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

[JustineMumsnet]

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

Also would prefer not to be entered in that partic comp (DD would go nuts!)

Cool!

But I added one with a red flag by accident. Can I change that?

lurverly - have added ... but am crossing my fingers not to win...

Possibly my stupidity, but could there be more address info on the little list (to rhs) of 'places recently added locally' (or something like that) - as you only get road names (none of which I reckonised) it was a faff to find out how local they were ... could these include town too? (Am Surrey/edge of London so 'local' places potentially actually quite a drive away)

d'oh! me too.

Oh god, PLEASE tell me I've not entered a competition to go to Fairy School?

te-e-e-e-chie! Yoo hoo!

I see you good folk did the world music vibe of giraffe. It's obviously a chain - as is Browns. Can we reflect that?

My idea: Have a button that says somethings like "click here if this description applies to more than one location" or "click here if its a chain". That creates a copy of the listing with blank postcode address area, and an editable comments area with the original comments still there. So then I can tell you all about my local Browns and my local Giraffe. You could even - wowzer - have a 'see others in the chain' button on the listing.

I'm good at making up work for other people, aren't I?

OK, have added a listing but coming out in a cold sweat at the thought of winning the Fairy School comp, I've not won a MN competition since 2002/03 and I am horrified to think that it might be my 'time' again when the prize is Fairy School!

i've done a listing, but the map pin thingy is in the wrong place.... haven't read the rest of the thread, is this a problem that anyone else has had?

Have added a local open air museum but my four boys don't wanna go to fairy school - could I get away with it at 6'2" - I got some wings [innocently hopeful emoticon]

HC I just moved the map pin to the right location - don't know if that's right though.

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

Where is this sweetie shoppe Twiglett?

Am loving this idea...can I poncetastically suggest category listings for heritage attractions such as castles, stately homes, NT and EH properties? They don't really belong in Museums and Miscellaneous seems a bit limp

Oh and definitely shops - I want to add a couple of good ones locally (God knows there aren't many so they deserve the publicity)

Also, maybe a controversial one, but do you want to add SCHOOLS to the categories Tech? Given we can be anonymous if we want, we could really put Ofsted Reports and SATS in their proper context...

Great idea.
(You must however do something about that errant apostrophe-see 'it's infancy'-though Justine!)

Ooh I've added my first one.

I will send Ds to Fairy School, he won;t notice the oterhs are all girls. he loves pink.

Why Scouts and Brownies but not Cubs or Guides? And if you're including them as separate categories there should be Woodcraft Folk as well, although maybe just one category of Scouting/Guiding/etc. would do it

cool, thanks tech & ML, have moved the pin. off to add more!

I suggest hotels as another category...

Definitely think you should add shops - am thinking more of farm shops, decent butchers, etc, and second hand baby shops, not where the nearest branch of Next is, lol

Also, could you add cafes to the "pubs / restaurants" section title?

Definitely hotels!

YPOU NEED A GOOD FOOD Section

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

Aha - I clicked on the map to add address so didn't add anymore address info other than road (somehow assumed you'd magic this up..)- so yes, perhaps just some encouragement to fill in detail would solve it

Ahhhh

You have to separate NURSERIES from PLAYGROUPS. They are totally different.