SAB cactus identification app

[Jonstn]

Was thinking maybe we could get together and make a app for IDing cacti for corroboree members?

I'm not meaning a smartphone app but a application embedded on the forum

Could make it in flash, have sections for shape, colour, spineage, flower etc, then the section you are in gives you a bunch of options to choose from, and after going through and selecting the traits you are given a list of possible candidates, with pictures and info of the species alongside the names.

Can have pics and info donated from members, flash programming is pretty easy I havnt done any in years but would be willing to pick it back up to get this up and running, action script is like riding a bike, there's probaby some members on here that could smash it out easy

As there are so many freaking different cacti out there it would be silly to try and make a whole library straight off the bat, but maybe just starting off with the common requests that pop up on here then expanding out updating it with a bunch of new info over time.

And possibly having it embedded in a pinned thread in the ID forum?

Not wanting to do this to eliminate all ID request threads, but it may give people a good idea of what they got and instead of coming on with "I have no idea what this is" they may go "I'm pretty sure it's this, or one of these"

Theres an app on iPhone called "fungi" used for mushroom IDing, guess that's what I got in mind, but instead of fungi it'll be cacti and instead of phone it'll be here on the forum, and instead of paying it'll be free for the community

Thoughts?

Edited April 10, 2012 by Jonstn

[Marcel]

Nice idea. That fungi app is great. I flick through it all the time.

I'd probably get the cacti equivalent, but I wouldn't know the first thing about putting an app together.

[Sallubrious]

I think it's a great idea. Start with some basics and more categories could be included once it's it's up and running

It would be good to see something similar for Acaias although it could get a bit complicated.

[Jonstn]

Nice idea. That fungi app is great. I flick through it all the time. I'd probably get the cacti equivalent, but I wouldn't know the first thing about putting an app together.

Yeah I'm quite fond of it also good little thing to have in your pocket, maybe if we get a cacti one running on here we could make a smartphone version later on

I think it's a great idea. Start with some basics and more categories could be included once it's it's up and running It would be good to see something similar for Acaias although it could get a bit complicated.

Thats it wouldn't wanna try and smash through a few thousand species straight away, start with the most common then every few months see what requests have been posted and add them in

An acacia one would be sweet, I think there is some software out there for IDing them not sure how much it costs though

[Marcel]

There is a native flora app out there that looks like it has had a fair bit of money thrown at it, but I've heard it's pretty useless. I'd pay good money for an acacia app.

[at0m]

I might look into doing something like this. A couple months ago I wanted to make a fungi one. Might still have some code around.

[myco]

Nice idea. That fungi app is great. I flick through it all the time.

 

Fungi app......

Wats it called

anyone know if you can I get it for an iPad I don't think it would work on my phone

Edit: just saw jonstn said wat it's called at the start

Edited April 10, 2012 by myco

[Jonstn]

;) can't remember how much the fungi app is though, if your pad is jailbroken then you could give it a test run before commiting to buying pretty sure it's compatible with iPad.

Good to hear at0m! Will have to have a look at ya code going to have a tinker around in flash when I got some spare time

[at0m]

I don't have the code anymore I've got horrible backup policies (read: I don't have any).

Also, Flash is terrible. It's served its time & should now be put to rest.

If I was to write this app, I'd make it a web-app. Ruby on Rails, JQuery.

I'm going to put down my other projects for the day and see if I can make a start on this (purely as a proof of concept. If it wants to be used after that, that's cool.)

[Bert&Ernie]

I don't have the code anymore I've got horrible backup policies (read: I don't have any).

Also, Flash is terrible. It's served its time & should now be put to rest.

If I was to write this app, I'd make it a web-app. Ruby on Rails, JQuery.

I'm going to put down my other projects for the day and see if I can make a start on this (purely as a proof of concept. If it wants to be used after that, that's cool.)

 

Great news I can't wait to see what you come up with

[Jonstn]

Looking forward to it at0m keep us posted.

How easy would it be to update?

[at0m]

Easy as pie.

Plans so far:

Stand-alone website (Easier that way)

Users (Only registered users marked as "Trusted" will be allowed to edit. An account is not required to view the site)

Comments (Registered users only. Might allow guest comments but that involves some work on anti-spam what nots)

Pictures

Detailed descriptions (spines, size, growing conditions and what ever else people want to add - it will be entirely customizable at the click of a button and a few slams on the keyboard. These will be the filters used for searching too)

Search via name

Search via filters

*Edit

These are all very rough & subject to change. All comments & thoughts are welcome

Edited April 10, 2012 by at0m

[Bert&Ernie]

Liking it so far mate

[at0m]

Absolutely no concentration tonight. I've got the project planned out in my head, just need to make the code match up with my thoughts. I'll work on it tomorrow. I should have some form of a demo by tomorrow evening.

[at0m]

Demo!

https://cactusbuddy.herokuapp.com/search

Notes:

This isn't its permanent home. It's purely for testing.

The database currently contains 4 cacti. For testing purposes only. It will obviously be expanded far beyond this in the future.

The "Search" page will not always look like that. That's purely so I can see the data I'm working with. In the case of what's currently there (options based on flowers) it will be a dropdown which will look like this:

There will be other search filters (like the one above). Reply to this thread with suggestions for them & their potential values.

The style isn't finalized either. At the moment it's so I don't have to look at a style-less page for hours

[Jonstn]

looking nifty

once you get it up and running we'll have to get people to post pics and descriptions and such

keep us posted

[lhb2444]

This is getting me pretty damm excited!

[Marcel]

Hot stuff! You're on IT!

[at0m]

No update today. I had a bit of a shit day due to a mate being in the hospital. He's alright, though. Just a day or so of recovery.

[Bert&Ernie]

So how's it going atom?

[at0m]

Brother's been down, haven't done much except think about it really. A couple logistical errors I need to work out too :\ A lot more complicated than I first thought.

Finally, I've got to pick up some other code and pump out a few projects quickly. I'm getting dangerously poor :\