Cleaning Up the Clutter!!!!

[Haunted Illinois]

Sorry to say, but after all this grand effort, there will still be out-of-date info in the directory. Unless the functionality of this directory changes to erase old content every year, your efforts will be fruitless. Out-of-date info will continue to exist and you will have to repeat this exercise every year.

Why not just reset the directory, so you can be sure the information listed is valid?. .

[drfrightner]

Adam,

I can not do that. However I am going to have someone go through page by page link by link and delete anything that doesn't have an active website.

It takes a lot of work to create a profile, and do all that work, so I do not want to delete something just because a few here and there are no longer around. Again you personally follow haunts in your state, can you give me a list of ones you know are no longer around?

I can clean up your state quickly!

Larry

[Greg Chrise]

In Texas

Screams in Waxahachie is on there twice
Tyler Jaycees is on there twice.

I know of some I will get to list theirs.

[Jim Warfield]

Could a double listing mean that house is twice as good? Sure.
Sort of like a machine gun like stutter makes someone a much more effective speaker.
Today an old man told me life is like toilet paper, the more that passes by, the faster it goes...and then we get mess on our old, palsied hands!

[JamBam]

Inactive option?/

Larry,
Could your programmer set up the list to make a listing inactive and not show up?? You could make all inactive on the date you set for the paid listings and banners.
Then the reminder emails would prompt everyone to go to the site and reactivate/update their listing. They could then be prompted to uncheck the box that would activate the listing again. Kind of like the box to check if someone doesn't have a website url.

The check box could also allow a listing to deactivate themselves as well.

[graystone]

All Good!

Good Suggestions surly theres something that can be done there are some good suggestions here I am sure Larry will check into them. Again there are many states still out of date and it takes someone in your state to step up to the plate and help Larry remember this will only benefit you in your state if the old haunts are clered off. Larry thanks for working on this with us!!!! Shane Graystone Manor!!!!!

[graystone]

Larry...

Update heard from a couple of more.
Deatsville Trail of Terror ( gone)
The Terror House ( no contact, no directions, no active sight, no info at all)
There is 3 left I have not heard from and Alabama will be all cleaned up thanks Larry everyone who has helped and again Larry will help if someone steps up and works on their state.

[Haunted Illinois]

Larry,

First of all, let me get this out of the way. I don't agree with one of the Illinois Featured Banners you have. In the Illinois section directly underneath a header that clearly states "Haunted Houses And Halloween Attractions in Illinois" is a Featured Banner for "The Burial Chamber" in Neenah Wisconsin. Yes, it is a bordering state and if this event were located closer to the Illinois border (like your St. Louis events), I wouldn't complain, but The Burial Chamber is not only in another state, but it is 152 miles North of the Illinois border(~3 hour drive). Your normal average haunt-goer isn't going to drive that far to see an event, especially when it is in another state. Isn't it a stretch allowing them to have a banner in the Illinois section of the directory, when they are so far away from the border??? I know it is your website and you can run it how you want to, but allowing haunts to buy featured banners from other states they aren't even in just takes away from the advertising options of good Illinois attractions. Besides, it is confusing to visitors of your site who see the header and assume all the events are located in Illinois, when they are, in fact, not.

:: steps down off my soap box ::

Anyway, on with the HauntWorld directory feedback.

When you arrive in the Illinois section of the directory and click on the "Find more haunts in illinois - Click Here" button at the bottom of the page, the next page you arrive at still has a "Creatures Crypt" banner in the featured section. Also in that featured haunt grouping is a Reapers Realm banner. They will still be in business this year, but I wanted to point out that it has "2007" on their banner.

I also found a lot of duplicates in the directory and other event listings that need attention.

Same event listed two times:
Sweet Dreams in Alsip
Sweet Dreams Haunted House in Alsip

Same event listed four times:
Ashmore Estates in Ashmore
Ashmore Estates in Ashmore
The Graveyard Shift in Ashmore
Undertakers Laboratories in Ashmore >>> their most recent listing (2007)

Same event listed two times:
Annie's Frightmare in Barrington
Annie's Frightmare in Barrington

Same event listed two times:
Trails of Terror 2007 in Chicago
Trails of Terror 2007 in Chicago

Same event listed two times:
Elgin Turners Haunted Hall in Elgin
Elgin Turners Haunted Hall in Elgin

Same event listed two times:
Nightmare on Fairgrounds Road in Princeton
Nightmare on Fairgrounds Road in Princeton

