Camps Map

expanda

Site Founder
Staff member
Dec 22, 2009
3,892
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Western, Sydney....
www.expandasdownunder.com
Great work on this area expanda albeit, I believe this section can become very complicated with so many great camping spots. Eventually you may have to separate by state, then by free, low cost camps, family parks etc.

Thanks for the comments it is appreciated!

I think there should be minimal options to find a park and then for the rest you can rely on the reviews.

It should really just be -

1) State

2) Two coloured icons (Free = Red & Paid = Green)

From that you can deduce wether its a paid said and the local of the camp quickly and easily.

If we add multiple pins etc it could become messy :)!

What do you think?
 

expanda

Site Founder
Staff member
Dec 22, 2009
3,892
1,961
113
44
Western, Sydney....
www.expandasdownunder.com
Template is a great idea. Maybe with a checklist to tick off features I no longer crave or notice (jumping pillow, playground, etc) or need such as "mothers room". Mrs XF commented on the latter where we are currently propped for the night at Wimmera Lakes Caravan Resort, a few clicks on the Melbourne side of Horsham. Bit dry and dusty underfoot (its still drought here after all) but good size (length & width) sites Some with shade and a few dedicated drive thru's. $30 for two. Our Expanda is still hitched to the Pathie and fits in with just the front bed end open and room for another van beside us. There's a 6.5m Seaview/LC combo doing likewise. Parked beside your van as normal these sites would accommodate the largest of rigs. Full swag of spotless amenities, great pool and pillow and mini- golf. Staff friendly and easy going. Just off Hwy but road noise not too bad.

We don't have a dog, but I think it's also pet friendly.
PS
There's also Horsham Jayco just up the road - guy here had a minor problem with his Jayco, disappeared with van in tow about 3.00pm and was back with everything fixed in half an hour.

Cheers for the comments!!!!

Some good ideas on the checklist :) and something I will look at implementing but unless people add the data to the review its impossible for it to work correctly.

Will keep you posted :)!

Hi expanda, Can't seem to be able to see the map on the IPad or IPhone when traveling. I can see it ok on the laptop. Is there an issue with the previous 2? Thanks HM Ps reckon the map is a great idea - good stuff

What version of IOS are you using?

I can see it on the iPad, looks great, how do we add places?


What version of IOS are you using?

To add a place just add a caravan park review in the reviews section and we will manually add it to the map.

Maybe it's my version on the iPad, must need an update, haven't done it for awhile. Thanks Cracka.


Yes could be IOS version or browser speed.


Whoops, I take it back. I think it is just the amount if imagery that needs to be downloaded. Working now for me too.

Ok, can you browse google maps normally?
 

Brad

Well-Known Member
Jan 2, 2012
2,645
722
113
Rowville, Victoria
Yes I can expanda. But you have the view defaulting to Satellite view. Which takes more time to load due to imagery.
Do you have other options as the default view? It may make it faster to load and explain holden_mans issue when roaming.

I think this is fantastic!! Another suggestion would be to enable location services if you have the ability and then provide the search facility to find camp spots within say a 50km radius of current location.
 

expanda

Site Founder
Staff member
Dec 22, 2009
3,892
1,961
113
44
Western, Sydney....
www.expandasdownunder.com
Yes I can expanda. But you have the view defaulting to Satellite view. Which takes more time to load due to imagery.
Do you have other options as the default view? It may make it faster to load and explain holden_mans issue when roaming.

I think this is fantastic!! Another suggestion would be to enable location services if you have the ability and then provide the search facility to find camp spots within say a 50km radius of current location.

Yes we can load pretty much any map you want :) as standard and branch out from there.

I have switched it to plain google maps if you could let me know if its any faster?
 

Brad

Well-Known Member
Jan 2, 2012
2,645
722
113
Rowville, Victoria
Much faster!!
I think also if you defaulted to a smaller radius then wouldn't that be faster still because there will not be as many flags to locate and render on the map?
 

expanda

Site Founder
Staff member
Dec 22, 2009
3,892
1,961
113
44
Western, Sydney....
www.expandasdownunder.com
Much faster!!
I think also if you defaulted to a smaller radius then wouldn't that be faster still because there will not be as many flags to locate and render on the map?

Definitely would be but how do you choose a location without making people mad :)!

Couple of options -

1) When you click on the camps map link it takes you to a page that presents a state based option list and then clicking on this it gives you each relevant state.

Pros -

Does not load the map until you select the relevant state

Cons -

Adds an additional step to the task of getting to the map

2) When you click on the camps map link it defaults to a state or say half of Australia

Pros -

Reduces load time significantly as less markers to load

Cons -

Could discriminate against state such as WA

It would be nice for it to get your current location and load that but its not possible at this point so really we would need to go with one of the above to be more specific if that makes sense?
 

