New Clubs Listing

[Craig]

I'm tinkering with Google Maps to create a more robust clubs listing.

Here is a very early alpha (I still have to do the API work to bring it into fencing.net and update and validate all of the club and address info.)

This will also ultimately incorporate a zip code search so site visitors can find the clubs within X miles of their homes.

Take a look:

http://www.zeesource.net/maps/map.do?group=1491

Craig

[oso97]

I like.....

Could be a useful feature. Everyday this website gets better and better than the 'official' resources

[fencerontheline]

This is really cool. Good stuff, Craig.

[Craig]

Thanks. Please note: The data used to populate this test map is OLD! For demonstration purposes only.

One other application:
If I know the club locations, and know which clubs are hosting tournaments via AskFRED in the coming months, I can then create maps on a quarterly/monthly(?) basis where you can find tournaments within X miles of you or your club.

Cool app? Anyone willing to help code that piece to mash all the FRED and club data together?

[Gav]

That's pretty cool. Nothing like that in the UK.

Although we DO have a map listing tournament locations.

[Craig]

Originally Posted by Gav

That's pretty cool. Nothing like that in the UK.

Although we DO have a map listing tournament locations.

Using the google maps API we could add clubs from any location where we can pull the postal code or latitude/longitude. You want to head up the UK portion of the project?

[Gav]

Originally Posted by Craig

Using the google maps API we could add clubs from any location where we can pull the postal code or latitude/longitude. You want to head up the UK portion of the project?

I could do that. Let me know what's involved.

[daveappr]

Nice work- that'll be a great application. As was said before- you're out doing the official sources

[KD5MDK]

That would be extremely cool.

[Craig]

Anyone want to take on gathering club data for other countries/regions?

If so, ping me for details and what regions/countries you are signing up for. Most of the data is on the federation web sites and just needs to be pulled.

Craig

[Larrison]

Looks like a really cool application Craig -- a couple of random thoughts

-- Do you want to offer at least a link to this to the folks at USFA? Sort of, if they provide the clubs data, you'll provide them the link? I always hate to have two data bases out of synch...

-- How do you handle a club which has multiple locations? For example, Orange Coast Fencing Academy which is probably the largest fencing group near where I live, teaches/ holds classes in 9 cities. Other clubs, such as Swords Fencing (www.swordsfencingstudio.com) teach in 16 cities... and have multiple locations in some cities.

If we're looking for places for people to take lessons/ fence, I think we ought to show on a map where these places are, and if a street address is shown, then it shouldn't be too hard to find the lat/long for that address. But that's going to be a fair number of places, and more than just one listing per club in some cases.

-- What about college/ HS/ etc locations? This would be really useful to have, since its more than what the USFA lists with their clubs.

-- Parks & recreation classes? This would be the hard one to get to list, but I have to admit I started fencing through a parks and rec club, which led me to a local fencing club.

-- Do you want to show maps/ locations for equipment suppliers? Hmm.. is this a way to generate sponsorship $$ to help do the project? On the other hand, some suppliers (such as the Fencing Post) don't have a retail location...

-- Locations for key tournaments? Again, to use a local example, the Orange Coast Section in SoCal has its usual tournaments at Cal State Long Beach, not at a local club's site. It's a pretty good location -- but would not get picked up by only a listing of clubs.

[Craig]

Very nice list of thoughts. Some I've thought of, some I haven't. Will respond below:

Originally Posted by Larrison

Looks like a really cool application Craig -- a couple of random thoughts

-- Do you want to offer at least a link to this to the folks at USFA? Sort of, if they provide the clubs data, you'll provide them the link? I always hate to have two data bases out of synch...

Yes. My listings are currently HORRIBLY out of sync. The main reason being that I haven't had time to manually update things and my listing system has been bombarded with link spam, making the current app unusable.

I have contacted the USFA's webmaster for assistance on the listings. The other option is to manually go to the USFA site and do a lot of copy/paste work!

