Hey everyone! I wanted to create a free "directory-type" listing application, but I'm just not sure what would be the best way to go about it in terms of which plugins I could potentially use. Simply put, I'm asking physical and health education teachers around the world to fill out a Google Docs Form so that I can create a directory listing of these teachers and categorize them in multiple ways (at least by A-Z, by country, & by level [elementary, secondary, college/university]). Any ideas? :) Thanks in advance! Nicholas

Hi Nicholas, This screams mySQL database to me. Have these people fill out a form that then submits the information to a database. Once you have it in there, you can do tons of different queries on the data. That also minimizes the tie to Google, which I'm sure would make Apple happy (unless you're just doing an Android app). Mark

Hey Mark, Thanks for the quick response. I'm not very familiar with mySQL - how does it work? Also, how would I incorporate the results into an app (i.e. which plugins?). I'm looking into making an iOS app first and go from there. I was thinking that the "lazy man's" solution (which actually might just be more work), would be to have each contact as a PDF document (or whatever document works best) as a contact list. I was looking into MrDavid's Contact Card plugin, but from my understanding, this does not allow for one to put a pre-configured list of contacts for app users to download. Thanks again! Nicholas

Hi Nicholas, For the database option, you essentially have to set up a mySQL database on your web server. That should be pretty easy, and your host probably has a control panel option for that. Then you would create scripts, likely in php, to add and query content of the database. It's a bit advanced, but nowhere as near complicated as it seems. On the buzztouch end, you could use a custom URL, and send a very specific query to the database, or perhaps an HTML screen where you have the option to create a query through various menus. Lots of options. I've done both in my apps. I unfortunately don't have any experience with MrDavid's plugin yet. Are all these directory items going to be contact information only? Mark

Hmm... lots to think about! Some of the info that will be included for each contact = name, Twitter handle, country, state/territory/province, city, school name, level (elementary/high school/college or university, and perhaps email as well. However, these fields will not be required beyond the contact's name, but most will likely fill out the other fields as well. I like the possibilities with mySQL database; however, I'd like to try and keep it "purely" Buzztouch material. I'm also guessing that mySQL would be a paid service and I don't want to invest any money in this "free" project. In this respect, PDF documents with these fields may just do the trick, especially for a Free app with no advertising whatsoever. Thanks again for stirring up possibilities for me! Nicholas

Hi Nicholas, If you have a web provider already, it's probably free. If you don't, there are free ones out there, that include databases. But, of course, you get what you pay for! ;-) Let me know how it works out! I might be able to use whatever you come up with in the future. Mark

MySQL is an open source SQL Database, no charge! Cheers! -- Smug

By using a JSON-like data file, you could code-up a pseudo-database with Dictionaries for iOS. Now don't be scared ... yet! Take a read through this article, then take a few moments to collect your thoughts. One step at a time. http://www.cimgf.com/2013/02/05/querying-objective-c-data-collections/ -- Niraj

Very interesting, Niraj! I'm still processing what I've read, but it could be a very interesting solution for a common problem. Thanks! Mark