How to setup an online database?
September 28, 2010 10:56 PM Subscribe
I'd like to set up a stolen photo equipment database. Ideally it would be searchable by brand, serial number, model, date, etc. What would be the best way to go about this for someone without technical expertise? No programming skills, limited html knowledge. Ideas are very welcome.
Sounds like something pretty trivial for just about any web coder to throw together in a couple hours.
posted by jjb at 11:26 PM on September 28, 2010
posted by jjb at 11:26 PM on September 28, 2010
There are tons of software developers who are into photography. I'd venture a guess that it's one of the most popular hobbies for computer geeks at the moment. I don't think you'd have a very hard time finding someone who does have programming skills to partner with you on this idea. For someone who has developed web apps before, this is a pretty simple project.
BTW, I could swear I've seen something like this in the past, but I can't remember where. If you haven't already done so, it's worth looking around to see if it's already been done. That of course doesn't mean you can't do it again, but at least you might learn something from prior efforts, and maybe you'll find some people to work with.
posted by sharding at 11:27 PM on September 28, 2010
BTW, I could swear I've seen something like this in the past, but I can't remember where. If you haven't already done so, it's worth looking around to see if it's already been done. That of course doesn't mean you can't do it again, but at least you might learn something from prior efforts, and maybe you'll find some people to work with.
posted by sharding at 11:27 PM on September 28, 2010
How often are you expecting stuff to be added/removed from this database? There's always the "email me the details, I'll copy & paste them into a new line in the table in vim" approach, which may well be less work overall.
posted by hattifattener at 12:21 AM on September 29, 2010
posted by hattifattener at 12:21 AM on September 29, 2010
hattifattener is bang on. The coding part of this is relatively trivial. What you need to think about is all the other aspects. What will it look like? How will data be managed, from a practical and legal point of view? How will those who have had equipment stolen find the site? How about buyers, who won't necessarily be even thinking about this issue? How will you avoid vandalism, verify reports? And that's just what comes to mind while typing.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 2:02 AM on September 29, 2010
posted by Busy Old Fool at 2:02 AM on September 29, 2010
It's hard to beat photo.net because it is one of the most popular photo sites on the web but it can be improved. Without even a minimum amount of technical expertise you will not be able to match their limited abilities. You will need database skills and MySQL is a basic DB that can be found on many web hosting servers.
An ideal DB would hook up to Google Maps to provide locations. Obviously you won't have to worry about stolen equipment shipped overseas for your average theft. Most fencing takes place locally. Taking it to the next level would automatically check Ebay or Craigslist ads which would flag similar equipment for sale in the surrounding region. But the most important thing is to tie this registry in with as large of a photo community as you can where it would do the most good.
posted by JJ86 at 7:42 AM on September 29, 2010
An ideal DB would hook up to Google Maps to provide locations. Obviously you won't have to worry about stolen equipment shipped overseas for your average theft. Most fencing takes place locally. Taking it to the next level would automatically check Ebay or Craigslist ads which would flag similar equipment for sale in the surrounding region. But the most important thing is to tie this registry in with as large of a photo community as you can where it would do the most good.
posted by JJ86 at 7:42 AM on September 29, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks everyone for the answers. I also found this one:
http://www.iwantmycameraback.com
Busy Old Fool: The idea is to have a site just for victims of theft/robbery in Brazil. Camera shops, service centers, and online forums would be aware of the website and could check the database when suspicious items (without invoices, or incomplete equipment, such as bodies without chargers/cables/manuals) turn up.
This already exists as individual sections in photographic sites, the idea was to have all this information in a central location, something easier to search.
hattifattener: I expect information to be added as often as theft/robberies occur, unfortunately something quite common. I'd have to no problem adding the info myself. What will it look like? A simple page, nothing too fancy, just a list of date/model/serial numbers/contact information. I'd also like to add a description of the occurrence. Was it theft from a parked vehicle? Armed robbery? There are no statistics about this at the moment, and more people could avoid having their equipment stolen if they know how it happens most of the time.
Doing this "by hand" on a table on an html page is something I could do myself, I just thought there might be a simple online solution for a database of sorts that could be adapted for this use.
posted by ig at 8:05 AM on September 29, 2010
http://www.iwantmycameraback.com
Busy Old Fool: The idea is to have a site just for victims of theft/robbery in Brazil. Camera shops, service centers, and online forums would be aware of the website and could check the database when suspicious items (without invoices, or incomplete equipment, such as bodies without chargers/cables/manuals) turn up.
This already exists as individual sections in photographic sites, the idea was to have all this information in a central location, something easier to search.
hattifattener: I expect information to be added as often as theft/robberies occur, unfortunately something quite common. I'd have to no problem adding the info myself. What will it look like? A simple page, nothing too fancy, just a list of date/model/serial numbers/contact information. I'd also like to add a description of the occurrence. Was it theft from a parked vehicle? Armed robbery? There are no statistics about this at the moment, and more people could avoid having their equipment stolen if they know how it happens most of the time.
Doing this "by hand" on a table on an html page is something I could do myself, I just thought there might be a simple online solution for a database of sorts that could be adapted for this use.
posted by ig at 8:05 AM on September 29, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
A system like that is pretty fully featured and you can control most of the layout and navigation through the admin system with no programming or HTML. Critically you can edit the fields that are used for listing items so it's fairly configurable to re-purpose it for your needs.
Unfortunately while that will take you 90% of the way there I do not think you can really do this with zero skills. You can have a bash and it might be grand, but it seems likely you're going to need to gain or hire some PHP skills.
posted by DarlingBri at 11:22 PM on September 28, 2010