Park Reviews Section (Under Development) - Wild Texas Forums: Parks, Travel & Recreation

Shannon · 11-12-2007, 02:27 PM

This is in regards to the Wild Texas Park Reviews feature I referenced in this thread -- Hello, I've finally signed on!

I am currently trying to plan my tweaks to the software to best suit the needs of our community here on WildTexas.com.

The software, out of the box, has fields for (and computes running averages for) park review (single, simple scale from 1 to 10), average price (in this case, average cost paid while visiting the park--eg. day use fees, if any, campsite fees and equipment rentals, guided tours, etc. I don't think it'll be feasible to directly port over our multi-tiered existing ratings system, though I'll do my best to make that possible, but it does do neat things like at-a-glance let you know how far the park is from your resident ZIP code (or any ZIP code you provide) and allow users to share multiple photos and detailed trip reports for each park. You will also be able to vote on parks multiple times (with a time delay between votes to prevent "vote stacking" heheh) in case your opinion of a park changes dramatically on a subsequent visit or in a different season.

Before I spin my wheels too much more, what if anything would you be looking for in a park reviews engine that lets you post your own park reviews and read the reviews other people have submitted. What key data fields would you be interested in -- just an example, but would you want to know if the park permitted pets (on a leash, typically), or had well-maintained playground equipment for the kiddos, or had equipment rentals on-site (kayaks, canoes, tubes, whatnot). What would you want to know about every park and be able to share when posting a new review?

If you know of a website (doesn't have to be Texas-related, or even park-related if there's some feature or treatment you like that might come in handy here), do share the name or URL (web address) so I can use that to help decide if it might be useful here.

Thanks, gang. I can't make any promises but I really hope to launch this before end of year.

Love ya'll. Thanks for the continued support.

Troop198 · 11-12-2007, 03:29 PM

I have looked at one site RVparkreviews.com :: Texas

Its largest flaw is if you do not know the city the park is in when you start your search (Just what city is Brazos Bend in ....without looking)

But the writing on this forum and others helps more, its the personnal touch, especially if I can email the writer and ask for good site numbers or other details.

The most valuable answer to me is yes or no
"stars" are hard to gauge, some ones 3 star for any item may be some elses four star and the at some point running totals average out. Yes and no seems simple, Clean restrooms yes or no,

Now looking at some ratings from your visit to Brazos Bend, you spell out what it takes to get each additional star, IF others who ranked it followed your system that is a good step, but for most of the areas you used they should equal your ratings?

I will think on things, but for trailer folks level sites are a plus, for tenters shade sites are a plus. (shade would be nice to know if it covers where you park your trailer, but that's a long question and most parks only have some of those)

campermom · 11-12-2007, 10:49 PM

This will be cool Shannon. What we look for is
distance
proximity to other attractions or special events
privacy between sites
clean bathrooms
activities such as hiking, swimming, fishing, tubing, birding etc
my son would like to know how big is the gift shop, ( Dino Valley is his fav)
park interpretive programs or tours

In the ratings, could you let people rate the park by season? We skip some parks some seasons because they're boring ( oops, did I just write that?).
Troop 198 is right about the personal advice. What is right for someone might not be for someone else. That's what great about the current threads. But a rating scale would also help folks decide where their next trip is going to be. I think TPWD needs to include a link to photographs of their parks, not just a quick view. Don't ya'll agree? Have you seen the one photo of Inks lake? If I hadn't heard how great and pretty it was, I certainly wouldn't have gone because the boat ramp looked so pretty. It's one of our favorite parks. Photos are extremely helpful.

srds · 11-12-2007, 11:26 PM

Sounds like a plan,I agree about some of the parks are not as good as others.If we had 'nt read some on South Llano State Park we wound'nt have gone there,now it's one of our favorites.And some of the other tips offered by others always makes trips better.Help for our Arkansas trip was a great .Set it up and lets see what happens,and Shannon thanks for all the hard work to make all of our trips better.

srds

Have Fun

Shannon · 11-13-2007, 05:49 AM

Thanks for the initial feedback, gang. I'll try do to incorporate as much as I can up front, or at least provide space for you to post what YOU find most important in your individual reviews, and over time the system can be expanded to meet any glaring needs I/we have overlooked initially. I think right out of the box you will be able to post multiple reviews for a single park, so that might speak to the need for different reviews for different seasons.

