Ziptastic: Isn't a zipcode enough?
daspecster.github.com
Ziptastic: Isn't a zipcode enough?
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Re: Ziptastic: Isn't a zipcode enough?
#2Unfortunately in some cases a zipcode is in fact not enough, as it's possible for a zipcode to spread across multiple towns. However, if you have a full 9 digit zipcode then you can in fact always determine. However, even if you can't always determine this information exactly, a zipcode should be enough to pre-populate these fields for you most of the time, and in those rare cases which they don't a choice can be presented of only those qualifying choices.
The USPS has a pretty decent API that should allow this relatively easily.
Re: Ziptastic: Isn't a zipcode enough?
#3Just as a note, I know that for e-commerce shopping cart forms, we specifically force users to enter their address information and zip code.
No matter what you think, users aren't paying attention to what they enter in the forms. Forcing them to enter their address and zipcode allows you to do a cross check to make sure they entered everything correctly.
You may find it annoying, but when it prevents people from ordering items to the wrong address, it's a pretty useful extra field.
Re: Ziptastic: Isn't a zipcode enough?
#4Unfortunately in some cases a zipcode is in fact not enough, as it's possible for a zipcode to spread across multiple towns. However, if you have a full 9 digit zipcode then you can in fact always determine. However, even if you can't always determine this information exactly, a zipcode should be enough to pre-populate these fields for you most of the time, and in those rare cases which they don't a choice can be pre…
Thanks! I will be looking into this more. I'm aware of the 9digit zipcodes. I'll look into the USPS API. Also, I'll address the other comment below. That might answer some questions.
Re: Ziptastic: Isn't a zipcode enough?
#5Just as a note, I know that for e-commerce shopping cart forms, we specifically force users to enter their address information and zip code. No matter what you think, users aren't paying attention to what they enter in the forms. Forcing them to enter their address and zipcode allows you to do a cross check to make sure they entered everything correctly. You may find it annoying, but when it prevents people from orde…
Totally agree! The jQuery plugin that I started working on will actually just populate those fields in the form so they can be changed after the fact.
Feel free to contribute! https://github.com/daspecster/ziptastic-jquery-plugin
Re: Ziptastic: Isn't a zipcode enough?
#6The problem with this service and smaller services like it is that they are very likely to go offline with no warning.
Re: Ziptastic: Isn't a zipcode enough?
#7I'm actually impressed it came back with my correct information. On major websites including Target.com, they do not see my zip code as valid even though it's close to a decade old. Sure, it's knew in the grand scheme of things but that's crazy...
Anyway, I agree with the others that while this is nifty it won't always be accurate for everyone. For instance my township is contained within a very, very large county so typically mail is addressed to the specific township rather than the county. I do not know how or if that could even make a difference but our local post office has suggested it.
Overall pretty interesting idea. I think using this plus a way for users to validate the information found it could be useful. The only thing I would be wary of is the website is technically sending a third party the user's information. Your service could then build up information regarding a website's typical customer. Probably not something to worry about but I know most of the places I've worked at they WOULD NOT allow this; they downloaded their own offline zipcode lookups.
EDIT: Perhaps a way to download and get offline updates would be helpful especially if your website went down.
Re: Ziptastic: Isn't a zipcode enough?
#8I'm actually impressed it came back with my correct information. On major websites including Target.com, they do not see my zip code as valid even though it's close to a decade old. Sure, it's knew in the grand scheme of things but that's crazy... Anyway, I agree with the others that while this is nifty it won't always be accurate for everyone. For instance my township is contained within a very, very large county so…
My understanding is the whole point of a zipcode is that city and state on a mailer don't matter at all. Doesn't zipcode go to a specific post office?
Re: Ziptastic: Isn't a zipcode enough?
#9The problem with this service and smaller services like it is that they are very likely to go offline with no warning.
Well, one nice thing is that you can fork it on github and setup your own API server. My main goal is to change how forms on the internet are filled out and to reduce the barrier of entry for people trying to give company/people money or information.
Re: Ziptastic: Isn't a zipcode enough?
#10I'm actually impressed it came back with my correct information. On major websites including Target.com, they do not see my zip code as valid even though it's close to a decade old. Sure, it's knew in the grand scheme of things but that's crazy... Anyway, I agree with the others that while this is nifty it won't always be accurate for everyone. For instance my township is contained within a very, very large county so…
My understanding is the whole point of a zipcode is that city and state on a mailer don't matter at all. Doesn't zipcode go to a specific post office?
That is my understanding as well. The person at our local post office recommended putting the township but wasn't aware of exactly why.
My suspicion is that it doesn't matter one bit but I don't know anything about the USPS system.