How to Show Your Location Under Your Avatar

Tim Kirkwood

I dont know that this is possiable but hey its 2005 so why would it not be. I think it would be really neat if when reading post, and the posters name and info is to the left, if I could click on their location and it would open a new window with a Mapquest location search of where that person lives. Alot of times I see someones location and I wonder "wonder if thats close to...." or "I wonder exacly where that is?"


Just a thought, thought maybe if baldy or one of those guys wants a little something to sit around and work on.


Thanks for the best forum on the web!

Tim

Seymore

Tim Kirkwood wrote:

I dont know that this is possiable but hey its 2005 so why would it not be. I think it would be really neat if when reading post, and the posters name and info is to the left, if I could click on their location and it would open a new window with a Mapquest location search of where that person lives. Alot of times I see someones location and I wonder "wonder if thats close to...." or "I wonder exacly where that is?"


Just a thought, thought maybe if baldy or one of those guys wants a little something to sit around and work on.


Thanks for the best forum on the web!

Tim

But, there are some of us who put our location in cryptic language. Mapquest would have a hard time locating where I live.

Tim Kirkwood

Well yeah I thought of that too. It would rely on properly filled out profiles to work correctly. If you did not want your town being mapquested then you would not have to fill it out correctly. All I am suggesting is city,state. Not your acual house adresss.


Just thought it would be cool to have a quick way of having an better idea of where everyone is coming from.


Tim

Seymore

OK, I agree... BTW, I was NOT trying to be confrontantial with you about this... just playing devils advocate and showing another side of the coin. K?

Nikolai

It's not that hard at all
Provided vbulletin (underlying forum engine) allows creation of hyperlink to existing location field and hence making it clickable.
Having that, all it would take for a user who actually want to provide this info(however general or precise) is to go to map server of his/her choice and specify that link.
Here is the sample of my clickable location via - very new and very nice - google maps: Thousand Oaks, CA.

Technically, all displayed user info can point to something: user's website, smugmug galleries, email, location, paypal account, etc.

HTH

Cheers!

Tim Kirkwood

Seymore wrote:

BTW, I was NOT trying to be confrontational with you about this...

Oh I know I was just clarifying.



Thanks Nik for the insight. So is this something that others would be interested in? How can we find out if Vbulletin would support something like this?


Tim

Tim Kirkwood

Nikolai wrote:

Here is the sample of my clickable location via - very new and very nice - google maps: Thousand Oaks, CA.

I changed my location in my profile to the web address of the google map of Franklin but VB did not make it clickable ..... so I am guessing it would require some admin work to set up that field to accept a hyperlink.

Tim

Nikolai

Yes, that's correct

Tim Kirkwood wrote:

I changed my location in my profile to the web address of the google map of Franklin but VB did not make it clickable ..... so I am guessing it would require some admin work to set up that field to accept a hyperlink.

Tim

It won't become clickable just because you change your location to the url. Somebody from dgrin/SM admin personnel needa to to provide a URL field in user'a profile... again, only IF vb allows this kinda things - which I don't know...
Good idea, though..

Andy

:lynn

no can do guys. this would require enabling html inside of dgrin, which would open us all up to potential security and pr0n risks.

Nikolai

Andy, with all due respect..

andy wrote:

:lynn
no can do guys. this would require enabling html inside of dgrin, which would open us all up to potential security and pr0n risks.

I really don't see how making user's address "clickable" can be ANY different from regular hyperlinks we do right here (most, if not all, outside dgrin), e.g. this one.

I can understand VB can make it a hassle to do it specifically for user info case, or you guys simply don't have time to do it, but I find it very hard to believe that this would open a "can of p0rns"..

Andy

Nikolai wrote:

I really don't see how making user's address "clickable" can be ANY different from regular hyperlinks we do right here (most, if not all, outside dgrin), e.g. this one.

I can understand VB can make it a hassle to do it specifically for user info case, or you guys simply don't have time to do it, but I find it very hard to believe that this would open a "can of p0rns"..

:lynn sorry nik i just went thru all the available options in vbulletin admin and there's nothing there that provides for this.

Nikolai

OK then:-)

andy wrote:

:lynn sorry nik i just went thru all the available options in vbulletin admin and there's nothing there that provides for this.

Well, as I said - it may be not an options for VB :-)

Lame (it would seem you should be able to configire what is displayed on the LHP of each post and what not), but nevertheless highly possible:-)

Cheers!

Baldy

What's the form of the HTML link I have to create for Google maps? I'd like not to have to parse and insert % signs, etc.

Andy

Baldy wrote:

What's the form of the HTML link I have to create for Google maps? I'd like not to have to parse and insert % signs, etc.

the great baldwanna speaks ... well that ought to teach youse guys to listen to me, i don't even know what html is...