Brad

Well-Known Member
Jan 2, 2012
2,645
722
113
Rowville, Victoria
Can it use post codes or Suburbs?
What about a first load and then once the user has drilled into a section of the map it then remembers these co-ordinates?

At the moment what I see when clicking on the map is all of the markers load first.
Now that you changed the default image I then see the map load about 5 seconds later.
Which is much better.
I fear that as you load more of these markers that it may get to the point of being too slow without doing something down the track.
 

expanda

Site Founder
Staff member
Dec 22, 2009
3,892
1,961
113
44
Western, Sydney....
www.expandasdownunder.com
Can it use post codes or Suburbs?
What about a first load and then once the user has drilled into a section of the map it then remembers these co-ordinates?

At the moment what I see when clicking on the map is all of the markers load first.
Now that you changed the default image I then see the map load about 5 seconds later.
Which is much better.
I fear that as you load more of these markers that it may get to the point of being too slow without doing something down the track.

Totally agree its just about finding the happy medium I suppose :)

I seem to forget I have super fast internet connection so when I look at it there is no lag....

Ill have a think and look through what we can do to reduce the load time give me a little while to ponder :)!!
 

expanda

Site Founder
Staff member
Dec 22, 2009
3,892
1,961
113
44
Western, Sydney....
www.expandasdownunder.com
Using v 6.0 on the iPad

crackacoldie yes I think it comes down to what has been said -

1) Map loading satelite takes longer / We have now switched to a standard google map to help over come this

2) Reduce the size of the map loading to reduce the amount of data required

We have fixed point 1 and will address point 2 hopefully soon so this should go a long way to resolving the issue.
 
Thanks for the comments it is appreciated!

I think there should be minimal options to find a park and then for the rest you can rely on the reviews.

It should really just be -

1) State

2) Two coloured icons (Free = Red & Paid = Green)

From that you can deduce wether its a paid said and the local of the camp quickly and easily.

If we add multiple pins etc it could become messy :)!

What do you think?

Sounds sensible and would be easy to navigate expanda :encouragement:
 

crackacoldie

Well-Known Member
Jan 8, 2013
2,593
3,802
113
Newcastle NSW
crackacoldie yes I think it comes down to what has been said -

1) Map loading satelite takes longer / We have now switched to a standard google map to help over come this

2) Reduce the size of the map loading to reduce the amount of data required

We have fixed point 1 and will address point 2 hopefully soon so this should go a long way to resolving the issue.

Thanks expanda, while it takes alittle while to load, it has been very easy to navigate and use. Having said that, I have never had anything load quickly on the iPad....
 

expanda

Site Founder
Staff member
Dec 22, 2009
3,892
1,961
113
44
Western, Sydney....
www.expandasdownunder.com
Okay here is what I am thinking.

We have two valuable resources the reviews that all of you provide and the camps map which sits behind this to provide a graphical representation of these reviews.

In my mind the reviews are probably the most focal point of the map and the map is more a complement to the reviews.

Considering the amount of reviews we have and size of the map we need to make the reviews a more robust solution and also at the moment the amount of threads we have it is hard to navigate the threads and in most cases people will bypass them and head straight to the map.

This is fine and but there needs to be a more common order to the reviews. To achieve this I have implemented a test system at the top of the page called “Camp Reviews” which you can click into and have a dig around. Note this is a test system so it's just a playground for now and things will change.

Clicking on this link you are presented with a new section of the forum which is dedicated to 'Camp Reviews' on the left hand side you have two options either Free or Paid which you can then drill down into state based.

There is a bunch of other features to save you drilling down like it list the latest reviews in the centre of the page etc but you can have a dig.

The main features of this is as follows -

1) Anyone can submit a park review
2) After a park review is submitted it is classed as a “resource” against your user profile this ties into the forum completely and allows other users to quickly find and access your resources
3) Other users can access and view your reviews by navigating the structure and once they are in a review they can do the following -

a) Rate your review by selecting stars​
b) Enter into a discussion about the review through a discussion post button​
c) Navigate to other reviews that you have created​
To submit a review you simply -

1) Go to the new 'Camp Reviews' button at the top of the home page
2) Click 'Add Resource'
3) Select the category you would like it to go to
4) Add your review

That's it!!!!

From there this does a couple of things -

1) Create a new review based on what you enter
2) It creates a forum post in the main forum
3) It link the forum post to your resource so if someone comments on it from either the forum / review section it pops in both

From there once we have the reviews in place moderators will add a place marker on the map for your map and add this to your discussion thread.

So the basis of this is that we have -

1) A robust review system
2) A review system that is integrated with the forum
3) A map system that leverages of the quality of reviews

Have a jump in the reviews section and submit a review if you would like.

At the moment when you submit a review it adds a thread to the testing forum -

http://expandasdownunder.com/forums/site-testing.44/

You can either comment on a review in the forum post or from the discussion tab in the review itself as they both are linked.

And let me know your thoughts.....