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mapping a unmapped household

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 7:34 pm
by ckellsworth
I have a household that was unmapped that i now want to have on the map, however the only option that I see is to place the icon on the map myself.

What I would like the mapping system to choose the location based on the the address within the members record. Any ideas?

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 7:59 am
by RossEvans
ckellsworth wrote:I have a household that was unmapped that i now want to have on the map, however the only option that I see is to place the icon on the map myself.

What I would like the mapping system to choose the location based on the the address within the members record. Any ideas?
You really are no worse off in that situation than you are for any "unverified" addresses, because they are all just plotted as estimates by the Church site. In all cases, it is the responsibility of the clerk to move the icon manually by visual estimation on-screen to its exact location -- not just the middle of the street, but over the property rooftop, or at least a driveway.

You have hit upon the core problem, which is knowing where that location is. The designers' assumption seems to be that the clerk will know it when he sees it, but that is not a good assumption in many areas -- especially those with dispersed membership.

There are several possibilities to try:

  • Interactive use of Google Earth, or of Google Maps, Bing, etc. running in another window. Search for the address and see if the web service geocodes it accurately. Zoom in to see how accurate this geocoding is. When doing this, don't just use the service's street-map view, but also its satellite-photo view to see the buildings. Performance will vary, not just across applications but across areas.
  • Avoid free "batch geocoding" online, which is usually not accurate enough.
  • Looking for online resources made available by your local governments. Some governments make mapping browsers available. My city also makes a complete dump of its database available for download to external software, but that is unusual.
  • Driving to find the address while carrying a GPS-enabled device. Walk up to the door and capture the coordinates yourself. Then later display them in a browser window that you can eyeball next to the Church web site.

Ultimately, when dragging the icon on the Church website, your plotted point will be as accurate as you can do by eye.

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 12:45 pm
by ckellsworth
ok sounds good.