Meetinghouse locator map lookup seriously broken.

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rpyne
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Location: Provo, Utah, USA

Meetinghouse locator map lookup seriously broken.

#1

Post by rpyne »

I have run into this problem several times and it create a serious problem when trying to direct someone to their correct ward.

The address look up makes assumptions and changes the address to what it thinks might be correct.

For example, try to look up the ward for 90 S 400 E, Provo, Utah 84606. The Meetinghouse Locator changes the address to 90 N 400 N, which is in a completely different ward.

Google Maps and USPS Zip Code Lookup both correctly recognize 90 S 400 E.
crislapi
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#2

Post by crislapi »

rpyne wrote:The Meetinghouse Locator changes the address to 90 N 400 N, which is in a completely different ward.
Some address errors may be due to new streets, etc that are not in the map system maps.lds.org uses. However, your error is worse - that address is impossible. Have you sent feedback to the developers?
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aebrown
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#3

Post by aebrown »

crislapi wrote:Some address errors may be due to new streets, etc that are not in the map system maps.lds.org uses. However, your error is worse - that address is impossible. Have you sent feedback to the developers?
I think he meant 90 N 400 E, which is a possible address, and is what I get when I enter 90 S 400 E. But it's still wrong.
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rpyne
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Location: Provo, Utah, USA

#4

Post by rpyne »

aebrown wrote:I think he meant 90 N 400 E, which is a possible address, and is what I get when I enter 90 S 400 E. But it's still wrong.

Yes, that is what I meant.

It is not due to new streets in the map system, These streets have existed for well over 100 years (my ward which is only a few blocks south celebrated our sesquicentennial 10 years ago).
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Mikerowaved
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#5

Post by Mikerowaved »

I've run into this as well. On one occasion, I entered a "properly" formatted Utah residential address (including ZIP) and it took me to an entirely different STATE. I forget which one, but I remember it was somewhere on the East Coast. It took me several tries to purposely mangle the address so it would finally be recognized by the Meetinghouse Locator for what it was. Most addresses I enter are fine, but once in a while it really gets confused.
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ffrsqpilot
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#6

Post by ffrsqpilot »

Is there indeed a problem with the Meetinghouse locator program in LDS.org?

I ask this question because one of our unit's clerks had problems giving a member the correct unit that they would be moving into. The clerk in question used the meetinghouse locator map to find the proper unit for an address in Richfield, Utah. The new address was used but the wrong unit was identified. I tried on my own computer and ended up with the same results - address not matching the unit correctly. I then tried an old address that I lived at in Oregon and while locating the correct street on the map it put me in a unit that was miles away. However, when using the locator feature for my current address in Colorado it correctly identified my home ward. So somewhere along the line there seems to be a disconnect between what the mapping feature thinks is the correct meetinghouse and what the actual correct meetinghouse should be.

Is this something that the progammers are looking into or just one of the issues that we will have to live with?
russellhltn
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#7

Post by russellhltn »

That seems to be a two-part question. First, where does the map think the new address is physically located? No geocoder is perfect. If it places it wrong, it's going to point you to the wrong ward.

Second, is the boundaries for the unit in question accurate?

I doubt if there's a widespread issue, but I'll bet there will always be issues somewhere in the world between the geocoder and a boundary error.
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crislapi
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#8

Post by crislapi »

FFRsqpilot wrote:The clerk in question used the meetinghouse locator map to find the proper unit for an address in Richfield, Utah. The new address was used but the wrong unit was identified. I tried on my own computer and ended up with the same results - address not matching the unit correctly. I then tried an old address that I lived at in Oregon and while locating the correct street on the map it put me in a unit that was miles away. However, when using the locator feature for my current address in Colorado it correctly identified my home ward.
Reiterating what has already been said, it comes down to 1) either the program not recognizing the address, so it is just going off the city and/or zip or 2) There is confusion somewhere on what the boundaries really are. Can you actually see the street/intersection on the map? If you can see ward boundaries, is the address inside the correct boundaries but the system is telling you it is another?

I would suggest using lds.org feedback. Set "Regarding" to maps and meetinghouses. For the message, give them the specific example(s) you tried so that they can duplicate the problem on their end.
davesudweeks
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#9

Post by davesudweeks »

We recently moved a less-active family to an adjacent ward who had been at the edge of our ward for some time. They showed on the LDS Map function right on the edge our ward boundary. They showed in the same location on Google Maps and Bing Maps. There were some distance away so I had not taken time to drive out to their home to verify their location.

In discussion with the HPGL, I learned that when you actually go to their home, the road turns south into the adjacent ward and that is where their home is. I moved their pin, then transferred their record and sent a note to the other ward clerk warning him that LDS Maps may again incorrectly show them in our ward. A later check revealed that LDS Maps again incorrectly shows them in our ward boundary.

The lesson? Systems are not perfect and sometimes they make errors. It's still much, much better than what we had before!
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aebrown
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#10

Post by aebrown »

davesudweeks wrote:I moved their pin, then transferred their record and sent a note to the other ward clerk warning him that LDS Maps may again incorrectly show them in our ward. A later check revealed that LDS Maps again incorrectly shows them in our ward boundary.

There was no reason to move their pin just before transferring the record, since pin locations get reset when a record is moved. What this shows us is that the other ward clerk has not moved the pin to match the actual location. He really needs to do now what you did just before you transferred the record out.
Questions that can benefit the larger community should be asked in a public forum, not a private message.
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