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pro2abusinesses.com

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rysa

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2008
Messages
77
Location
Kent, Washington, USA
imported post

http://www.pro2abusinesses.com

So, i love what just_a_car did with the DNP list on here but it never really stays to the top. There are a few other sites that have some DNP businesses but it seems really scattered.

So, last saturday night I got a wild hair up my butt and decided to create a web site dedicated to it. I figure if we get enough businesses on there it might turn some heads.

NO LAUGHING. i spent a day on the page so its not great, just a stop gap with information until I have the time to do something really cool. Head on over and check it out if you get a chance.

Big thanks to just_a_car and http://www.washingtonceasefire.net/for compiling the information so diligently (where i got most of, if not all the businesses from....so far anyway).

Also, send me email at admin@pro2abusinesses.com if you find another business you want to add.
 
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rbarrans

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2008
Messages
13
Location
Lynnwood, Washington, USA
imported post

I like the idea of having this list on a website rather than a forum thread. One suggestion is to add links to jump straight to the section on pro or anti businesses, rather than having to scroll all the way down. As the list grows it will become more of a pain to scroll through the whole thing.
 
D

David.Car

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2008
Messages
1,264
Location
Spokane, Washington, USA
imported post

I believe Larry's Gun Shop shouldn't be up there anymore. Don't they now have a new owner who is actually a member here? They are now pro OC

Edit: This should be directed at Washington Cease Fire
 
S

SlacK

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2008
Messages
81
Location
Spokane, Washington, USA
imported post

perhaps arrange the businesses alphabetically, and put an alphabet link at the top
of the page, so you can click on a letter, and jump to the point in the list where
businesses starting with that letter are.
 
Gene Beasley

Gene Beasley

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2007
Messages
426
Location
Federal Way, Washington, USA
imported post

How about culling pertinent contact information when available. For example, Wal-Mart, the regional security name is Jason Schmidt. I have it programmed into my cell but my wife absconded with it. This could come in handy when at a place where an uninformed manager raises a concern. It would be nice to have this information centralised. Just a thought.
 
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rysa

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Joined
Apr 25, 2008
Messages
77
Location
Kent, Washington, USA
imported post

Im happy to add additional information when and where necessary. Im implementing some of the suggestions people have made already. I would like to break the site out a little more categorically. Giving each business there own page with a comments section and an additional informational section. That would be a good place for those good to have numbers and names.
 
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antispam540

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2008
Messages
546
Location
Poulsbo, Washington, USA
imported post

It's going to make your life a lot easier if the site is automated. Some simple PHP and a database will let people:

Add businesses (for all states)
Comment and vote on the DNP status of each business
Provide local contact info

Moderators would be the only ones able to change DNP status, and they would do it based on the votes.

I'd also love to see a section for the stance of various law enforcement members/precincts, although I'm not sure what the implications are for that.

If you need hosting, I can provide some space also. Check out classfeeds.com for a no-longer-used example of what a week of design work with PHP can do.

(I'm in the computer programming field, if you couldn't tell)
 
R

rysa

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2008
Messages
77
Location
Kent, Washington, USA
imported post

antispam540 wrote:
It's going to make your life a lot easier if the site is automated. Some simple PHP and a database will let people:

Add businesses (for all states)
Comment and vote on the DNP status of each business
Provide local contact info

Moderators would be the only ones able to change DNP status, and they would do it based on the votes.

I'd also love to see a section for the stance of various law enforcement members/precincts, although I'm not sure what the implications are for that.

If you need hosting, I can provide some space also. Check out classfeeds.com for a no-longer-used example of what a week of design work with PHP can do.

(I'm in the computer programming field, if you couldn't tell)
Click to expand...

I dont want just anyone to be able to add a business, I think they need to be contacted and a written policy verified or management verbally affirm that they are pro/anti gun.

DNP isn't ademocratic process, is based on the business's policies, so while we may all have comments on it, i would say use the Email field and let the actual business know how you feel.

This site is already hosted via godaddy. When i get the time i'll convert the xml backend into a sql schema (im waiting to see if i can pull a feed from state or federal databases before i do this though) and apply a little more design. I too am in the computer programming field. visithttp://litigator.lexisnexis.com for an example of what i do professionally.

Thanks for the input, if you'd like to dedicate some design time im happy to have the help. Im a developer, not a designer and what you see on the site is what i could do in 24 hrs. The site is done in ASP.NET/C# w/XML as the datastore and AJAX extensions (for now).
 
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antispam540

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2008
Messages
546
Location
Poulsbo, Washington, USA
imported post

I see things are in good hands ;) As far as users adding businesses, I didn't mean adding them to a DNP list. I meant they could be added to a list in general, and then the moderators could decide if they belong on the patronize list, or on the DNP list. It would give time for stories to accumulate and for interested people to contact the company directly if they want to know badly enough.

