We need an online Posted Locations database.

[Daddy Warcrimes]

The current situation:
There's a variety of places online where one can learn of locations that prohibit concealed carry. In Kansas we have a forum like this where one must search through posts, other sites have lists of locations. All of these seem to be specific to each state.

What I envision:
A database driven website where anyone can report a posted location, or search for posted locations by name, city, state, etc., and upload photos of the offending locations as evidence. The site would also encourage business owners to report their own posted locations. It would include information such as name of the location, date reported, address, contact information, and if the prohibition is legally enforcable.

Requirements:
Should be simple enough. nocarry.com is available. I think there would be enough interest in the CCW communities to fund it through donations, or perhaps relevant advertising. The database wouldn't be complicated; I could build something like that in MS Access in under an hour.

Problem:
I know nothing about online databases

Solution:
I know somebody on this board knows about online databases .

Concern: There are no new ideas; why hasn't this been done before?

Your thoughts?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[huntthehunter]

I can handle the development of the database and search pages, no problem. Access wouldn't really work as it is only designed to handle 5 connections at a time, but SQL Server or MySQL would be fine. I'll work on adding a subdomain to my site, and start the development. I'll just need feedback from you guys/gals.

[raysheen]

I can handle the development of the database and search pages, no problem. Access wouldn't really work as it is only designed to handle 5 connections at a time, but SQL Server or MySQL would be fine. I'll work on adding a subdomain to my site, and start the development. I'll just need feedback from you guys/gals.

I'd suggest that you start the development in MySQL as there are more hosts out there that offer free MySQL databases so that woudl give us more choices for hosting providers...not to mention that those packages are usually less expensive than a windows package with SQL Server. Not that I don't love SQL Server though...I just think that on a limited budget that MySQL would probably be a better fit.
I had actually just posted a message in another thread that I was planning on working on a project just like this actually

[Protect]

I would also suggest that:
You include a list of competitors for each entry
A place to upload redacted receipts so any business visiting can see the money lost.
Post a printable business card with the website information that can be attached to complaint letters.

[gpsxplr]

I found this site a while back.
http://postedplaces.com/

Seems to be fairly empty, very simple looks like a forum.
I think this is the site that had a large database at one time that was lost, but I could be mistaken, might have been some other one.

Anyway might be worth contacting the owner and maybe someone can improve the site and make it better.

-- Kirk.

[Daddy Warcrimes]

It would be nice if the raw table was made available for direct linking. That way those of us (well me anyway) who use databases at home can build a custom one that feeds from it.

MySQL was my first thought, but I only know Access and have no idea where to begin with MySQL. The only way I figured Access could work is if a. everyone had Access, and b. everyone was on my network (not gonna happen).

Is it practical to learn MySQL outside of a classroom? Any recommended resources?

[MattInFla]

MySQL is very simple to use, and combined with PHP provides an easy to use set of tools to build dynamic web content.

There are a number of books on MySQL out there, and you can also find the documentation online at http://www.mysql.com/

[huntthehunter]

My current site already has a SQL db setup, and I use it everyday, so I'm going that way. I'll look at making the data available through a web service.

FYI, I have my hosting through godaddy.com, where I registered my domain. For ASP.NET and SQL, the hosting was silly cheap. If anyone wants more info just PM me.

[raysheen]

It would be nice if the raw table was made available for direct linking. That way those of us (well me anyway) who use databases at home can build a custom one that feeds from it.

MySQL was my first thought, but I only know Access and have no idea where to begin with MySQL. The only way I figured Access could work is if a. everyone had Access, and b. everyone was on my network (not gonna happen).

Is it practical to learn MySQL outside of a classroom? Any recommended resources?

Yeah agreed that Access will simply not work for this kind of application...MySQL is very easy to learn...especially for a job like this. Let me know if I can help out as I'm a web developer by trade. If you are good with languages and have any experience with a SQL variant then you can be up and running with MySQL within an hour...so I would say that it is not hard to learn at all.

[Daddy Warcrimes]

I found this site a while back.
http://postedplaces.com/

I believe that the message board format is less than ideal. On that site (and on other boards) I notice that the format for reporting is not observed (and in all practicality cannot be enforced). I imagine a simple form with specific fields to ensure it can be properly sorted. I'd like to type in the name of a city, hit enter, and have a list of every posted location displayed. Drop down lists would help ensure uniformity.

Additional fields might include:
Type of business
County

All I can think of for now.

[huntthehunter]

Ok, Suggestions needed. What types of businesses do we need to list?

[huntthehunter]

I'm going to start a rough build in ASP.NET and SQL. We can make it collaborative, and port it to another platform if needed.

One thought, I'm going to make it so that we can track both Posted No CWP, and CWP friendly.

[joshuafuller]

I could see a mash up with Google Maps being pretty cool. So you can see green pins on the map for places that allow Concealed Carry and red pins are "no go" places. Maybe Yellow for unsure or something like that.

You can tie in photos of the businesses and notes I'm sure with the Google API.

I like the idea so much I'm thinking of dabbling with it a little to see what I can come up with...

Sounds like a lot of other folks really like the idea too :)

I got my CCW card and tried to get gas at 3 local gas stations to find out that they all had signs posted preventing. Needless to say, I'd love to shop elsewhere !

Can't wait to see what you guys come up with.
Post some links as soon as you get something so we can look at it !

[huntthehunter]

good Idea on the mashup, we'll have to play with that. I'm going to try and get a rough page up this evening after work, I'll get the link posted as soon as I have something up.

In order to save some bandwidth, it might also work to just make an export of Google earth points available. Do you guys use Google earth?

[gpsxplr]

Did a little searching and found this tutorial site on mysql and php
might be worth looking at:
http://www.php-mysql-tutorial.com/

Seems to be a lot of information on the web and I'm sure there are a lot of good books.

Sorry I can't be of much help. Although I am a software Developer, I never got into web stuff so don't really know much.

-- Kirk.