How do you handle a club which has multiple locations? For example, Orange Coast Fencing Academy which is probably the largest fencing group near where I live, teaches/ holds classes in 9 cities. Other clubs, such as Swords Fencing (www.swordsfencingstudio.com) teach in 16 cities... and have multiple locations in some cities.

Well. We're looking to show people where they can fence, esp. places that are close to them. I would want each physical location to have an entry that also provides the appropriate contact information. Since that may not be included in the current USFA listings, that is something that those club owners may need to provide back to me. Once up and running, I plan on getting some sort of information blast out to club owners to encourage them to submit and update listings on a regular basis.

-- What about college/ HS/ etc locations? Parks and Rec Classes, etc.

These would all be good to have also as they are ways that people get into fencing and the majority of hits to the fencing.net home page are people looking to get started. GMaps allows for different colored "pins" so I would designate different colors or something for USFA vs. non-USFA locations.

The end (version 3.0 or something) goal is to have a AAA like listing that provides a great level of detail on weapons offered, times, etc. but first we'll work on just getting an accurate listing of locations.

-- Do you want to show maps/ locations for equipment suppliers? Hmm.. is this a way to generate sponsorship $$ to help do the project? On the other hand, some suppliers (such as the Fencing Post) don't have a retail location...

That could be interesting.

-- Locations for key tournaments? Again, to use a local example, the Orange Coast Section in SoCal has its usual tournaments at Cal State Long Beach, not at a local club's site. It's a pretty good location -- but would not get picked up by only a listing of clubs.

This is also an idea I talk about above. Some way to integrate back to the FRED listings so fencers can find tournaments in the coming months that are within a couple hours driving distance.

[Craig]

Another version - this one with only a couple of clubs listed, but shows integration into the fencing.net site.

Fencing.Net Google Maps

Vision would include a zip code/postal code search and links to different states or countries to recenter the map.

[bafco]

Originally Posted by Craig

Anyone want to take on gathering club data for other countries/regions?

If so, ping me for details and what regions/countries you are signing up for. Most of the data is on the federation web sites and just needs to be pulled.

Craig

Gav's comment isn't quite true. The clubs in the NW of England are mapped. You can see this at http://www.nw-fencing.org.uk. Select "Clubs" then "Maps".

You can also see tournaments in the UK by clicking on "Competitions" and then selecting the category you are interested in. You need to slide this around a little and change scales since by default it only shows the NW of England.

While "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" I think you need to publish the format that you would expect the data in, so that you can import it directly without having to munge it.

[bafco]

Craig - unless I am mistaken you are using Joomla! as the CMS for this site.

If this is so then you can use the standard Google maps component that you can find at http://forge.joomla.org/sf/projects/google_maps

[Craig]

Originally Posted by bafco

Craig - unless I am mistaken you are using Joomla! as the CMS for this site.

If this is so then you can use the standard Google maps component that you can find at http://forge.joomla.org/sf/projects/google_maps

I already have that installed and I'm talking to the developer about some custom coding for it to get the customization that I want for the fencing.net clubs listing.

[Craig]

Originally Posted by bafco

While "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" I think you need to publish the format that you would expect the data in, so that you can import it directly without having to munge it.

I've been sending back to those interested the fields needed.

Basically all address fields including postal code plus club name and then add in URL for the bare bones.

[Craig]

OK Anyone want to divide up the US and get a comprehensive listing done? I don't have the time to do it myself and don't have a good enough list to start with so I really need it to start from scratch.

Attached is a sample spreadsheet with all the needed fields. I have "address" fields and "mailing address" fields because some clubs list a PO Box which is okay for mailing but does not help with google maps, so you have to go to the site to get the address for their actual practice location.

Please respond with what state(s)/section you can take on. Send the completed files to me at craig at fencing.net

Hopefully we can get this knocked out quickly and have an up to date listing soon.

Thanks,
Craig

[KD5MDK]

I've asked for help on the Gulf Coast Fencing forum. How do you prefer to handle clubs which have multiple locations? Also, could perhaps a web form be setup to input this? I'm afraid you'll be facing a lot of excel files if not.

[oso97]

I'm working on the North Texas stuff....