therczone

I'm in the process of building a track directory and know that you RC Tech guys can help me out since most of you guys race. I've already got 200+ tracks added, but am hoping to get some more. The RC Car Action track directory is the largest RC track directory with just over 1,200 tracks, but is several years old and extremely outdated. I don't think I should post the link to my website because I would rather have the information than to receive traffic by spamming. However, you may find the link to the main website in my profile. It is a large RC forum with thousands of members - not a personal site.

What I'm asking, is for anyone reading this thread to reply with their local track(s) information as requested below. I also ask that no abbreviations be used because it can be hard to decode everything.

I appreciate any help, and so will everyone who uses the track directory.

Track Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Country:
Zip:
Type (onroad, offroad, or both?):
Description:
Email:
Phone:
Website:

therczone

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James35

iTrader: (1)

How about posting a link to the database submission form so people can enter them in directly? If you don't have this in a web based, searchable database, feel free to contact me, and I can give you some advice on how to make that happen. The reason these things get outdated is because eventually, you'll run out of enthusiam to maintain all of the entries yourself. To do it right, you'll want data to be added and edited by the track owners or public.

therczone

The track directory can be found here: http://www.the-rc-zone.com/tracks/index.php

I haven't had a chance (time) to code a submission form, but with the redesign of the website, I hope to implement one.

sepirts

Check out
http://www.rccaraction.com/rc/info/rctrack_srch.asp

therczone

I'd say about 1/5 of the tracks listed there are no longer around. I checked.

LaxRacer

Glad to see someone is taking time to update.

Looked at your database. Great start. Just an FYI West Virginia and Virgina are two seperate places. Unless you want some POed Virginans you might want to change your search code.

C

James35

iTrader: (1)

Since you are just starting, you should do it right from the get go. You should add these checkbox fields to your database:
Indoor Dirt Oval
Indoor Carpet Oval
Indoor Asphalt/Concrete Oval
Indoor Carpet Road Course
Indoor Asphalt/Concrete Road Course
Indoor Dirt Off-road
Indoor Carpet Off-road
etc... (Repeat for Outdoor)
AC power,
Food available,
On-site hobby shop
Automatic lap counting.
1/10 Touring
1/10 pan
1/12th pan, etc..

You could also do a clickable map too. That is so much faster than selecting your country and state, etc.. Of course, the advanced search would be available for detailed searching. How cool would it be to search for all tracks that offer 1/12th racing!

Currently, there is no web based RC event calendar either. So if you really want to outdo yourself, set up a calendar script on your site too!

therczone

Yeah, unfortunately that is a small bug right now. When you search for Virginia, it scans the database for any track with the state of "Virginia". I'll add it to my to-do list.

Also, due to request, I made a submission form. I'd really like to see this take off.

http://www.the-rc-zone.com/tracks/suggest.php

therczone

Actually, I did try that route (being specific), but after about 125 tracks, I realized that it was nearly impossible. I decided it's better to have more tracks with less-specific information, then to have none listed at all. I try to use the description field for the specific information. The time it took me to find out if a track provided food or not could take me 10 minutes of Googling or searching their website. I'd like it that way, but I've already tried it and it's far too much work.

Here's a screenshot of what it used to be like: http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/4723/55223bu6.jpg

I really like the clickable map idea and will give it some thought.

As for the calendar, it would be nice to be able to have a one-stop spot for race dates and other events, but there's so many RC sites out there. RC Tech has one here.. http://www.rctech.net/forum/calendar.php

I've got one too (comes with the forum software), although it doesn't see much action. I do try to keep up-to-date on the "Races & Events" forum with links to entry forms and websites for up-coming races.

James35

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, that's why you need to let the track owner's or racers from the track do all the hard work for you. If you set up the best track directory, track owner's would gladly be will be willing to maintain their listing and keep it current. It's free advertising to them. As I mentioned in the earlier post, if you end up manually doing each entry, you'll tire of it in the future, and your directory will end up like everyone elses. "Build it, and they will come". (If you want to see a sample of this in action, PM me, and I can show you. It's what I do for a living.)

You are right about those forum calendars, they just aren't good enough. You'll need a dedicated calendar script to do the job right. Currently, there are no calendars out there that show you all of the upcoming major races and events. Everyone has to go digging through all of the forums to try to find the info for themselves.

But, nonetheless, keep up the good work.

therczone

I don't mean to argue because I appreciate your feedback, but if only ~200 (I have a lot of foreign tracks to add) out of the 1,200 race track owners respond, that doesn't really do much for giving them a username/password to edit their track information. Most of the tracks I've added are from my own research or friends informing me of them. I just need the information. I can deal with manually entering it because its worth it.

If you guys know of some local tracks, you can submit them using this link or replying here.

http://www.the-rc-zone.com/tracks/suggest.php

therczone

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