Thanks Lyn! Phew what a day. Busy busy busy as you said. The new site is starting to become functional and stuff is being transferred across.. the next big thing is the new easier registration form.. I'm making it so that volunteer members can register charge points from their own accounts and keep track of which points they have signed up.
My local Council just got awarded £2.8 million to promote alternative transport with a large chunk of it being earmarked for cycling, new cycle lanes and signs etc.. so I'm going to put our case to them for some funding. You know what Council's are like though!
I hope everyone enjoys using the new site and finds it a lot easier and less cluttered than the old one..
OK geek alert...
for those interested in the plans for the new site...
A "mobile device" version will be available soon which takes a much more minimal approach if you click a mobile icon on main page, you'll see just a "google style" main page and the directory will be purely text-only...with map links to individual charge points.
It'll also be possible to view charge points directly on the Google Maps website using a URL like this:
http://www.cyclecharge.org.uk/maps/region_xyz.kml - Google Maps which provides more flexibility and options for members (including ability to display only points you want to see, plus StreetView etc) .
The "Display All" option on the directory which shows all the charge points does need some work At present the map is too large. I'm working on making a smaller map at the top of the page. We'll also adapt a pagination approach once we get too many charge points to display on one page.. i.e. page [1][2][3] at bottom and various options for sorting alphabetically by name, by region, nearest to my postcode, by type of business category, or even member ratings.
There will be more options for the mapping side shortly...for example, when you search by postcode you will see the charge points sorted into order (nearest first) with distance from your postcode location in miles.. I'm also planning to do an A-to-B map option so you can enter your location and destination, and the map will display a route that highlights charge points with the distance between each point etc. The site will know members location as part of the login session as every member will enter their postcode as part of their profile when registering... they will also have the option to enter a different postcode on the main page with the search option.
When you click on the charge point name in the directory...it will take you to the charge point home area... each point will be able to upload photos (with thumbnails) and a detailed description of their business..similar to the "rightmove" property website, if any of you have ever seen that.. We'll use some of these photos and display them randomly on the front-page of the site with a text overlay showing the charge point business name, location, when they joined etc..
This new site shifts the emphasis onto charge points and seeks to involve them in the scheme more so that they can promote their businesses and encourage members to visit them.. I think if we take this approach more businesses will want to take part and see it more as an opportunity than a burden. Members will be able to rate charge points and write reviews, and perhaps as the scheme grows, members will come to see the charge points not just as a way to get from A to B, but a destination in themselves, for a day out etc.
As I mentioned above, there will also be more interaction possible from members than the old site with ratings/reviews for charge points, a list of "favourite" charge points, and for members acting as volunteers introducing new charge points there will be an option to manage this more easily from your own "home" area with a list of charge points you have personally introduced plus easy to see contact details, stats etc.
Feel free to share your comments and suggestions... let me know what you think is a good/bad idea and what you'd like to see on the site. Now the site is being coded by myself in Perl rather than relying on someone else's software, virtually anything is possible!!
Paul
P.S. Hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather again! Been out quite a bit this week on my bike.
