The Official RateAJohn.com Blog

Project Abandoned

2009-04-04T08:25:00.003-05:00

I hate to do this, but I pulled the plug on RateAJohn last night. I'd love to continue the project, but other things to do took priority over it. If anyone wants to buy the domain, let me know. Right now it points to my wife's updated justkeepingbusy.com project.

I've Not Given Up

2008-08-10T08:01:00.000-05:00

I have 100 other projects I need to complete before I can do more work on RateAJohn. I'll post more as soon as I get back into development.

Still Working

2008-06-21T10:19:00.002-05:00

I haven't forgotten about RateAJohn.com. I've been working on some other projects and I'm trying to get some more testing done.

My brother travels quite a bit and I've asked him to play around on the site and let me know his opinions. Up to now he hasn't done any ratings. He called me yesterday to let me know an amateur comedian friend of his was going to do a routine in his act about RateAJohn. I am, of course, flattered; but, the site's no where near being "ready for prime time."

I asked bro why he hasn't tested it up to now. He told me he doesn't like the way it looks and he's waiting until I dress it up a bit. I had to explain to him that we're still testing the programming and, although I have an artist mulling over concepts for me I'm not going to pay him for real work until I know the site is really ready for the public.

I'm hoping, now, that he'll start putting in some ratings. Perhaps his comedian friend will generate a little buzz about the site and get some more testers in there.

In the meantime, I'm still working on some other projects which have forced me to put RateAJohn on the back burner for a time. I'm hoping I'll have those projects wrapped up soon and I can get going on this site again.

Updating The Look

2008-04-28T06:23:00.002-05:00

I've been working on some large projects at my day job and also working on a couple sites for others, so I've had to let RateAJohn rest for a while. In the meantime, I've gotten some great suggestions which I have started to implemented.

I'm also working a bit on the appearance of the site. I'm not an expert in Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) by any means, so it's also a learning experience. I have a certain look in mind for the ratings display and I'm working towards that look right now. Things are going to change here and there in the next days, but the site will function just as before.

I would still like some testers. Please feel free to sign up and rate some johns and let me know how your experience was.

New Features Coming

2008-03-15T09:57:00.003-05:00

My wife is quite the web-savvy gal. She's been going over the interface and came up with some great ideas.

Unfortunately, I have to finish her web site before I can start working on RateAJohn again.

Please keep testing and send in your comments and suggestions, too.

Does There Have to Be A Law?

2008-03-15T09:52:00.002-05:00

Florida Bill Would Require Restrooms to Have Toilet Paper at All Times

Maybe I'm just naive, but does there have to be a law requiring restaurants to keep up their rest rooms?

I guess there must be. If all places kept up their rest rooms, there'd be no need to a site like RateAJohn.com.

Having inspectors check out rest rooms isn't a bad idea. They're going to be in the place inspecting the rest of the place, why not have them check the rest rooms?

New Categories Added

2008-02-17T07:47:00.002-06:00

I added "mall" and "government building" to the establishment list. I pondered the idea of adding "hospital," but as I thought about it I felt hospitals weren't really "public" buildings in the sense of full public access like other types of places. If someone can give me a compelling reason to add "hospital" I will certainly consider it again.

Bug Fixed - Other Adjustments

2008-01-27T13:02:00.000-06:00

I fixed the data validation bug. I guess it's not really a bug, since it was working as intended. No matter - it's fixed and entries are now flowing in properly.

I added two new categories based on some suggestions: Amusement Park and Tourist Attraction.

Things are running smoothly now. I'm going to let it percolate for a week or so before I make any more changes.

Site Bug

2008-01-21T10:43:00.000-06:00

OK - I made a big mistake.

Yesterday, I updated the rating entry page to use different data types for some of the entry boxes. I had a very bad headache, so I didn't test the entry as thoroughly as I should have. The entry pages now doesn't work because the data validation won't let the entry go though.

I know exactly what I need to do to fix it and it will only take me a few minutes to do so. Unfortunately, I'm not home and the source code is on the computer at home. I won't be able to fix it until Saturday when we get back.

