Hi...

We have a scenario where we want to show activity (forum post, events, people, organizations) based on
the location(s) the Active Social member specifies in there profile.

For example if I live in Charleston SC I login to my site I want to see activity that's happening in my town or within X number of miles of my ZipCode.

I'm sure this is not a feature of Active Social but I'm wondering if anyone has any creative ideas as to how I might accomplish this.

Thanks,

Trent

Take a look here http://www.fatgeorge.co.uk/Social.aspx

This uses the fatgeorge GeoCoder to geocode AS users and groups where they have provided location/address information.

The map display is produced using the Netism Map Extreme module.

It should be possible to map anything that is linked to a geocoded profile or group.

I'll look into it.

So could this somehow be used to stream events, forum post etc. I'm not as much interested in putting the info on a map as I am pumping local data (events or forum post) to the home page based upon the user's location. So if an organization located in My City post an event I want this Event to be displayed when I login. But if you live in a different region and login you will see information (events & forum post) related to your region.

Yes, part of the fatgeorge GeoCoder solution provides an sql proximity function so you can write your own proximity queries based on the geodata.

You would need to use one of the 3rd party modules that allows you to query your sql data then present the results, having worked with the Netism Satellite Extreme module recently I can highly recommend it.

And no, I am not on commission from Netism; I just happen to have been working with their modules recently.
But in my opinion there is no better mapping module and Satellite Extreme is a Swiss Army Module.

Just to be clear, items such as forum posts and events do not have any location information so you would have to link them to the person or group that created them and use their geodata for the proximity.

The netism satellite module looks very interesting and like it might just do the trick.

I'll contact them for more info but currently I don't see the Satellite Extreme module for sale on their site.

Let me know what you find out from Will regarding GeoCode Integration.

I have added a simple example of a proximity listing, it shows which groups are within your proximity.
Proximity is a new profile field.

You need to be a registered user who has provided address information to some level in your profile.
You must have been geocoded, the geocoder runs every 5 minutes and will geocode your profile address.
Set the proximity (miles) on your profile then goto http://www.fatgeorge.co.uk/Social.aspx to see which groups are in your proximity.

NB: there aren't many groups so you may want to set a high proximity value depending on where you are in the world.


Tools Used: fatgeorge Geocoder (geocoding and proximity search), Netism Satellite Extreme (to execute query and display results) and Active Social of course

OK, I have modified the Goups Proximity list a little.

Your proximity value and units are now set in the profile, these will default to 500 Kilometers.

The group icon, name, description and member count will be displayed.
The distance is displayed rounded to 2 decimal places.
The group icon is a link to the group detail view.

I will work on creating a user proximity list next.

If anyone is interested in this please let me know how you would like to use this kind a functionality.

Wish list:

Search Member and group lists based on mileage limit (show members/Groups within 10, 25,50 ,100, User defined miles)

Show who's online based on distance, closest to furthest.

Autolink to Google Maps for Directions.

I have plenty more but this is a good start!

Hi,

I'm very interested in this geocoding feature. It would fix a lot of issues for me. How and where do I get the geocoder? I couldn't find purchase instructions for it on the website posted above.

Thanks

I am in the process of putting the release package together, should hopefully have it ready tomorrow.

It will consist of the GeoCoder and the scripts to allow you to do proximity searches etc.

I will then start to publish articles on how to achieve various mapping displays, AS user and group proximity listings etc...

As each user or site will have custom requirements I will also be offering customisation services i.e. writing queries, setting up map modules and template modules etc.

I will also feature articles on AS integration as with the Group Member Map which you can see on the fatgeorge.co.uk groups.

I'd like to consider the module. Would you re-link the page on your site?
http://www.fatgeorge.co.uk/Social.aspx

It is now known as http://www.fatgeorge.co.uk/Community.aspx
Let me know what you want to achieve.