In case it's not clear, EVERY park that's already listed on WildTexas.com in our Parks Search area will be listed in the reviews section so folks can post their reviews, share their photos from visits, etc. Additionally, we'll finally have a place for RV parks and campground reviews to be shared more formally, as well.

Will anyone's head explode if I organize it as follows (ignore the "Category #:" notation -- that's just to help make the nesting hierarchy clear, and won't be part of the page titles and such when the feature is added to the site) --

Main Category 1: PUBLIC PARKS
-- City, county, State and National Parks in Texas

Main Category 2: PRIVATE PARKS
-- RV parks, private campgrounds (KOAs, etc.) and other private parks in Texas.

Category 2 will be further subdivided into:
Sub-category 2.1: RV Parks & Campgrounds
-- Private parks and campgrounds that accommodate Recreational Vehicles (RVs).

Sub-category 2.2: Dude Ranches & Guest Ranches
-- Dude ranches, guest ranches and working ranches that are available for camping or other activities.

Question: Is it not clear from the structure above that you can post private parks that may not offer RV camping facilities/sites? I basically want any legitimate park, overnight ranch, etc. to have a place here in the reviews section. Maybe I need another sub-category: Parks & Campgrounds (Non-RV)?

Also, do I nix the dude ranch category altogether, as confusing? I just know there are several worthy of mention, such as in Bandera, TX, where folks can take their own horses and/or rent horses, etc. It's as related to WildTexas.com as tent camping and RV travel, in my mind, but I'd hate to muddy the waters.

Apologies if I'm difficult to follow... it's still early yet so my brain's "fuzzy," and I already have a sleeping baby in my lap that I'm trying to type over without disturbing (she's used to it... her mom's a geek, remember?)

Thank you, gang! I can post a link to an example once I have a little more of the software configured. Right now, it'd just confuse everyone more, as the software ships with features to function as a product recommendation engine (like Amazon.com's product reviews)... something that would be useful here, also, but I want to focus on handling the PARKS well before I worry about gear recommendations (which everybody under the sun seems to be doing online.)

Troop198 · 11-13-2007, 01:22 PM

You note "if I organize it as follows (ignore the "Category #:" notation -- that's just to help make the nesting hierarchy clear, and won't be part of the page titles and such when the feature is added to the site) --

Main Category 1: PUBLIC PARKS
-- City, county, State and National Parks in Texas

Can Park name be there?
As I asked before what city is Brazos Bend in? Is Cooper Lake in Cooper, Tx (No not the best part) (Yes I can look it up on another web site) but ease in use would help

herewer · 11-13-2007, 06:34 PM

Good Evening Shannon,

My suggestions would be to group the parks in regions (such as North Central, South, Far West, East etc) so we can look for reviews in our general area. Or, if traveling and going through X region we could look in that region. Most people on these boards know the general area the parks wouth be in. And when we travel outside our usual area, it's nice to know what might be available along the way.

Shannon · 11-14-2007, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Troop198

You note "if I organize it as follows (ignore the "Category #:" notation -- that's just to help make the nesting hierarchy clear, and won't be part of the page titles and such when the feature is added to the site) --

Main Category 1: PUBLIC PARKS
-- City, county, State and National Parks in Texas

Can Park name be there?
As I asked before what city is Brazos Bend in? Is Cooper Lake in Cooper, Tx (No not the best part) (Yes I can look it up on another web site) but ease in use would help

Park name would be the next tier in -- like:
Wild Texas Park Reviews (one click, off any page of WildTexas.com)
* PUBLIC PARKS (one click)
- Brazos Bend State Park (one click to park review for Brazos Bend)
- Buescher State Park (one click to park review for Buescher)
- etc.