On the plus side: at least I know the data validation works.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

2 Fixes

2008-01-19T09:11:00.001-06:00

I updated the site with 2 fixes today:

I set the date boxes on the "Enter Ratings" page to default to the current date. I don't know why I didn't do that in the first round. It's such a convenience. I also took 2007 off since we're past it.
I also changed the "Search Establishments" in the rating pages to show an error if an establishment type is not selected. For right now, you don't have to enter any data in the boxes nor select a state to see a list of establishments. But, you must select an establishment category. As things progress I do plan to make the search a little tighter and add a paging feature. I don't think anyone will want to scroll through hundreds of entries to find one particular place.

As I mentioned in my last post, my goal is to have 100 registered raters before declaring this part of the test complete. In the meantime, I will still add features on such as the "Email if someone else rates this john" function. Of course, I will also fix any bugs anyone finds - so please post here if you find any.

We leave on our trip in two days. If you see one of my cards, let me know.

Enter Establishments Updated

2008-01-15T20:51:00.000-06:00

I updated the "Enter Establishments" page to work just like the search page. I like the new layout and I think it's more intuitive.

I had a real hard time getting my files to upload yesterday. That's why the site was down half the day. I don't know where the problem was, but it took me at least 12 tries to get the updated files and binaries copied over. I haven't had any trouble with my host, GoDaddy. I very much hope that was an isolated, though very frustrating, incident.

I'm going to let it set for a while and see how many tests I can get. I'd really like to get at least 100 registered users doing tests before I declare the site "ready."

Please feel free to post any feedback.

Another Update

2008-01-12T10:41:00.001-06:00

My wife suggested changing the layout of the "Search Ratings" page to make it a little easier to follow. She had some great suggestions, which I used to redo the page a bit:

Put the category and country selections first
Added some instructions
Fixed the "Search" button - it disappeared after the search
It was supposed to stay so another search can be done.

I also added a blurb on the "Enter Establishment" page explaining the reason for the complete address and zip/postal code requirement. I think I will mix up the boxes to make the layout similar to the "Search" page.

We're not getting many tests in. My wife and I are taking a trip to California in a week. I'm going to make some cards out of business card stock we have and make some "Rate This John" cards to leave in the restrooms of the places we visit. Perhaps that will get the word out and get us some ratings.

List Fixed - Artwork Coming

2008-01-06T18:30:00.000-06:00

I fixed the categories list so it is in alphabetical order. That will make it much easier to use.

Today, I spoke with the person I asked to do the artwork for me. We're going to meet this week to go over ideas and get things rolling in that area.

The person whom I've asked is a car painter by trade. He does fantastic air brush art on cars, trucks, golf carts, and motorcycles (helmets, too). This is his first foray into the world of web art, but I think he'll do a great job. He's very, very creative, has some great ideas, and he has a great sense of humor. This might even be a new branch of business for him.

He'll most likely do his work on paper, which I'll scan into electronic format. That means I need to replace the scanner we have which blew up a few weeks ago. I'd better start pricing them now ...

More Updates

2008-01-04T18:23:00.000-06:00

I just noticed that the drop-down list with the categories is not in alphabetical order. I need to fix that in my next round of code monkeying.

I added "Casino" and "Arena/Stadium" to the list of categories. If you think of any more categories, please pass them along for consideration.

I need to work on a project for my "real" job and some stuff for my wife this weekend, so it'll probably be a few days before I can get anything else going.

My next goal is to get the "Email me when someone else rates this john" feature working. After that, it'll probably be account admin for registered users and then probably a rebuttal feature where owners and managers of establishments can post their opinions on your opinions.

My hope is that those who run places with nasty johns will clean and/or fix them up and not just make excuses why their place is a mess. We'll have to see how that pans out.

Site Updated Based on Suggestions Already Received

2007-12-31T19:36:00.000-06:00

I finished the changes and posted the latest version of the site based on both the suggestions from "D" and "G" and my lovely wife who found quite a few typos.

Thanks for my cousin "D" (a different "D") who posted the first "real" entry. If we ever get famous there's definitely a t-shirt in it for you.

