[UPDATE] New Feature: geographic member searching...

[froglips]

So, for those who remember this, its back. For those who never knew it was gone, its back!

You can now do a search for Members by City, State and/or County.

From the Red Menu Bar at the top of the page, Click on "Community" -> Member Lists -> Search -> Advanced Search.

The new search options are now shown on the Advanced Search page.

We also added a shortcut to the "Community" menu in the top Menu Bar.

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This information has always been part of your Public Profile.

To remove this info, go to User Settings -> Edit North Carolina Woodworker Info

Remember, your Zip Code is required, but not Public.

Enjoy!

Jim

[Ken Massingale]

You just keep making the site better Jim. Thanks.

152 Sandlappers! I guess I shouldn't feel so lonely now, but I only recognize a small handful of the names.
What ever happened to J Fred Muggs anyway?? I always enjoyed his posts.

[Rob]

I didn't realize there were that many members in Sanford, we could have our own shop crawl if they were all active.

[nelsone]

Thanks Jim. We used to have a regional map that showed where members are. I thought it was pretty neat. I like the search function, but sometimes it is nice to have a broader view. Any chance that feature is still around?

[froglips]

Ed, "something wonderful" is in the works.

Jim

[timf67]

I found it interesting to look at how many "members" were in the Charlotte area and then refined the search to see how many are "active members." It is kind of disappointing to see that less than 10% of the members are active. I am sure there is a lot of good information and input that could be gained by getting those folks more active.

[nelsone]

I await with eager anticipation!

[SteveColes]

Originally Posted by timf67

I found it interesting to look at how many "members" were in the Charlotte area and then refined the search to see how many are "active members." It is kind of disappointing to see that less than 10% of the members are active. I am sure there is a lot of good information and input that could be gained by getting those folks more active.

Tim how are you deciding "active"?

[CarvedTones]

Originally Posted by SteveColes

Tim how are you deciding "active"?

I am not Tim, but I play him on the internet.

I did the same thing with Cary by using "posted since 2009-08-01 00:00:00" and whittled the list to 22.

[SteveColes]

Originally Posted by CarvedTones

I am not Tim, but I play him on the internet.

I did the same thing with Cary by using "posted since 2009-08-01 00:00:00" and whittled the list to 22.

Only a few few people actually post very often on this site or on most sites. So for the most part the system code uses number of days per week that a person visits, average over the last half year. In my experience these are the set of people who we should think of as the set of users who are "active" Or perhaps "supporters"

I'm not saying that people that post a lot are not active, just that they are not the only ones. The donation income is higher amongst those that visit often rather than those who post a lot. Whenever I have asked for personal help, many of offers are almost always come from people whose posting frequency is small but whose visitation frequency is high.

So anyway. I would suggest that if you are looking for members near you, you look at things like visit frequency, last visit date, before you worry about last post date.

BTW, the above is my opinion and should be taken with whatever grain of salt you feel apporopriate

Anyway, since I can no longer look up the stats myself Perhaps someone on staff who knows how to query the DB could provide some updates on my memory.

Also, perhaps we could get the member search function to allow some of the visit info to be used in the search criteria.

I just wanted to mention the above becuase I have felt that downgrading the importance of the people who don't post alot would be a mistake for the whole organization.

[timf67]

Like Andy, I arbitrarily decided that "Active" was someone that had posted within the last 30 days. I also did one where I checked to see how many members had at least 20 posts no matter how old or when the last one was and got a very similar number.

[timf67]

To build on your comments Steve, I have noticed that there are folks who prefer to stay low key. they will send PM's with info rather than post for everyone. I wasn't trying to be negative, only trying to encourage some of the silent folk to jump in and "join the fun"

[CarvedTones]

The reason I used posts as a measure of "active" is also because when I saw names I didn't recognize, I could go look at what they were posting about. Kind of a haphazard way of finding out the interests and/or expertise of some of the folks nearby that I have not met.

[CarvedTones]

To follow up on that, one major reason to search for other locals is to find someone who may be able to help with something I am doing or be interested in going in on something in bulk or whatever. I think people who post publicly are far less likely to feel like I am invading their privacy than people who lurk. I think the DQ aspect of this site causes it to have more registered lurkers than most. I am hesitant about contacting soeone who doesn't post. I still might if the name or something in their profile indicated common project interest but I would not be surprised by getting no response or a negative one if I contact someeon who doesn't post.

[SteveColes]

Originally Posted by CarvedTones

To follow up on that, one major reason to search for other locals is to find someone who may be able to help with something I am doing or be interested in going in on something in bulk or whatever. I think people who post publicly are far less likely to feel like I am invading their privacy than people who lurk. I think the DQ aspect of this site causes it to have more registered lurkers than most. I am hesitant about contacting soeone who doesn't post. I still might if the name or something in their profile indicated common project interest but I would not be surprised by getting no response or a negative one if I contact someeon who doesn't post.

Just look at the visit frequency. If it is 6 to 7 days a week.. they ain't here for DQ. Thaey only have to vist once perweek for that.

As far as not getting responses from lurkers, I have not had that happen very often.

BTW, tim I didn't think you were being negative.