Find Lat and Long Meta Data

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Mike Strange

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Mar 27, 2012, 6:31:18 AM3/27/12
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I have suggested to Rebekkah that some folk would like to use the Bulk Uploader tool but haven't a clue how to get the latitude and longitude co-ordinates; this is how do it for other uses:

a) Open Google maps (http://maps.google.co.uk/)

b) Find the location where you want to pin something as close as you can by zooming in.

c) Right click on that spot and click on "What's Here?"

d) A green marker will appear and the lat and long will appear in the Google search bar above the map, copy and paste into the spreadsheet - voila.

Anybody here have an even easier solution/recommendation?

Mike

James Morley

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Mar 27, 2012, 8:52:04 AM3/27/12
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What would be really neat is if the 'Find on map' tool within the bulk
uploader allowed users to set the location there, or simply refine the
location.

In the meantime your approach is probably what users would have to do,
although I'd suggest http://www.getlatlon.com/ is a marginally simpler
way of doing the same thing.

Regards, James

Michael Daley

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Mar 27, 2012, 9:27:34 AM3/27/12
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Hi James,

Are you suggesting a full blown "pinner map" as we have on main pinner (http://cl.ly/1c2N2v0d063X0v2P442P)? The tool was intended for people to double check content was uploaded correctly, however I can see that if you're using it as a way to upload without a CSV it could be useful. If we opened a popup box, the pinner would take up about 640px height so might be tight on browsers at 1024x768px.

How many votes can I get for this feature?  :-)

Thanks
Mike
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Digital Director

We Are What We Do
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m: 0789 170 1820

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James Morley

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Mar 27, 2012, 9:47:06 AM3/27/12
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Hi Mike

I guess looking at it that way I am. Sort of. Maybe. Functionally
though I'd just see it as a refinement of what is already on the bulk
upload 'Find on map' pop-up but where you can just drag the existing
pin around if one is set, of create one if there's none, and then in
either case that gets fed back to the upload form. I don't think in
this interface it needs to be as refined as the full-blown as the
"pinner map". But that said I guess a search facility would be
essential.

The crucial point I think here is user workflow. If people have a
large dataset and some don't have locations in the csv then it might
be nice to offer them something at the point of doing the bulk upload.
But at the same time I guess those images won't go live and the user
can then just go to those and set them in the normal way, but is that
more tedious firstly finding them, and then setting them?

So my vote is for. But if you use MoSCoW ratings I'd say this is a
'Could', nothing more.

James

Mike Strange

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Mar 27, 2012, 10:06:28 AM3/27/12
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Surely one wants to carry everything possible pre-upload as editing more than a few images really is quite tedious.

From a work flow point of view could an embedded tool be any faster than having Google Maps or Getlatlon open and doing a quick whistle round all of the locations?
Mike

Hi Mike

James


Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Michael Daley

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Mar 27, 2012, 10:27:10 AM3/27/12
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Hello. Interesting. I guess the issue I would have with offering a tiny map to drag and reposition the pin would be that it would be difficult to use. The granularity of movement really does need a larger map to play around with. Add to it the ability to actually search for a location and the larger pinner map would be useful.

Incidentally, we had originally shown the thumbnail of the photo in the bulk uploader list, however we found that holding all the photos (potentially gigabytes worth) was causing the uploader to freeze (due to the memory requirements of the browser). I feel we really need to reintroduce it to some extent (perhaps a link to view the individual photo) so that you can add the information without referring back to the filename. We are exploring this at the moment. I too would like a way I can add a ton of photos without a CSV and not have to go through the next next next steps if I wish.

Rebekkah Abraham

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Mar 30, 2012, 11:36:15 AM3/30/12
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Hi,

Here is another option people might like to explore - the Google Maps Geocoding API:

https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/

Rebekkah
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Rebekkah Abraham
Historypin Content Manager

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We Are What We Do 
71 St John Street
London
EC1M 4NJ
020 7148 7670
07910 731 679


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