Finding members in my area

[Jesse Thornton]

Is there some way to search the member list by location? If so, how do I go about it? If not, is that an option you would consider adding?
Thanks, and Happy Holidays!

[Keith Outten]

Jesse,

There isn't a means for a Member to search for other Members in a particular area. Some provide their city and state and some don't and we don't have anyone's street address in our database.

Keeping personal information confidential is the reason why we can't search by location.

.

[Jim Becker]

Jesse, I will suggest that you consider posting a thread in the OT forum asking if there are any folks in your general area. That's worked for a lot of folks over time...

[Jesse Thornton]

Keith:
What you say would make sense...except that our locations (if we choose to dislose them) are written out for all to see every single time we post. I don't at all mean to sound antagonistic - I just don't see why it would be problematic to search by that criteria if it is already being made public. Nonetheless, thanks for the quick reply.

Jim:
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll give that a whirl.

[Jim Becker]

Only a percentage of folks actually input their location information in their profiles. It's suggested, but not required.

[Jesse Thornton]

But if they do put it in and they know that it is displayed in their public profile and posts, what would be the harm in searching for that already public info? Again I want to stress that I'm not trying to be a PITA, I just don't follow the logic...
By the way Jim, I love your byline! Too true, too true...

[Keith Outten]

Jesse,

The vBulletin software we use doesn't have the capability of allowing anyone to search by location other than from our back office. I agree that Members who have chosen to provide their city and state probably wouldn't mind but it still can't be done unless Aaron Koehl wanted to create a custom program or hack vBulletin.

This can be a very touchy subject with some people.

.

[Jesse Thornton]

Fair enough Keith. I'll stop pestering you now!

[Al Willits]

Having members put in their state at least would probably be a good thing.
I see posts that ask about a certain tool, where to get wood, needing help on a project, or a dozen other things and it might be easier or quicker to get help if we knew where they are.

Not suggesting it be mandatory of course, but it would help in many cases.

Just a thought...

Al

[Jim Becker]

Al, that capability is already there...but some folks choose not to put in any location information or don't realize they can.