008 Ohio
    Society

    Thanks for this adjustment, Todd. And from a non-IT guy, I love the phrase "I hacked some code together"
     
    #18 Fenski, Mar 5, 2013
  19. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,518) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    STAFF Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah

    Update: Added to Beer/Place reviews.
     
    #19 Todd, Mar 5, 2013
    corby112 likes this.
  20. MattyG85

    MattyG85 Initiate (0) Aug 31, 2010 Minnesota

    I too would like to have a return of review/had data broken down by number of States, Countries, breweries, styles, etc. I miss being able to see that.
     
    #20 MattyG85, Mar 5, 2013
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