SMC Discussion Areas

Some time ago, someone established a Site for SMC Members at www.frappr.com...
I cannot remember who did this but if someone would step forward and PM me, I would appreciate this as I have a few questions...

Secondly, was everyone in agreement on allowing their name and address being posted there...?
Reason I ask is because I'm looking to unveil the coolest feature, at least I think so, for SMC Members ! ! ! And if this goes well, I may implement it for the Parts Suppliers and Restoration Professionals too...

Thanks ! ! !

PS
We need to get some of our old Smileys over here, these look lame...

Jim.... Are you talking about full address or just the city and state? Don't mind that soo much, but thats about it I think... I don't know about making it mandatory, and if you do, you may not get accurate info.. I know that if I was just registering on a site I had never been to and was asked for that info, I'd either find another site that didn't ask for this info, or I would make something up anyway. I think that the regulars here would be more inclined to fill it out correctly, but newbies may get lost.

just my $.02

Hi Jim,
I set that up. I will have to do some digging to find the password. Think I sent it to you and Brent. Let me know what you need.
Creighton

I totally agree with you on this Ken ! ! !
The info I was looking for accuracy on is City, State, Zip...
I'm not sure how to handle other members from other countries, such as Dave(aka davethebirdman)...? I guess just include their Country...
Bottom line is that this feature I want to roll out soon is currently on a volunteer basis meaning the Administrators will have to enter the data for everyone that would like to be listed...
I'm looking to see if this can be auto-populated by group status of our members... But this may be a while...

Creighton,
I attempted to locate the info at Frappr.Com but couldn't come up with anything by searching there... If you know where or how to see the info/location stuff, let me know.

Here is the SMC frapper link... Not sure what the password info is though...

http://www.frappr.com/smcmembers

Jim

If I remember rightly I had my very own country on the map...
However, I do have company now.

Dave
 

Thanks for the link, Ken!

I guess some of may have an idea of what down the road...
Well, for the sake of cooperation and polling the group, I'll let the "cat out of the bag", I never could keep a secret, and say that we'll have an SMC Google Map integrated into the Site with pins/markers locating everyone participating on the SMC Map...

I'm open for suggestions and ideas for implementation...

Currently, an Administrator has to enter each member which may be the way to go on this...

As soon as I get a few brave souls to OK their info for inclusion, I'll release the link so you can get a better look at what I referring to...

Jim,
I'm in. Please use the Spokane info.
Creighton

You can have anything you like from me.

My English postcode is SG16BY.
 

Dave

Dave,

I don't see any info regarding City, State/Provence...

Creighton,

Anyone else that may be interested in posting on the Map...

The system seems to require an address...
I did a WhitePages.Com search for you and took the first one I came across and used this just to get the marker listed and it worked!

Hi Jim,
Did the white pages return xxxxxx? If so that is correct.
Creighton

Jim-
Who is able to see the map (with addresses)?  Anyone who is registered, or will it be anyone who has a certain post count. 

Also, I have the Frappr admin log in info if you still need it.

Creighton,

I didn't count, but there were several C. Smith listings and I just used the first one to get the marker to show on the map, I have since corrected the address info...

Brent,

You have Manager group status at SMC so I was hoping you would see the link in your User Menu --> SMC GeoMaps. Let me know if it's not visible...
To answer your concerns about who will/could see this is up in the air right now, but I'm listening to any suggestions...

Currently, I am limited on who I can let access this link,,, I can only restrict access by enabling this link to the "Special" group, which I believe is Managers and up members. I prefer not to give everyone this status that will be included on the map... I'll look into the ability of creating another group below "Managers" with less Global Site Permissions; I don't recall seeing anything on this during my education on this system...

The map is a nice idea.  I don't mind "the gang" to see my address, but not just anyone who registers to have access to it.  With all of the different hacks that you have found, is there a way to base the SMC site membership based on the groups that are produced by the board?
...just a thought  :-*

Jim, Ok to add me... I'm on the Frappr site already.  If you need more or different info, let me know.

For my 2cents - I'm ok with City & State being public knowledge (anyone who registers with SMC).  Not sure I'd really want the full street address being public (even though it would be very easy for people to find through other means).  Full street address for a restricted set of folks (by SMC category or # posts) would be fine.