Early Feedback

2007-12-26T22:06:00.000-06:00

I got some feedback from one of our charter members. She also gave me a couple of good suggestions:

Don't make a name (or part of a name) mandatory to search. Let folks search on whatever criteria they want. That is an excellent suggestion.
Add a category list to add when entering an establishment. Also, an excellent suggestion. This will allow for searches on "restaurants" or "bars" or "clubs" or whatever.

Thanks to "D" and "G" for those suggestions and the other feedback. I plan to work on those features and hope to have them up and running in a couple of days. Stay tuned for more ...

Testing Begins

2007-12-26T06:28:00.000-06:00

The site is up and running for testing. Here's how it works:

Go to http://www.rateajohn.com and sign up for a free membership
If you go out somewhere and use the facilities, make note of the condition of the place
Log into the site and rate the different parts of the rest room using a scale from 1 to 5. 1 is very bad, and 5 is very good.
Go back to step 2 for other places you visit.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

A full address to include zip code is required for any establishment you rate. This is to keep the database from having a place entered numerous times. If you don't know it, google it (there's a handy Google search box and the bottom of each page in the site).
The site doesn't look like much. Once I'm sure the site is "ready for prime time" I will hire someone to do some graphics for me.
You must log in with your free membership to rate a rest room. You don't need to log in to search and view ratings.
Ratings should only be entered for restrooms in public establishments. This ain't the place to rate your friends' or neighbors' places. It's not for private clubs, either.
This is a test and there are some functions which don't work (like the "email me if someone else rates this john" feature).
If you do get an error which doesn't mention an email to the boss, please copy and paste the entire message to me at errors <.at> rateajohncom. That will help me troubleshoot problems quickly.
Give me some feedback. Let me know what you like and don't like. If you can't figure out how to use it, let me know that, too. If you think it's great, let me know.
Please feel free to tell others about this. The more testers the better the testing.

Getting Ready for Beta

2007-12-19T06:46:00.000-06:00

I just about have the site ready for beta testing. I want to put some good error handling pieces in the code so I can monitor problems which may come up.

I hope to have the site ready by December 31st. Once that's done, I will send out invites for folks to join as charter members. If you happened to stumble across this blog and wish to join, stay tuned. Once I open it up anyone can join.

Not Quite Ready For Beta

2007-12-04T07:08:00.000-06:00

I've been working on the user interface, and I think I've got that just about completed. I'm also working on the background processes which will make the site come alive.

I ran into a couple of hurdles which I'll need to negotiate before the site can go out into beta. With my schedule the way it is, I can't predict when that will be. I had once set Thanksgiving as my deadline, but that's slid into December already. Perhaps before the end of the year I can at least have it ready for charter members to join and put the site through its paces.

I haven't thought too much about art work for the site. I do have a notion to commission a great artist I know to do the artwork. He specializes in airbrush art and does a lot of custom work on cars, trucks, motorcycle tanks and helmets. He's very talented and has a good sense of humor. But, I'm not going to ask him to work on anything until the site's up in beta.

Stay tuned ...

Why Are We Doing This?

2007-12-04T07:04:00.000-06:00

There is a story about a businessman who traveled back and forth across the U.S. Each time he went to a new restaurant, the first thing he did was check out the men's room. If the men's room was clean, he'd eat there. If it wasn't, he left. His idea was simply to ask himself: "If the restroom isn't kept up, what must the kitchen look like?"

I eat in restaurants just like everyone else. There are those restaurants which have restrooms which are just plain nasty. Like the businessman in the story, I wonder what else the management of the place doesn't take care of. Many people I've dined with have asked, "why isn't there a web site where someone can warn others about the nasty restrooms in this place?" That is the reason for RateAJohn.com - to let people know about restrooms in public places, either good or bad. It's also a way to, perhaps, get the management of places with nasty restrooms to realize that not keeping them up is bad for business.

I admit, I am a bit of a "germophobe." I guess one would have to be in order to care much about this kind of thing. Still, this is a great project for me to work on my coding skills and to have a little fun.