Unfortunately I'm not much of a designer either. I'd link to my business site for my best work, but I prefer to stay at least a little anonymous on gun forums. I don't have a clue about .NET coding, and I'm not a wizard with AJAX yet, so I doubt I'd be much help. If you ever do need hosting resources, though, I have space and bandwidth.

Thanks for setting this up, btw! When it gets going, I'll let the people in Georgia know about it. I'm sure it'll come in handy :cool:
 
R

rysa

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2008
Messages
77
Location
Kent, Washington, USA
imported post

Ah, i see. I misunderstood what you were saying about people adding businesses part. As soon as i get the datastore out of XML i will likely put a form up for ppl to add businesses, till then i dont want to have out of sync files to deal with.

If I run out of bandwidth (I have 300GB for now), I'll LB the requests and have you host a mirror if your still willing at the time.

and thanks for the kind words :D
 
J

joeroket

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2006
Messages
3,339
Location
Everett, Washington, USA
imported post

rysa wrote:
Ah, i see. I misunderstood what you were saying about people adding businesses part. As soon as i get the datastore out of XML i will likely put a form up for ppl to add businesses, till then i dont want to have out of sync files to deal with.

If I run out of bandwidth (I have 300GB for now), I'll LB the requests and have you host a mirror if your still willing at the time.

and thanks for the kind words :D
Click to expand...
If it gets to the point of running aout of bandwidth let me know. I run a web hosting service and our lowest allocation for bandwidth is 1.5TB. When you say you plan on migrating the data to SQL are you planning to do migrate it to MySql or MS? You probably know that MSsql would limit your hosting options if you do need more bandwidth.
 
R

rysa

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2008
Messages
77
Location
Kent, Washington, USA
imported post

joeroket wrote:
rysa wrote:
Ah, i see. I misunderstood what you were saying about people adding businesses part. As soon as i get the datastore out of XML i will likely put a form up for ppl to add businesses, till then i dont want to have out of sync files to deal with.

If I run out of bandwidth (I have 300GB for now), I'll LB the requests and have you host a mirror if your still willing at the time.

and thanks for the kind words :D
Click to expand...
If it gets to the point of running aout of bandwidth let me know. I run a web hosting service and our lowest allocation for bandwidth is 1.5TB. When you say you plan on migrating the data to SQL are you planning to do migrate it to MySql or MS? You probably know that MSsql would limit your hosting options if you do need more bandwidth.
Click to expand...

I had intended to do MS Sql. The hosting service I have now provides me with a single database.

I have several options on the bandwidth side

  • upgrade my current plan to allow more growth
  • offload the web serving part to another site with more bandwidth (using my current one only for data traffic) If im moving more than 300GB of pure data across the wire then its time to look at somethng more serious.
  • if neither option allows for the bandwidth needs i have, i'll likely have to look at something more professional.
All of those scenarios are so far out right now its not even funny. The site is ugly, pure and simple. I wanted it to be up there as a quick reference but more importantly to start collecting the data.

I have big plans for the site, i just need a little bit of time and some inspiration to get the work done, but until then i suspect that my bandwidth issues will be non-existent
 
J

joeroket

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2006
Messages
3,339
Location
Everett, Washington, USA
imported post

rysa wrote:
joeroket wrote:
rysa wrote:
Ah, i see. I misunderstood what you were saying about people adding businesses part. As soon as i get the datastore out of XML i will likely put a form up for ppl to add businesses, till then i dont want to have out of sync files to deal with.

If I run out of bandwidth (I have 300GB for now), I'll LB the requests and have you host a mirror if your still willing at the time.

and thanks for the kind words :D
Click to expand...
If it gets to the point of running aout of bandwidth let me know. I run a web hosting service and our lowest allocation for bandwidth is 1.5TB. When you say you plan on migrating the data to SQL are you planning to do migrate it to MySql or MS? You probably know that MSsql would limit your hosting options if you do need more bandwidth.
Click to expand...

I had intended to do MS Sql. The hosting service I have now provides me with a single database.

I have several options on the bandwidth side
Click to expand...
  • upgrade my current plan to allow more growth
    Click to expand...
  • offload the web serving part to another site with more bandwidth (using my current one only for data traffic) If im moving more than 300GB of pure data across the wire then its time to look at somethng more serious.
    Click to expand...
  • if neither option allows for the bandwidth needs i have, i'll likely have to look at something more professional.
    Click to expand...
All of those scenarios are so far out right now its not even funny. The site is ugly, pure and simple. I wanted it to be up there as a quick reference but more importantly to start collecting the data.

I have big plans for the site, i just need a little bit of time and some inspiration to get the work done, but until then i suspect that my bandwidth issues will be non-existent
Click to expand...
Well I for one look forward to seeing the progress.
 
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