I was thinking we wouldn't have cities except as a subset of each park review, eg. "Government Canyon State Natural Area... Location: San Antonio, Texas" but I could probably include it in the link title for those who need it (especially since I bet some RV parks in the same region have the same name.)

Haven't figured out if I can tie it into our park search feature. The best (quickest to implement) way is probably for me just to provide a link to each park review on the park's existing page here on WildTexas.com's Parks section (which means all parks listed will have a page here on WildTexas.com, which isn't the case currently -- we feed off a lot of traffic to TPWD, Corps of Engineers, and local city governments, etc. who have park pages we haven't reviewed yet.)

Make sense or did I just muddy the waters? I'm still under the weather (sinus crud) and didn't sleep much so even re-reading my own writing slowly isn't helping my proofreading ability.

[And sorry, I'm logged in under my master administrator account and don't have time to logoff and repost this under my main, Shannon, account.]

Shannon · 11-14-2007, 03:41 PM

OK, I just read the other suggestion after my previous post. That's probably the fifth time in recent memory someone's requested that I provide a regional diving off point to the parks (like TPWD does, which I presume is why folks are so comfortable with it). I can do it, but the fun comes with parks that are kind of on the edge between regions, since the software isn't going to let me repeat the same park in multiple categories (I don't think.... at least, not without some rewriting.)

Keep the suggestions and questions coming -- it's all very helpful and I'd rather hear dissent now than after I've scraped away the hours required to get this baby online. (Though you're still allowed to complain if there's something wrong, btw! hehe)

Troop198 · 11-14-2007, 03:56 PM

Whats an edge park (example) I know it would take time but seems a park could be listed in two areas, with a sticky link at the top that might say something like more reviews on this park can be found here and (you click there)

And as a famous band once said"And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear You shout and no one seems to hear. And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon."

Shannon · 11-14-2007, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Troop198

Whats an edge park (example) I know it would take time but seems a park could be listed in two areas, with a sticky link at the top that might say something like more reviews on this park can be found here and (you click there)

We're trying to use an automated software to do what, right now, is entirely manual by me (and thus, means updates don't happen frequently). With it automated, you guys can post reviews and the data will likely be more accurate and up-to-date as multiple people will be submitting data on each park.

I just checked TPWD and I guess I differ on their idea of where the Hill Country ends, as they classify parks like Bastrop in the Prairies & Lakes area (DFW being the largest metroplex in that area) of Texas, while to me it's most certainly a Central Texas/Hill Country Park (Austin & San Antonio area). They don't duplicate it in their Hill Country section, however -- TPWD: Hill Country Travel Region

And Colorado Bend, since it's so far north from both San Antonio and Austin, I almost consider in the Prairies & Lakes region yet TPWD puts it in the Hill Country region.

To me, the regions are more confusing than the nearest major city, which is why WildTexas.com has always segmented the parks (in our searches, anyway) that way.

If everyone's clear on TPWD's groupings, I don't mind mimicking them here (and there's no copyright infringement in arranging a list logically), I just seem to have a mental disagreement with how some of the parks are arranged there.

brackwl · 11-15-2007, 02:09 PM

i like it when you put in the closest city. i don't always know the camp name, but at least the area/city i'm going to be by.
For future details...can you put what's going on in the area..music festival, antigue / car shows, First Monday's type stuff....?
That is what usually draws us to the area and then we look for a campspot near by....Thanks.

Shannon · 11-18-2007, 01:22 PM

Thanks for all the feedback, gang. I'll try to incorporate as many of the suggestions and requests as I can into the initial roll-out. Still don't have a time table but I appreciate all the guidance!

Troop198 · 11-19-2007, 07:40 PM

I have thought some more, your quite correct that many of the parks "placings" in the Texas State Parks web site don't make sense. Do some moving unless its just too hard. If you get by a bookstore (and sometimes half price books) Look for "Campers Guide to Texas parks,lakes and forests (its edition 6 now I think) It uses 4 map regions, For example Region 1 is east of 183 to the state line, north of Hwy 84. (Basically goes west to Seymour and Cisco, south to Waco, Fairfield, & Rusk) northern edge is the state line, as is eastern edge.

Hope your feeling better