Hiking Database

[Brad]

I feel a need to have a hiking trail database. Not to duplicate all the information that is available on other hiking websites... but to add some personal information and to track which ones I've been to and when I was there.

I'd need to be able to link to a hiking website with a url, store gps coordinates of the trailhead, add tags, notes, rating, associated images, etc...

You'd be able to log your trips there so you could tell when the last time you where there was. Also useful in case you want to visit in a different season.

I haven't been able to find anything like this available for free and I think it would be really nice. It would be best if it was mobile friendly too.

[Nick]

Ok! Lets make one. Simple data entry and getting current location backed up by a central database server or a database on the device (Let the user decide?) It could be similar to the fuelly.com mobile site.

Give me a graphical mock-up of what you think would be nice interface and I will make a mobile HTML page for it

[zourtney]

Sounds like a good project! Yeah, mock something up (I'd do it, but I'm kinda busy...)

[Nick]

I made a super-rough mock-up during lunch today. Its ugly and cluttered but maybe it will give us someplace to start.

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1Fdw7oUCvI3KxKtfN338c-blx1jfMp_ExItjxn25mfNE/edit?pli=1 <- must login to google to see it.

I shared it with all you all. It probably emailed you or something.  I think you all can edit it if you like. And I think it keeps track of past revisions, so edit away!

[Brad]

I like it! We would also need a web interface to view the logs for all of the various trails.

So we are going with a local app sending XML files to a server app located somewhere then? Is this so that you can use it even on trails without cell service? That isn't a bad idea... I would consider using a local SQL database (such as SQLite) rather than XML files though. That'd make it easier/faster to view all of your logged hikes locally without having to parse a bunch of XML files. You could still send the data in XML format to the server if you wanted to (or export to XML for other purposes I guess...)

[Nick]

I was thinking that you could upload GPS data from a trail tracker for showing the path you took. But offline storage and syncing when then is data coverage is a good idea.

[Brad]

Ah that makes sense. Those programs output into XML usually? Probably not any kind of standard though.

[zourtney]

I'm a little late to the party (been busy). But I like that mock-up. Seems like a pretty sweet idea. Still interested in doing it? Not that I have lots of free time, but I could probably start squeezing some in soon.

[Nick]

I am still interested in helping about with it. Sounds like an awesome way to get some android/HTML5 experience in.

[zourtney]

I'm not sure how to go about it if you want to write in pure Android. That could be a fun experiment, though. I do have some nifty tricks if you wanted to try a Javascript + HTML[5] + CSS approach. Organize code using AMD modules (curl.js, require.js, etc) and toss in some PhoneGap and you've got a pretty decent front end environment.

The back end is a whole 'nother story. I highly recommend sending data as JSON via a "RESTful" protocol. Don't know about the database....whatever.  Any idea what language you'd want to use? Python, Java, node.js (that's one I want to experiment with)...

Ramble tamble.

[Nick]

Backend could be node.js or PHP. I only say PHP because it would be easy as making a glass of cereal. node.js is more alluring for its greater array of capabilities.

I will have to read up on the front end stuff and the RESTful protocol. It all sounds interesting.