I have spent the last few weeks priming the Beer App. Now, I am proud to announce that the beer is ready to flow…well, beer information that is. I have finished both the User Login and Beer Mapping portions of the Beer App. If you have not yet signed up for an account, you can do so with the Create Account link in the right column. With an account, you will given all the power and responsibility to add new locations and manage their beer information.
If you click on the Beer App while signed in, you will see an option labeled ‘Map A New Location’. Once a location has been added, it is immediately available for beer mapping.
There are two ways to map beers; by beer and by location. You will be able to ‘map by beer’ from several pages within the App by clicking the ‘Map It’ button next to a beer. Selecting this option will prompt you to enter a location for the beer, choose a serving type and enter a price (if known).
You can also ‘map by location’ by clicking the ‘Map Beer’ option on the Store Location page. Selecting this option will prompt you to pick a beer, choose a serving type and enter a price (again, if known).
The Store Information page also allows you to edit prices and remove beers from the location. If a beer is no longer sold or served at the location, you can press the ‘[X]‘ in the edit column to remove the entry. If a price has changed, you can press the ‘[Edit]‘ button to update the price information.
Since I need to give the App a thorough test, accounts currently have no limit on the amount of locations and beers they can map. In the future I will be using a contribution system that disperses daily credits based on positive contributions to the Beer App. I am already logging which users contribute information. I plan on using this to display a ‘leader board’ of contributions to the App. This way, I have the option to run contests based on user contributions.
Where does the App go from here? Assuming there are no issues with the new features, I am going to spend some time cleaning up the ‘look’ of the App. My philosophy is functionality over form. If the App is functioning well enough, it’s time to ‘pretty up’ this sow.
The other feature I plan to have implemented soon is the ‘Honest Pint’ filter. I will be using information from the Honest Pint Project to flag locations as Certified Purveyors of Honest Pints. You will be able to check a box if you want to search for only Honest Pint locations. These locations will also have a unique ‘push pin’ on the map and an Honest Pint tag on their information page.
After that, I will be working on getting the interface finished for letting users create and manage Beer and Brewery entries. Along with this, I will setting up a system for users to leave comments on Beer, Brewery or Location pages. When all that is complete, I will start working on the comparative rating system that started this whole project. Funny how things get side tracked some times.
So, get to mapping! You know it makes you feel all good inside. If you do have any problems either creating an account or using the mapping functions, shoot an E-mail to kevin@beerandcoding.com.
Cheers!
Kevin