Wouldn't member directories by state be great?

[Opa]

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I really like this idea and would vote for in addition to.

 

[Yardbirds286]

.....I like the idea!

 

[PortageGirl]

Ok, I have a super easy suggestion... probably.

It depends on this forum, the administrator may have to tweek the "User List" a bit, but I'm almost certain it's very doable. It's also OPTIONAL for individuals. (or could/should be)

-User Name - Title - Posts - (date) Registered. The list can be sorted by any one of those columns now, but really it's not too useful for the average person, BUT!!! If a column is added to the data used in the 'user list' for "COUNTRY" and "STATE" (though not all countries use 'state' I would hope that people would use whatever makes sense for their area. Provence, Region, Burough or whatever. things can be narrowed down even more, by having NE, Centra,l N, W, S etc... but it has to be AFTER the state Name, everyone would come up as

Ohio, Cen
Ohio, N
Ohio, NE
Ohio, W

if you put W first, it would list all the W of each state and be useless.. does that make sense??? *shifty eyes* yes, I'm a data geek!!! I could make a spreadsheet for all this, but the forum should have the tools available and I hate duplicating work.

Anyone who doesn't want to do this would just leave that part blank.

[Edit] Go look at the "User list" at the top bar of the forum, and you'll see the pull downs in the 'user search' section... just leave the username block blank, and change the option under the 'Sort by' pull down, it'll sort everyone on whatever column you tell it to. PM or IM me if I can help.

 

[EliteTempleton]

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I don't know what BST is?

ETA: Ok I know now, thanks PortageGirl. Geez thats such a duh! I like her idea, just add functionality to the user list area. Perhaps a sticky or note in the BST section as I would think that people who were in there would get the most use out of this, except maybe Emergency's or...

But yea, a BYC Members only access that you could say "show me all the Michigan peeps" would be great!

However note that many BYC members do not live in the USA.

I wonder if it would not be better to have many options?
For example:

Continent: N. America, Europe
Country: USA, Germany
State/Province: Michigan, Bavaria
Location: Freeform to be able to be general(Central) or very specific(area code, zip code, county...).

With the first 3 being drop down lists so the search could be accurate. However being any more specific would be left up to the peep in the free form location area. The only problem I see is if I chose to only fill in the location field with Central Michigan then I would be excluded from the search parameters. Maybe a requirement to fill in the one above before you can fill in the ones below?

Moreover, if there is not already could there be a note placed in the area when the new members sign up explaining that most chicken info is regional and asking them to be as specific as they feel comfortable with?

 

[EliteTempleton]

Looks like PortageGirl and I are on a very similar page. No surprise as we both refer to ourselves as geeks.

I wanted to put in my suggestion that having a way to further break down after state, like S, SW, Central would be good, but I did not know how to put it. I think you did well explaining that part PortageGirl.

I do still think location should be an option that is available and freeform typeing though so they could be allowed to be more specific.

One hard part is that people often put creative locations, like west of the Mississippi and north of Mason-Dixon. But I guess that would still be fine if all they filled in was Country and above...

 

[halo]

Im glad Portage Chick posted that. I was trying to figure out how to put this idea in words, and she did it for me. How easy would that be? A sort function on the User List for State.

 

[PortageGirl]

Well, by finding the right name for the section... not calling it state, people could put whatever makes sense for their area.

Nova Scotia, N
Nova Scotia, W

Obviously we'll know they're in Canada (I hope!)

People would really need to use the right format though. and some just WON'T (I speak from experience that if it's left to the individuals, some will not, BUT that's their choice)

OR,

Lancashire, SE
Nova, Scotia, N
Ohio, NE
Queensland, SW

Not everyone knows what country these places are, but those looking for people or sorting to find others WOULD!!! Anyone else could either look it up or ask!

[Edit] And like for me, people from NW Pennsylvania would know to think I might be within reasonable distance, since I live in NE Ohio. (which I am)

 

[EliteTempleton]

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Hymm best name for the section I guess region would work, with a drop down? With an "other" as an option, then if you did a search and found a bunch of "others" in Nigeria, you could PM them and ask them what needed to be added?

lol I can see it now, Country: Nigeria, Region: Other, Section: SW
But hey, that would still be better then nothing!

So what options would be best?

Country: Drop Down Ex: USA
Region: Drop Down Ex: Michigan
Section: Drop Down Ex: SW
Location: Freeform

More, Less? I think that would be a minimum as like you said letting people type in what they feel like would make the data management and therefore the search function very difficult/cumbersome! Even if it were just me putting in MI but my neighbors putting in Michigan and their neighbors putting in Mich, it gets to be a mess really quickly, and a bad mess if you are trying to create an accurate search feature.

Anyway, Help fellow Peeps! What should we name these fields? I think Country and Location are fine, but what about the other two?

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Can ya'll tell she is ready for the spring hatch?

She already has decided what states are within reasonable driving distance! Quick somebody call a doc, she has Spring Fever and its only January!

 

[The Chicken Lady]

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I like the thinking you and others are doing here. So far, this sounds really organized.

Some people prefer to be as anonymous online as possible, though, so I'm not sure making it a requirement to select a specific location before being allowed to write anything in the free-form area would be a good idea. It might make people uncomfortable.

If you really were set on having people have to choose something from the drop-down menu, you could always include an option other than a country or region that allows someone to remain "hidden." I'm trying to think of a good one- or two-word description that would be clever and vague, but at the moment, I'm stuck.

 

[PortageGirl]

ROFL Actually, I live an easy drive to Meyer Hatchery, other than that, yep, I AM trying to figure out who's got good pure bred chickens in case I decide to try for some show quality birds, (or, near show quality anyway) I'm considering going for some good Buckeyes and Sussex. Meyers has both but of course they're hatchery birds... hmmmm.

Anyway... back to the sort options.

If we had a pulldown for country. That would mean you could sort on that only, I'm not sure if this forum host has a 'sort first on X then on Y' option. Again that's an Admin problem.... *cough*

But, if there's another column, and we call it State, would other people be offended? District/Province/State or Dist/Prov/St. Yes, I know there's lots of other possibilities, but we can't really say em all!!! "Country Subdivision" ??

Once some of us set a good example hopefully others will follow.

some of these lists will offer dropdowns but allow freeform entries too... Still, that can get messy, but it may not be too bad, I often worry about the worst case, and then find out it wasn't necessary.

After that, a column for 'other' could be freeform, once the 'State' or "Country Subdivision" is clear, we could work the rest out without much trouble I suppose. if one person puts North and one puts N or even if someone says Illinois for state, and then Chicago instead of N or NE. well, Chicago is pretty big, and that's not so specific, also easy to figure out.

Is that too confusing?