Go club search widget now customizable and available in multiple languages

The PromoteGo.org Go club search is now customizable. You can change all the colors and fonts, as well as the size of the widget, so it will now blend in well with your blog or web site. It also detects the language of the user, or alternatively you can set the language on the customization page so that it shows the same language for all users. It's available in English, Swedish, Japanese, Portuguese, and German. Please contact me through the web site if you're able to provide translations for another language. I'd especially like to have French and Spanish translations! Here's what the widget looks like by default: You can see the widget and customize it for your web site here: Custom go Club search widget

PromoteGo.org now has Go club listings in 17 countries!

As of this morning, PromoteGo.org has Go club listings in 17 countries! Many thanks to all of you who have entered information about Go clubs you know. While you can manage your club's information directly on the site, I've also built importers for the American Go Association club listing, which has not yet moved to PromoteGo.org, and the British Go Association club listing. Next I'll be working on an hCard importer that will allow us to import listings from anywhere as long as the Go club listing is marked up with the hCard microformat. PromoteGo.org is gaining momentum, but I still need your help! I need dedicated developers, designers, and testers, and I also need advocates to reach out to the Go community and encourage them to embrace the site, link to the site, and use tools like the search widget to help people find clubs in their area.

PromoteGo.org search widget released!

Today I'm proud to announce the PromoteGo.org search widget! You can see it on this site's left column today. It's just a line of javascript that you can include in your blog or web page and you'll get a simple form in the page where you placed the javascript. Your visitors can then enter their zip code or address directly into the form and get a list of known go clubs near their address. You can find full instructions on the Promote Go search widget page. Right now the widget is very simple, but if you find any problems and you'd like to use it, please drop me a line!

PromoteGo.org open for new club listings

I've finished up the basic functionality to take in new club listings. This took a while because I also needed to add the ability to pull in new AGA listings with duplicate detection. As a club listing site, PromoteGo.org aims to be fill out the capability of the AGA chapter listing site with helpful features like:

• Geographic radius search
• Google maps directions
• Email obfuscation to protect addresses from spam
• Display search results on map
• Ability for you to manage your own club info

I also plan to add features for seeding new clubs: When there are no clubs within your search radius, one of your options will be to sign up to hear about new clubs in your area. Then, when a new club opens near you, you'll automatically be notified. Also, users will be notified if they want when people near them express an interest in forming a new club. The last major feature, and my original idea for the site, will be to help people arrange games to play in person. If we can move a fraction of Go games from clubs and online venues into public places like coffee houses, pubs, and parks, we'll raise awareness of the game dramatically. If you're a club owner and your club is listed on the AGA site, please try to find your Go club, or send me a note (my contact info is on the site) and try updating your club information. Most clubs don't have addresses on the AGA site, so we could really use that data to improve the quality of the search! If you're a web developer and you're interested in helping me out (the site is 100% open source), drop me a line! Promote Go in Your Community

PromoteGo.org moving forward

I've completed state listings and search result mappings on PromoteGo.org. I'm still looking for help to move the site along a little bit faster. The site is all about helping people to promote Go in their communities. You can see the current implementation at http://promotego.org/. Currently I'm planning three phases: Phase 1, already underway, is a better club listing with a map interface to help people add and edit their own clubs, and to help people find the closest club to them. Many people have already used it to discover clubs near them that they didn't know about. I've been working with Steve Colburn of the AGA to get this to a point where they can use it as the main listing tool. Phase 2 will be adding notifications for users to let them know when a new club opens near them, or when people near them register an interest to start a club. This is all about helping people who want to form new Go clubs. Phase 3 will be providing a way for players to arrange games to play in person. I want to promote Go by encouraging and enabling people to play in their local coffee houses, pubs, parks, etc. I really need help to make this work. The site is built using Ruby on Rails, which I use professionally in my day job as a software developer for YellowPages.com, but there are lots of ways you can help even if you don't write code. Please contact me through this site or join the Google Code project at http://code.google.com/p/promotego/ if you're interested in helping!