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MNHQ

Mumsnet local is live - please have a look and add as many listings as you can!

30 replies

JustineMumsnet · 09/03/2007 14:44

Hello, hello,
Tech's feeling very brave and has said we can start playing with the new toy he's built us - Mumsnet local . The idea is that it's going to be a guide to all the best stuff for parents and kids in the UK, broken down by geographic area.

It is still very much in it's infancy and so we are not going to add navigation to it from the menu bars for a wee while whilst we (ie you pretty please!) refine and improve it. So please, please take a look and fill it up with lots of great listings because obviously it's not going to be much cop until it's got something in it, and right now it's a bit sad with only a couple of north london hotspots added .

By way of added incentive anyone who adds a listing will be entered into our competition to win a trip to fairy school

So please do take a look, add as much as you can and let us know of any problems/ suggested improvements.

Many cheers,
Mumsnet Towers

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MNHQ

Tech · 09/03/2007 14:52

Hi MamaG, on that first page, put the area you are interested in and click find. On the page that comes up, either click the map where the thing you want to add is (if you are on the map page), or click the link in the box at the top (smallish print but says "if you'd rather add a listing without the map go here").

Regards,
Tech

MNHQ

Tech · 09/03/2007 15:09

Hi MamaG, When you click on the map, if you are zoomed out a long way (ie have a fairly wide area view), it zooms in a bit to give you a closer view - so you can see the streets etc. If you click again, it will bring up a box saying "Add a listing at this point?" Click OK to that and you get the form to add a listing.

The reason we had to do that, is that if you search for, say, London, you want to be able to zoom in on the bit of London you want. If you search for, say, an exact postcode, it knows you know exactly where you are, so brings it up already zoomed in.

We'll add a direct link to "Add new listing" on the first page, which may help clarify things in the early days when there'll be more adding than looking.

Cheers,
Tech

MNHQ

Tech · 09/03/2007 15:12

Hi Swizzler, It looks like something is not quite right on Safari (shame on me, I use a mac - but usually use firefox.) It asks the question about adding, but then the form doesn't come up. I'll check what's causing it and fix.

Cheers,
Tech

MNHQ

Tech · 09/03/2007 15:19

The problem with adding from the map on Safari should be fixed now.

MNHQ

Tech · 09/03/2007 15:54

SHOSHAlee - sorry there was a typo in the link. It should be OK now.

Swizzler / Whoops - On the categories, one of the things we want to get out of this gentle intro period is what categories we should have, so please feel free to suggest some.

SachaF - Moving around the country: yes, we can add something so that when you move the map the lists / markers reload.

Cheers,
Tech

MNHQ

Tech · 09/03/2007 16:14

NappiesGalore,

Sorry, missed your question. The main focus is child friendly activities, but add whatever you like. If there's a pub with great food you think other people would like, add it but just note in the description that it's for adults rather than families.

The idea is that eventually there'll be lots of local info that people can see. So if you saw a listing for a pub you'd probably look at the detail and read the comments. (If you comment on a listing, rather than correcting it, a sort of talk thread starts underneath the listing. Any member can do that on any listing.)

Cheers,
Tech

MNHQ

Tech · 09/03/2007 16:21

Soupy, yes, you're right, you should probably be able to change categories on edit basics. I'll have a look at that

Littlelapin, the idea was to be all collaborative and modern, but yes, there is a danger currently that someone could vandalize listings. One thing we've thought of is to version the listings so that if someone does vandalize, another member can just revert it to a prior version at one click. We'll discuss that internally and get back to you all on it.

The idea of allowing anyone to edit was....

I have a two year old who loves a particular soft play area.
My two year old grows up and I forget all about that play area.
Someone later has a two year old and realises class times / costs have changed and listing is no longer accurate. That person can correct it. If we don't allow some form of editng, things will get stale quite quickly.

I'd be interested to hear what people think the best solution would be.

Cheers,
Tech

MNHQ

Tech · 09/03/2007 16:25

Hi ejt1764, what sort of place was it? We've stripped out most of the "non-geographic" postcodes on which the Royal Mail doesn't supply location information. My thinking was there wouldn't be anywhere that wasn't "somehwere". What was the postcode? Email me if you'd rather not post it here. The other possibility is that it's not on the Royal Mail postcode list we have. I'd like to check.

Thanks,
Tech

MNHQ

Tech · 09/03/2007 18:47

Hi, Iota,
The problem with "Gambado" is that our system doesn't think that MK5 8HT exists. Now, what it should have done is fallen back on "MK5 8" to put it in the approximately same place, but instead it blew up. We've patched it now so you should be able to add them. Sorry your effort was wasted. If you try again now it should work.

Regards,
Tech

MNHQ

Tech · 09/03/2007 19:17

Cleaninglady, that sounds like a potential plan. We are sort of figuring things out as we go along, so we could give that a try.

