How should I get location information in a website or mobile device?

Question

I've created a website that stores location information for certain places: for example, basketball courts.

I'm looking for a way to allow users to add location information (to the exact GPS coordinates) that is easy to use. I currently offer two choices:

1. Enter address and have Google search it and place it on a map
2. Use my current GPS coordinates

Problem with 1. is that you can't expect people to know the street addresses of... anything basically. Most people only know the address of their home and maybe their work.

Obviously 2. fails if you aren't at the location you are adding.

Is there any standard or common way to do this?

Answer 1

You could offer a third option - the user could put a pin on a map. I know where my local basketball court is and could place it on a map, this way I do not have to know the address.

Answer 2

Good question! If there is a standard way to do this I don't really know, but we can always look at the way popular LBS does it.

Foursquare, Gowalla (closed recently) and Facebook all use the same solution to this problem: both no 1 and no 2. Either you find the location using GPS or search for the name of the place (not the address though). If the place you searched for isn't there, you have the option to add it. On Foursquare you can add places using a mobile device or a web browser on a computer, regardless of your current location.

My suggestion is to store a place with name, address and GPS position allowing users adding locations they are not currently at. Name should be required and either address or GPS position required. Adding a place where you don't know the address or GPS position would not be possible in this setup. However, having this constraint would keep your system more clean from places which are not real locations.

Don't forget to enable users to edit the location as well.