Nikolai

Try this

Baldy wrote:

What's the form of the HTML link I have to create for Google maps? I'd like not to have to parse and insert % signs, etc.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=%s
where %s is your request (technically URI-encoded, bu sometimes work as is).

There are also optional parameters - start with http://maps.google.com, try few addresses and see for yourself:):

Good luck!
Cheers!

Tim Kirkwood

Baldy, Andy, Nik


Thanks for looking into this. I think it would be a real neat feature. This is the greatest forum ever!

You make a suggestion and someone acually takes a min to try it out. That would not happen alot of other places.


You guys are the best.

Tim

Baldy

Andy

Baldy wrote:

kewl! so, howdja do that, baldwanna? what's the code that goes in the location field?

Allen

andy wrote:

kewl! so, howdja do that, baldwanna? what's the code that goes in the location field?

ZIP code

Baldy

I inserted HTML into one of the templates. It isn't something any of the admins should do except me, onethumb or JT because you can crash the board.

You're right that it opens security holes to enable HTML in forum posts by users, but me inserting HTML in a template that no one can access should be fine.

I notice it doesn't work for some users. Fish has Silicon Valley in his location field and Google doesn't know where that is. Google only maps the USA. And it can't make sense of some addresses people enter.

Andy

Baldy wrote:

I inserted HTML into one of the templates. It isn't something any of the admins should do except me, onethumb or JT because you can crash the board.

You're right that it opens security holes to enable HTML in forum posts by users, but me inserting HTML in a template that no one can access should be fine.

I notice it doesn't work for some users. Fish has Silicon Valley in his location field and Google doesn't know where that is. Google only maps the USA. And it can't make sense of some addresses people enter.

this is so freakin' sweet.

Nikolai

Glad you were able to make it:-)

Baldy wrote:

I notice it doesn't work for some users. Fish has Silicon Valley in his location field and Google doesn't know where that is. Google only maps the USA. And it can't make sense of some addresses people enter.

Well, those in US can adjust their location profiles. Those who are outside - well, eventually Google will cover them, too. They recently acquired Keyhole, so they might as well cover the whole globe..

Thanks for the quick response, Chris!

Cheers!

wxwax

Wow, very cool. Unique too, no? Nice work, Baldy.

Andy

this is so cool i'm beside myself with laughter here!
click on my location in my profile, then type in

ribs

in the search box

:eat

Nikolai

You guys

andy wrote:

click on my location in my profile, then type in
ribs
in the search box
:eat

...are obvously not using google enough, let alone such a neat thingie as dave's toolbar (*google* for it, I'm not gonna tell you the url:-).
I don't remember when was the last time I actually launched the browser first and then tried to look for something. 100% of all my surfing activity (including work, dgrin, stf, etc) goes through the little dave's toolbar text window..
For instance, when I found the google maps, I opened dave's plain text configuration file, typed one simple line - and now all I need to do to see a map is to type "gm" (I selected this as a shotcut for google maps) and the address - et voila!

Cheers!

Andy

Nikolai wrote:

...are obvously not using google enough, let alone such a neat thingie as dave's toolbar (*google* for it, I'm not gonna tell you the url:-).
I don't remember when was the last time I actually launched the browser first and then tried to look for something. 100% of all my surfing activity (including work, dgrin, stf, etc) goes through the little dave's toolbar text window..
For instance, when I found the google maps, I opened dave's plain text configuration file, typed one simple line - and now all I need to do to see a map is to type "gm" (I selected this as a shotcut for google maps) and the address - et voila!

Cheers!

nik i'm on a mac, all that stuff's built in thanks man

GREAPER

This is cool as could be.

Now, I know there was a thread about it way back, but what is the fix if your location is not showing. I checked my profile and I dont see any boxes not filled in, but my location is not showing.

Andy

GREAPER wrote:

This is cool as could be.

Now, I know there was a thread about it way back, but what is the fix if your location is not showing. I checked my profile and I dont see any boxes not filled in, but my location is not showing.

greaps,

i think you have to have something in all the profile fields... try it... that me be the ticket..

GREAPER

andy wrote:

greaps,

i think you have to have something in all the profile fields... try it... that me be the ticket..

Weird, I just had to give myself a custom title....

Tim Kirkwood

Wow thanks Guys!!! I love it! It is exactly what I had pictured. This will be very handy! The only thing I notice is that it opens the maps in the same window. May be nice if it opened the maps in a new window. Not sure if this makes things that much more difficult or not. Either way it works and thats the cool part.

Thanks Baldy for putting in the effort!!!


This is the greatest place ever!


Tim

Nikolai

It's very easy..:-)

Tim Kirkwood wrote:

The only thing I notice is that it opens the maps in the same window. May be nice if it opened the maps in a new window. Not sure if this makes things that much more difficult or not.

Just one target attribute in the href expression. But you need baldy, onethumb or jt to do this, nobody else seem to have access to this part:-)

Cheers!