Cheers,
Tech

MNHQ

Tech · 09/03/2007 20:06

Hi Hoxtonchick,

That does happen. If you do the listing from scratch rather than clicking the map to start it, then we put the pin where the postcode you entered is.

The issue really is that there are no freely available "geocoders" (things that know exactly where an address is) in Britain. Even Postcode locations are copyright of the Royal Mail, and we have to pay to use them.

Having said that, you can just move the pin on the map to the right spot and it will save the new position.

Cheers,
Tech

MNHQ

Tech · 09/03/2007 20:36

Hi Funnypeculiar,

It shows as much of the address as the person enters. If they just put in a road, that's what you'd get.

I'll see how big a deal it would be to add "distance from you" to each item in the list on the right. It should be easy enough to do an "as the crow flies" distance (as long as you are logged in and have filled in your postcode).

The other thing we could look at is suggesting more complete addresses when the thing is filled in. We'll take a look at that too.

Regards,
Tech

MNHQ

Tech · 09/03/2007 23:56

Hi MT, At the moment you can't. We'll put a fix in overnight so you can change the category when you do corrections.

Cheers,
Tech

MNHQ

Tech · 10/03/2007 00:26

Hi, Yes it's expecting that to be Kingston upon Thames, rather than just Kingston. We can probably make the towns search search single words. I'll take a look at that.

Regards,
Tech

MNHQ

Tech · 10/03/2007 15:12

Hi Iota,
I've put it back (Wagamama). It had found its way to Leighton Buzzard......

MNHQ

Tech · 10/03/2007 18:10

Hi all,

Thanks for all the comments so far. Keep them coming. We've made a change that was requested yesterday - when you move around on the map by dragging or zooming, the list on the right hand side will update to show the listings that are closest to the bit of the map displayed at the time.

Regards,
Tech

MNHQ

Tech · 10/03/2007 18:21

Hi Twiglett,
We are going to have a discussion on categories etc this week, to give things time to settle down. I'm under orders not to add any new ones before then.

Cheers,
Tech

MNHQ

carriemumsnet · 11/03/2007 20:39

Bumping this for those of you who might have missed Mumsnet local on Friday. The idea is that it's going to be a guide to all the best stuff for parents and kids in the UK, broken down by geographic area.

We're not linking to it from the menu bars for now while we (ie you pretty please!) refine and improve it. So please, please take a look and fill it up with lots of great listings because obviously it's not much use until it's got something in it.

Huge thanks to all of you who've added listings and suggestions already and for those of you who haven't, go and have a play now and let us know what you think!

.

MNHQ

Tech · 12/03/2007 15:16

Hi Prettybird,
I'll fix that one. We'll look at putting the postcode field on the corrections.

Cheers,
Tech

MNHQ

Tech · 12/03/2007 15:35

Hi Hulababy,

The initial list shows the latest things to change / be listed within about 20 miles, which doesn't really make sense I guess. If you are on a map page, it switches to nearest first once you click or move the map. We'll change it so that it always lists closest first.

Regards,
Tech

MNHQ

AbbyMumsnet · 12/03/2007 17:54

Just a reminder that Mumsnet Local is now open for business. For those of you who are new to this thread, here's what it's all about...

Now you can both recommend all the good things in your area that make life worth living and benefit from other Mumsnetters' recommendations. From good pubs and restaurants to toddler groups to a decent plumber who won't rip you off, Mumsnet Local will help you get the best out of your own area and - thanks to interactive maps - anywhere else you need to visit: just think of it as your handy know-it-all oracle. Like all things Mumsnet, it's created by parents for parents - so we need you to get listing your favourites.

Remember, together we can take over the world!

MNHQ

Tech · 12/03/2007 18:58

Hi Treacletart,

It is slightly surprising there's nothing in Brighton, but that's because no-one has listed anything there yet. (The section only went up on Friday and we started it off empty.) The nearest thing seems to be in Lewes.

If you think there's stuff near you that's worth telling other people about, then please do go ahead and list it.

On the quality of listings, we figure that if people see things that are not correct, they'll fix them. It may turn out to need some editorial oversight, but we'd like to keep that to the minimum possible.

As people list more things near you, the things that are further away will start dropping down and eventually off the list you see when you first go on to the page.

We hope that as time goes on, and people add more stuff the section will get increasingly useful.

Cheers,
Tech

MNHQ

AbbyMumsnet · 14/03/2007 15:08

Afternoon all... and thanks so much for all your listings so far.

Please, please keep up the good work and keep listing your favourites - and also let us know how you think we can improve the system. Tech's out of the country at the moment - but we'll be taking all your comments on board as soon as he's back.

MNHQ

AbbyMumsnet · 14/03/2007 21:02

Bumping for the evening crowd

MNHQ

AbbyMumsnet · 15/03/2007 11:37

Bumping for the midday crowd.

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