The Armour Archive

so i got a creative bug going and decided to finally put it to work. i am creating a searchable database for fighter practices. my thought is that this will be a website with a simple address (fighterpractice.com or something like that) where people can go and punch in the location of some place they are visiting.

this will bring them a listing of fighter practice local to their destination, dates and times for the practice, contact info for who is hosting the practice, a map and written directions (probably google maps) and any other info needed (ie no bathrooms at this park, indoor fighting only please bring appropriate footwear, a $1 parking fee to park in the parking lot, whatever).


so here is where you come in.

please pass this along to whomever you think can add to this database and have them send me the following info:

please make your subject line “fightâ€

Are you only going to do this for the US of for the known world?

ive already gotten requests for full world maps so im trying to work on that now. so, in a word, yes the known world.

regards
logan

Wulfgar wrote:Are you only going to do this for the US of for the known world?

Some information about the availability of loaner gear would be useful. Something like "loaner gear avaialable on request" or "For loaner gear, please contact Lord Bob"

You could leech the Mid info off of Legio. That'd take care of quite a bit.

exactly! thats what im hoping for with the comments fields. the info is pouring in right now and several of them have info like that.

regards
logan

Chris G. wrote:Some information about the availability of loaner gear would be useful. Something like "loaner gear avaialable on request" or "For loaner gear, please contact Lord Bob"

this was an issue i knew would come up. here is a copy of an email i just sent out in response to a website sent to me:


with all due respect your grace but one of my fears in taking on this project would be getting lists like this. i don’t know the areas listed and for the format that im doing i need the info i requested. for example the second one listed on that site is:

Barony of One Thousand Eyes (Idaho Falls and Pocatello, ID)
Wednesdays - 7:30 PM.
Summer time in Idaho Falls at Tautphaus Park.
Winter time at a Charter School just north of Blackfoot.

Generally a 1:00 PM Sunday practice in Pocatello, but call Marcello before to verify.


this site presents me with issues like:

i have no physical address for the two practices

don’t know what summer months are as opposed to winter months

don’t know who marcello is or how to contact him

granted i could research the site and ask questions to people whose names i can find. however, that would take a lot of time and to be honest there are simply far too many fighter practices out there for me to even think about tracking all of that info down. also it will be much easier to keep the site clean and user friendly if i get the info in the format i requested.


regards

logan

hope you understand my position with this project.

regards
logan

raito wrote:You could leech the Mid info off of Legio. That'd take care of quite a bit.

dukelogan wrote:this was an issue i knew would come up. here is a copy of an email i just sent out in response to a website sent to me:

I'm afraid you'll get a lot more of those before this is all over with but it will definitely be a great resource.

i sure hope it will be. all i can do is hope that folks will read the missive i sent out and provide me the info i need.

regards
logan

Ingvarr wrote:

dukelogan wrote:this was an issue i knew would come up. here is a copy of an email i just sent out in response to a website sent to me:

I'm afraid you'll get a lot more of those before this is all over with but it will definitely be a great resource.

I just sent our local FP info.

I think this is a fine idea. It'll take me a little time to gather some info, but in the meantime, I'd try looking around the local groups' websites.

Mord.

super. the only thing i ask is for people to sumbit info using the format in my original request. ive gotten dozens already and am feeling the time crunch as we speak. however, ive also gotten a ton of urls sent to me as a resource for me to go and glean info from. no way do i have that kind of time nor do i know the areas or the people well enough to make it useful.

im going for a simple, clean, easy to use format that dumps the information right in the readers lap. easy maps (google) and easy directions. will also have a black and white print feature to print the stuff out.

i am having some issues with compiling the zip code searchability that i wanted but ithink ive found a way around that.

regards
logan

Sent you an email. Do you want group's sites in that format under notes? If not, feel free to delete.

yeah thats cool. any info like that might be helpful to those travelling in the areas.

thanks!!
logan

Oswyn_de_Wulferton wrote:Sent you an email. Do you want group's sites in that format under notes? If not, feel free to delete.

update

i went ahead and bought fighterpractice.com and have gotten the map up and the links to the states. maryland also has some cities listed (the state ive received the most responses from thus far) and i have them on there but they arent live links yet. a little tired of looking at the whole thing at the moment.

anyway, take a look and let me know (via my email address logan@ebonwoulfe.com) if you spot any issues or problems or complaints with the map/states/etc

nowhere near done yet just looking to see if i missed anything.

thanks
logan

You know Logan this one of those really cool ideas and hope to see it work.

Vebrand

At a suggestion I would date the entries for last modification date and expire them (remove them from the listing) after 6 months or so without modification. A database with incorrect information is worse than no database. Great idea.