Ok everyone,

I realize the concerns regarding the public visibility of personal information and this is why I have brought this up... SMC GeoMap could be a great tool! I have done more investigating and found that I actually can resolve this by assigning everyone that would like to be included into a special group. Only this group and above will have access to the link/GeoMap ! Does this sound like a better solution...?
I will apply group status to several members so they can review this feature a little more and reply back with it's a go or drop the idea...

Thanks for your cooperation ! ! !

Works for me!

Hello Everyone,

I just changed group status on approx. 25 - 30 usernames I recognized quickly!
I apologize if you didn't make the list but this is only for internal testing or evaluation for including this feature...

Look in your User Menu, you'll see a new link SMC GeoMaps, well you also see the other link, E-Cards as well... I was just playing with this though...

At any rate, let me know if this is or isn't a go...

I think it is pretty cool.

How come there are only 4 members?  Is this a different group than the other SMC group on Frappr?

Hey Bryan,

With some of the concerns presented, I'm not putting personal info up there if memebers do not want to participate... I only placed a few for demonstration...

       Street adresses are fine for restorers and suppliers. I am more than happy to have new people stop in my store.....but would be less than happy if they dropped in on me at home   :help:

       Let's all get on the map to show our relative location, but post only telephone numbers and e-mail adresses. Members can then disclose further information as they see fit.

Ok - so how do we add our info or are you just looking for input on the feature?  If it's the latter, I like it.  It'll help with the route66 forum questions.

Could have it so it displays whatever is in your profile.
Creighton

Glen,

In order for the system to know here you're located, the minimum I was hoping for is City, State and Zip Code fields... However, it also seems to need street addresses which may be part of Google's API code to automatically place a marker on the map for each person...
At any rate, perhaps utilizing your store address may suffice, or if this is still a problem, we don't have to include you on the map at your request...
Lastly Glen, perhaps as a suggestion, you could add yourself in the restoration Professionals page...

Do you have to manually enter the addesses?  If so, could you just assign map viewing rights to just the people who are listed on the map? Kind of a "you have to give a little to get a little"?

I think this is what Jim is aiming for..

 utilizing your store address may suffice, or if this is still a problem, we don't have to include you on the map at your request...

    Of course I want my store to be on the map,:happydrinkers: but at night I set a burglar alarm.

    Some members have shared information with us of some of their very valuable collectibles.

    I highly recommend keeping their exact locations confidential but the address of their local post office would keep this system afloat.


    On the subject of organized crime, does anyone remember the heist at ChicagoLand show several years ago? An overseas investment company was buying high quality machines and jukes at the Chicago show and loading them into a semi-trailer in the parking lot. On the final evening a semi truck backed up to the trailer in the middle of the night and disappeared. Has anyone heard if anything was ever recovered?

Hello,

The Google API that I'm using has only a few fields:
Category:               I only have one category: SMC Members
Marker Type:           Displays a Marker or polygon lines
Draggable Marker:     Allow the marker to be relocated...
Name:                    User Name
Street Address:    
City/Town:    
State/County:    
Country:    
Postal Code/ZIP:
Misc:                     This field can contain a brief description. If you view Jim Beschen, you'll see a little snippet, SMC Founder... blah, blah... This is where additional info may be entered... It's also supposed to display your profile thumbnail if one has been selected/uploaded, but this doesn't seem to be displaying mine...
Exactly right! This feature is NOT intended for general use.
We all know who is involved here, but there may and will come a time when someone needs assistance and a quick way for us to lookup someone in the area is via this feature... I cannot remember who lives where; hell, I'm still getting names mixed up ! ! !
To summarize, we decide who's on the Map and then these people will have access to it!
As far as the address is concerned, I cannot seem to get around the street address at this time. I was hoping for only including City, State and Zip but it seems to need the street address...
Keep the dialog coming...

If putting a personal address is an issue for anyone I'd suggest we use Glen's suggestion.  Use the address of your local post office (or other landmark) and then put a comment in the Miscellaneous field saying "not my real address... PM me, if required".

The map link has disappeared from my user menu. Is it dead or will it be back?

Hey Bryan,

I removed the link due to concerns and lack of interest.
I was hoping this would generate a little more excitement, but I go with the flow on most things related to SMC... Maybe down the road, this can be implemented to enhance the feature set at SMC...

Ok - np. Thanks for trying.