[wp-meta] [Making WordPress.org] #3476: Kilometers range for the nearest meetup

[Making WordPress.org]

#3476: Kilometers range for the nearest meetup
--------------------------------------+------------------
 Reporter:  Mte90                     |       Owner:
     Type:  enhancement               |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal                    |   Milestone:
Component:  API                       |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  2nd-opinion needs-design  |
--------------------------------------+------------------
Changes (by iandunn):

 * keywords:  2nd-opinion => 2nd-opinion needs-design
 * type:  defect => enhancement


Comment:

 Related #wp41442, #2998

 I like some of the ideas above, and they may be helpful for other
 situations, but I'm not sure the situation in this specific ticket is
 actually a problem. The Verona meetup will appear in the list a full week
 before it occurs.

 I think it’s important to keep in mind that the original purpose of this
 widget wasn't to help insiders like us keep track of 100% of the events
 that we’re interested in; it was to introduce new people to their local WP
 community, when they otherwise wouldn't hear about it.

 For people who are already aware of it, the widget can tangentially serve
 as a helpful reminder, but there are other means of keeping track of the
 local community, which will always be more effective, like subscribing to
 email notifications for the meetup.com group.

 There are so many competing preferences and circumstances that we're
 already trying to balance, and I'm leery of making things more
 complicated.

 ----

 Having said that, I do think it's valuable and important to make the
 results more ''relevant'' when we have practical options for doing that.

 > Reduce the radius

 If we did this unconditionally, I think that'd have the unintended side-
 effect of leaving some users with no results found in their area, even
 though there are still some within driving distance. The `100km` / `400km`
 values were chosen based on how how far the average attendee would be
 willing to drive, so I think it makes sense to keep them close to that
 practical guideline.

 Obviously there are lots of situations where that breaks down -- what
 about people who bike or bus instead of drive? What about cities where it
 takes an hour to travel 5k by car? etc -- but I'm leery of introducing
 more complexity.

 We could do it with some conditions, but that'd increase the complexity.

 > Query by square radius, then apply a circle radius on the results to
 limit it to 100km

 I like this, because it actually makes the results more accurate to the
 intended `100k` / `400k` radius, and we often get feedback about some
 events being too far away. It also seems like it'd be a relatively simple
 API-side change.


 > Order by distance then date - I don't believe this would have the
 intended effect for many locations, especially when GeoIP was used for a
 location rather than a entered location

 I think it'd also make the widget less intuitive and useful. I think
 people expect to see the events sorted chronologically, and silently
 changing that would probably cause people to miss events.


 > Display at least 3 events, showing all events happening in the next ~10
 days

 I like this idea too, but I think it might be good to cap the total number
 at 5 or 6, to avoid cluttering the UI. I'd also like to get some design-
 feedback on that.

 Pairing this with the circle-radius refinement seems like it would
 compound the effectiveness.


 > Increase the number of events which can be shown - Setting this per-
 locale wouldn't be out of the question IMHO.

 I don't like the idea of doing anything per-locale, because that adds a
 maintenance burden to keep those up to date, and things can change
 somewhat frequently, as different communities grow, shrink, and change.
 [https://central.wordcamp.org/reports/meetup-groups-report/?report-
 year=2018&period=2&action=Show+results We're coming up on 600 meetup
 groups] in the chapter program, which could result in a lot time spent
 tweaking per-locale settings as people report issues. I can also imagine
 different people in the same group wanting different settings based on
 their personal preferences.

--
Ticket URL: <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/3476#comment:4>
Making WordPress.org <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/>
Making WordPress.org