Why remove them after 6 months? Most practices stay pretty regular for longer than that. Our shire has had practice at the same park for a couple of years at least, and South-Downs has had theirs at the same place for 10+years. I would suggest a label (something along the lines of Possibly Out Of Date), if someone tries to contact people, and they dont answer, or if a person (not Duke Logan) sees if there is different information on the group's website.

my assumption is that if a practice is dead or has been changed the visitor would find that out when they contacted their host to let them know they are coming. should the info on the site be out of date i would think the problem would be self-solving as the host would contact me to let me know what info has changed. with the amount of practices in the sca this could very easily become overwhelming with that level of maintainance.

or am i just out of my mind?

regards
logan

by the way, maryland is about half live now. check it out and let me know what you all think of the format thus far. nest step is to find numbered flags or circles to put on the state map that corespond to the number of the city (to the left or above if the state is horizontal like nc). the number next to tthe city will be a clickable link that will shoot you down the page to that particular practice.

http://fighterpractice.com

regards
logan

One other thing you might want to change is to change the state maps. Instead of different counties (of which Ga has 8mil), if you could find maps with Interstates, it might help people find their way around. Found this website on the National Highway System, with state maps, and major cities marked. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hep10/nhs/

that site crashed on me a second ago. will check it out later. i did want somethign with only major interstates on it (gets too crowded otherwise) and didnt find one that i liked. will check this one out a little later.

thanks!
logan


EDIT: got it to load (finally) and the pdf is just too busy for what im trying to do. at least looking at nc it is. my thinking was that someone visiting a state would know where they are going to be. the downside to that, unfortunatly, is that if someone is travelling through a set of areas on their way to a hotel for a business trip a map with interstates would allow them to possible time their trip to stop in on a weeknight practice, then head on to their final destination (hotel) some hours away.

so if anyone finds clean, simple, state images with only interstates (or maybe some city names) on them that would kick ass.

thanks again!!
logan

Oswyn_de_Wulferton wrote:One other thing you might want to change is to change the state maps. Instead of different counties (of which Ga has 8mil), if you could find maps with Interstates, it might help people find their way around. Found this website on the National Highway System, with state maps, and major cities marked. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hep10/nhs/

Hartshorne Dale has been sent in.

1) Google maps is highly configurable. Since you are already set up to "map It" it should be possible to use the flags to identify locations rather then manually add them to the map. It would also let you see practices just over the state line which is difficult with state based maps.

2) A good web programer could set all of this up as enterable fields on a web-page. People could update data about their practice site and hit 'submit' and then an e-mail to the OLD contact address for confirmation would confirm it. The only manual re-setting would be someone who could no-longer access the old e-mail address (happens sometimes). Note: I am NOT a good web programer. Someone else can volunteed.

Sean

An average web programmer could do that too.. Also, Google and Yahoo both provide a maps api that lets you embed a map with flags and everything directly into your site.

Very cool idea. If you are planning on doing Canada too, that'd be even better. I have all the Saskatchewan and Alberta practices for you when you need them.

im ready when you are. please please please use the format i included, its crazy work without it. also give me time to find a usable calendar for canada. ive had so many responses thus far its going to take me some time to get caught up.

thanks!!!!

logan

Hrogn wrote:Very cool idea. If you are planning on doing Canada too, that'd be even better. I have all the Saskatchewan and Alberta practices for you when you need them.

ive posted all of the practices ive gotten thus far so if youve sent me your info please double check it. you also should have gotten an email response once i posted it.

thanks!!
logan

How is this different or better than http://www.frappr.com/fighterpractices ?

well if that one works for you thats cool. but if you actually look at the frappr site there are many links that have no info. its so messy and busy that i find it impossible to use. the url isnt as relevant. but if you cant see any difference then i guess either would work for you. me, i find the frappr far too clumsy and if it was well known there wouldnt be the weekly "who is in x city, usa and when is your practice?".

by the way, im just trying to make something easy to use and certainly not in any competition with anyone or anything. so im not sure that a comparison makes any sense.

regards
logan

Christophe de Frisselle wrote:How is this different or better than http://www.frappr.com/fighterpractices ?

Logan,

just checked out the site looks good from here!!!

But your right there is a lot missing



Rhys

well im all caught up at the moment so click the link on any of the pages to submit info and let me know where you practice. and get the word out to your kingdom email list. i think its nuts that utah has 4 times the practices that california has.....

regards
logan

rhys wrote:Logan,

just checked out the site looks good from here!!!

But your right there is a lot missing



Rhys

The practice that I run is there

I'll find a couple of others and put them to you.

Rhys

oh canada.......

canada will be published by mid week. i have less than a dozen practices thus far so you guys need to get on the ball and get me some more info. please follow the format on the submission page otherwise it makes it almost impossible for me to do this.

regards
logan

I liked the Frappr thing, but it's got limited usefullness AS LONG AS the fighterpractice.com site is well administered. The problem with the Frappr site is simply that data gets old, and if it was less than complete at the time of entry, it's less useful. I agree 100% with Logan that his idea is superior in terms of quality timely information.

My concern with Logan's site is that say a year down the road when a new KM takes over a group, they may not know to go and let him know "our practice is the same" and info that's still good will fall off. Logan, are you going to implement any kind of notification process?

Your Grace, check your email I think I sent you some updated info regarding the Caer Mear practice.

I am trying to get more folks to submit info as well. Thanks for doing this.