MotionBased had an excellent filter system that let us search the entire data base. It was perfect for those of us doing "Horseback Riding" because our races were in areas without towns and our races were separated from each other by 100's of miles. The GC search system is worthless for us. Is there going to be a better filter system in the future?
this behavior works the exact same as google, because it is a service provided by google. essentially when you enter a broad search area, like restaurants in usa, like this http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=restaurant+usa&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=72.591546,57.392578&ie=UTF8&hq=restaurant&hnear=United+States&z=6 the map shows you not the best restaurants in big cities like san francisco and new york city, but instead, all of the restaurants in the center of the country. if you lived in a small state like rhode island and entered that as your location name, your search results will be desired, but larger states only query the center portion of that state. the location box is there for users who would like to search for activities close to bigger cities, and it does serve that function well.
Devon, I understand how this works (now) but didn't always understand. I think some explanation on this page would really help. And would add that it would be nice--for those who wished it--for a non-graphic/bounding-box restricted version of the search feature be available (in MB whether one used the map or a data driven view was a user's choice). In the least, better instructions would be very helpful here for those not familiar with the Google conventions.
I agree about this being confusing. Just using the search and the concept of the "current map view" had to be explained to me early on. After that explanation, I realized that I *never* would have figured it out on my own. I think other users are having similar problems.
Here's something I was trying to do over this past weekend: I've been traveling a lot this year, and running in various cities. I thought it might be interesting to see all the places I've run this year on a map, so I set a filter to only my activities. This returned valid results only if the search area is small enough (roughly a couple of eastern US states), but if I zoom too far out, I get an error that says "Sorry, search area is too broad. Please zoom in the map and try again." Yes, there's probably a logical explanation for this, but this is an example of a simple thing that the average person might try to do, and will get frustrated when it doesn't work.
this behavior works the exact same as google, because it is a service provided by google.
devon
Devon, I have to disagree: the feature does not work exactly like in Google Maps. The issue is with the zoom level. When I run a search in Explore>Activities, without any filters, using the query terms Keyword: orienteering Starting near: minnesota, the map centers on what seems like a small area near the geographical center of Minnesota, giving me 6 hits.
When I run the same search in maps.google.com, which for me starts with the lower 48 US map, the search result screen zooms in on all of Minnesota and gives 200+ hits (all of my own Orienteering events uploaded to GC total 27 and there are a few others)
I appreciate the search Current Map View functionality but I prefer using the simple text entry search form. If you do not intend your users to utilize this, you should remove it until it has full functionality.
There is one other major flaw in searching the Explore>Activities area. It does not seem up-to-date. When I try to retrieve my own activities via the public Explore area using the general area or the filters, newer items are not included. E.g. when I use the orienteering search for current map view showing the MN map, adding username cfosp1 in the filter options, I get a 9/12/2009 activity but not a more recent activities from 9/27/2009 (uploaded on that date). Is there such an almost six week lag time to refresh the Explore (or "communtiy") area with new activities?
My expectation for using the text-input pair "Keyword:" and "Starting near:" would be to make it work like Goggle, i.e. Starting near correctly zooming in on the map, being somewhat overinclusive rather than narrow (in my example Minnesota would include the border areas of ND, SD, IA, WI, ON and MB) and Keyword matches any input by the user, including username.
Thanks,
Christian
(On the upside: it looks like for me at least, the migration is finally complete GREAT!!!)
(On the upside: it looks like for me at least, the migration is finally complete GREAT!!!)
I think your wrong.
Now that motionbased.com is working again I have 191 activities recorded there.
In connect I have only 161 which includes those that I have uploaded since motionbased ceased to accept uploads.
...Here's something I was trying to do over this past weekend: I've been traveling a lot this year, and running in various cities. I thought it might be interesting to see all the places I've run this year on a map, so I set a filter to only my activities. This returned valid results only if the search area is small enough (roughly a couple of eastern US states), but if I zoom too far out, I get an error that says "Sorry, search area is too broad. Please zoom in the map and try again." Yes, there's probably a logical explanation for this, but this is an example of a simple thing that the average person might try to do, and will get frustrated when it doesn't work.
Me too - what is the limitation, and will it become a feature?
I think your wrong.
Now that motionbased.com is working again I have 191 activities recorded there.
In connect I have only 161 which includes those that I have uploaded since motionbased ceased to accept uploads.
There are many more that need migrating.
Wow, calm down. You may think he is wrong, but for CFOSP1 he is right. He clearly indicated he was only speaking for himself. :D
This "search activities" feature was working well this past summer. I could zoom out so that the entire island of Martha's Vineyard was shown, set up the filters for "Cycling", leave the rest of the fields in default mode and see all cycling activities on the island. Lately, after doing exactly what I did this summer, all I get is the message, "Sorry, search area is too broad. Please zoom in the map and try again" which works but only if I zoom so far in that it is, basically, useless. It's definitely an aggravating waste of time to have to blindly peck around like that.
Changing the "filters" for a more focused search makes absolutely no difference. The search engine still chokes. Even searching for just my activities ends up failing... unless I am zoomed in on a 2x2 mile plot.
