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Quote from Brenda S. on 2024-05-09, 10:52 am-- Has anyone suggested to have a map or something that lets you know who is near you? Tho, others say near you, but actually in states near where you are, so not really near you. Or maybe someone who arrived in your park? Just a suggestion…..
We actually had a mapping system on the website (hidden for development) and you can see how it looks on my personal website for the Bus. Just make sure you let my site have access to your location info (it's generally a pop-up box from your browser to give permission) and then find "Travel Map" in the menu. The map automatically centers on Your Location... but you can move the map to where I am (Lummi Island, WA USA) to see how it looks with a lot of points.
I happen to already own this Mapping system of course, and was considering it for use here. But it is not automatic (except for YOUR current location) and I have to do all the entries by hand in the bowels of the beast. So it is good for my personal & business site(s) as Static information.
I was having reservations about using it here because of the added workload it would take. I also am very Privacy aware, and don't know that everyone would like to be on a map. In fact we are so careful about it, we don't show your Full name anywhere on the website publicly. We don't require more details about you as well like some (cough, cough) sites will demand, if we ask for anything, it is generally optional.
So Richard R. and I talk a fair amount via text, email, phone calls, and even can do Zoom. I asked him about it, and based on his feedback removed that system from the site entirely. I can always put it back though.. so do go look at it.
However there is another possible option as part of a larger set of features we are considering. We have not decided to try it yet, as it happens to cost us money to do so. But once we get at least 100 real members on the website, we will start doing polls in this section to have folks vote - then based on the results and feedback we would then consider the options.
So the quick answer is not now, but maybe...
"BUT wait there's more" We encourage folks to keep their Profile up to date, and that includes the optional field "CURRENTLY IN CITY/AREA:" which is an available field in the Membership Search. That might be enough, assuming folks keep it accurate as they prefer.
Totally understand, as we see many give no pictures or hardly any info. If people do keep current locations, that helps, but if someone comes into the park and they haven’t met you or remembered you on the website, hard to meet up. We will take what ever we can get to meet and remeet friends. Thank you for all you all do.
Quote from Brenda S. on 2024-05-09, 2:00 pm-- as we see many give no pictures or hardly any info. --
I think most of the time this is because of the Learning Curve or they just have not gotten around to it (like my brother, who just did his photo).
If someone is shy, often they will replace our Default with an Avatar they like. We always recommend at least doing this as it helps folks keep track visually.
Others don't have a Cover photo because they just don't have a great shot or know how to resize an image. Tark and I are always happy to help with that though if asked - just pop the request to us via the contact us link in the footer below. The contact us form info is automatically sent to both Tark and I.
As for Profile Details, some like to wait and see how others enter things.. I know I do. Also the Member Search only shows content we have decided to show from the profiles, like Current Location, etc. Clicking on their name gets you the most info about them, how they travel, their friends, etc.
Thank you, glad we have someone to help.
Quote from Brenda S. on 2024-05-09, 2:00 pm-- If people do keep current locations, that helps, but if someone comes into the park and they haven’t met you or remembered you on the website, hard to meet up. We will take what ever we can get to meet and remeet friends. --
True, but it's again a privacy issue. Without having decided to meet in advance, I am hesitant to walk up to a Rig and say "Hi, I know you..." FYI Tark does not like that at all.. especially if they are sleeping. That's one reason he and Ismeralda use Avatars - so they are not recognized unless they want to be.
But point taken and noted.. I think the other map system might help, but we have to get more input from the members... and I have to see just how accurate it is, what the options are, etc. Ismeralda (Tark's S.O.) is the one who gives feedback on cost vs function.. and we want to poll a decent membership demographic first (100+ members) before she says OK to proceed with Testing. It's a balance of Desire, Privacy, and Budget.
Totally understand.
Just an update, we found another mapping system that might work for members to put in their own pins on the map. It will not automatically show their location though (again that privacy thing). We will be testing it as we have time.
OH, and the one we were considering before, will not work. It requires us to store your Street Address (which we don't want to do) and it will not accept Latitude / Longitude which would be necessary for many places folks travel.. like BLM land.
I wouldn’t want to put my street address on, just the City and state or even area on a map. Can not wait see what you all have come up with, thank you. The pinning of places is a cool idea.
Brenda S. @blsmss2
Yep, we are very privacy aware.. and having the address or Exact location would give most the jitters.
Update on the Map we are testing now. It looks like it works well for members to place a pin about an attraction or restaurant for instance. The idea of them pinning their location will not work though. Once a pin is placed and approved, it can only be further edited by us. So a member could not update a location pin for themselves. Even if they could, remembering to keep things up to date never seems to work (ahem, me included.. I've been too busy here to keep up with my personal site Apracado.com). And we are very uncomfortable with a member location pin moving automatically.
So it looks like if we make the map available it will be for members to contribute reference pins only.
The one common issues I saw on RVillage and RVGroup with location, it was hardly every accurate. However, I have security issues based on current events with scammers. They are very creative with making false ID and joining groups just to see who is traveling and location to hit their homes knowing no one is there. This I learned from my inmates at the work release facility that I was the Warded. Learned alot from them. So pinning location of members from this standpoint I think it's best to leave it for Attractions, Restaurants, Campgrounds, etc. Security is always on my mind.
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