PDA

View Full Version : Need to build some kind of locations specific datebase..Any Ideas ?



Harold Mansfield
11-06-2009, 02:40 PM
Lately I have been running giveaways for location specific V.I.P passes to events and it dawned on me that I don't have anything separated by who is where.

So what I'm thinking is I need someway to organize Twitter followers, email subscribers, any Face book friends and fans into categories...where they are (City or Country)

One of the ideas that I have been flirting with is a membership or sign box.

I have seen some sites have newsletter boxes with a couple of drop down options to designate certain interests, so I'm thinking I could do something like that, but city or country specific.

Even better would be if there were input options to add users Social Networking profiles as well.

Anyone have any ideas ? Even a Wordpress plugin that I could edit would be great.
I'm sure that iIcould code something, but if there is already a solution out there that would fit, no sense in reinventing the wheel.

Need some suggestions.

billbenson
11-06-2009, 03:15 PM
When you go to yahoo or wherever and there is an ad for meet girls in "town", they are using an ip database to figure out where you are coming from. One php global will tell you where your visitor is coming from and you cross reference it with the ip database which you probably pay monthly for. There may be some databases that are less accurate that you can just buy?

Thats about the extent of my knowledge on the subject.

vangogh
11-06-2009, 03:56 PM
I was going to suggest an IP based database as well. They aren't perfect though. For example my IP shows me as being from Denver when I'm 20 miles or so away in Boulder. Not bad, but not perfect.

Try searching around the phrase 'geoip database' I think there are some free or low cost databases out there.

Also I think some of the social networking sites have search engines (internal or 3rd party) where you can search based on location. I'm not sure if they will or won't search specifically on your followers though.

Harold Mansfield
11-06-2009, 03:58 PM
You know, amazingly enough, there doesn't seem to be anything out there, especially in the way of WP plug ins that fits the bill..not even something that I can hack.

Looks like I'm going to have to get creative.

I don't see why you couldn't combine your email subscription box, with a few drop down menus to add additional information.

vangogh
11-06-2009, 04:03 PM
You could ask for more info in the email subscription, but keep in mind every extra question you ask reduces the amount of people who'll fill out the form. I'll give you my email address so you can send me a newsletter. If you ask me for my home address or even my home city I'm going to question why you need them and you'll lose some trust. If I give you the information it's as likely to be phony as legit. Ask me for a phone number and it'll never be real.

billbenson
11-06-2009, 04:10 PM
problem is people lie on forms like that. you could probably get a city and zip database. If a user enters a city that doesn't match the zip, you know the response is garbage?

Patrysha
11-06-2009, 06:20 PM
With my local list I do have where they can check off their interests for different things. The choices include things like parenting, gardening and such and also for this town specials and that town specials. If they don't click on any interests they just get the basics, if they do then their version of the email includes the extra information added for that interest area.

vangogh
11-06-2009, 07:53 PM
That's a good way to do it. One optional click that opens up a whole new list of questions.

Harold Mansfield
11-06-2009, 10:25 PM
I tried a couple of configurations combining email subscription with additional fields and it really just wasn't what I was looking for.

After looking around a little and revisiting some tools that I bookmarked a while ago, I think I'm going to dive into some of the Social tools that utilize different API's (Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Open I.D., and Twitter) since they already have the demographic information on their databases and integrate it all in one.

It's probably going to take me the better part of the weekend to get the hang of it, but I figure what ever I put together is still not going to be as integrated a solution as I need to stay ahead of the curve of similar sites that are beating me in this niche.

It's funny when you bookmark something, sometimes you know one day you'll have to go back and learn it.

vangogh
11-06-2009, 11:41 PM
That's why I bookmark most of the things I bookmark.

You know you probably can put something together close to what you want from the various APIs. The social sites are already collecting the info you want and they are giving you access to it through their APIs.