Same event listed three times:
Fear Factory in Rantoul
Fear Factory Haunted House in Rantoul
Fear Factory Haunted House in Rantoul

Same event listed two times:
Trail of Terror in Streamwood
Trail of Terror in Streamwood

Same event listed two times:
Eleventh Hour in Elk Grove Village <<< Most recent listing (2007)
Eleventh Hour in Elmhurst


Frightmare 2007: A Visit to Camp Frightmare in Burbank <<< This event will be open in 2008, but there is 2007 in the title

Fear Fair 2007 in Lincoln <<< This event will be open in 2008, but there is 2007 in the title

Trail of Screams in Rockford <<< Please delete. 2007 was their last year in operation at that location.

Trail of Screams...The Second Coming in Stillman Valley <<< DO NOT DELETE. Although it has a similar name to the haunt above, they are still in business

I hope this helps, but please consider this. If the HauntWorld directory doesn't undergo a large functionality makeover, we're all going to have to continue this "scrubbing" activity every single year. And doing this doesn't guarantee that the information is current. It will always be at least one year old, if haunt owners don't update their info.

[shawnc]

I think that last sentence is the key

The haunt owners have to take an active role in updating their info. While I don't like the idea of just dumping everyone right after Halloween and making them start over, they need to be responsible for keeping their info on all sites current. It is a free listing, after all, so how can anyone complain about being made to stay current? I have done a lot of website work and there are limits on what you can do. I think a lot of people watch too many high tech movies.

[beardedbil]

Haunts to be removed from NEW YORK:

The Haunted Castle in Chester - States on their website they will not be having a haunted house any longer.

Terror Field presents: The Inferno's Gate in Seneca Falls - Website is no longer functional.

Haunted Seance in Halfmoon - Website no longer functional.

Norfolk Haunted Manor in Norfolk - Website no longer functional, dates are from 2006.

Terror Mansion in Massena - Website no longer functional.

Chiller on Schiller in Buffalo - Website gone.

The Haunted Woods in Holtsville - Website gone.

Yaphank's Tales of the Haunted Forest in Yaphank - Website gone, and is a double post.

Seneca Falls Haunted House in Seneca Falls - Website says they are closed for good.

Halloween Magic & Mayhem in New Windsor - Was a one night event in 2005, no longer updated.

Halloween Magic & Mayhem in South Fallsburg - Was a one night event in 2005, no longer updated.

Blood Creek Manor in Sandy Creek - Website gone and expired.

Andrea's Haunted House in West Islip - Website gone.

Bronx House of Screaming Terror in Bronx, New York - Website has nothing to do with a haunted house.


Things to be Fixed in NEW YORK:
Yaphank's Tales of the Haunted Forest - Link does not work correctly.

Nightmare Manor in Spencerport - Link does not work correctly.

Haunted Farm & Maze in Medina and www.medinastonefarm.com in Medina are the same event, its posted twice under two different headlines.

North Babylon Fire Department in North Babylon - Link does not work correctly.

House of Dracula in Mt Vernon and House of Dracula in Mount Vernon - are the same event and is double posted under two different headlines, also link needs to be fixed.

Hope this helps a little bit.
-Bill

[drfrightner]

OKay I think I fixed everything in New York and Illinois.

Any other states?

Larry

[SSP]

This is an incredibly tough subject. The problem with this industry is that haunts appear and disappear at a rapid pace, so the constant manual checking would be cumbersome every year. Plus, the listing being a free service has it's downsides as well, obviously not for anyone on it but for Mr. Kirchner. This goes for any service or product - if it is given for free, interest and responsibility disappears the second it is no longer needed. Sure haunt owners should take responsibility and delete listings (as I had to do for a CT haunt, since I was still receiving e-mails from customers even after updating the website to clearly state it no longer existed) but we should understand this, some (or most) of the haunts that end ended for a reason, whether it be a lack of success or a lack of seriousness taken in the business itself. I've seen some listings representing yard haunts that never even existed in the first place, so if the guy doesn't even feel like actually assembling the attraction he listed there is no way he is going to take responsibility and fix this mess.

Such is this industry, any crazy drunk can sit around and think "Lets scare some little bastards", but us, the proud and the few, take it seriously enough to make a legitimate business venture out of the situation while still being able to sit back and say "Lets scare some little bastards".

I'm sure there's a simple (but hard to discover) solution to this, and Larry I commend you for putting up with this and working it out.

[graystone]

Ok Haunters

I cant stress this enough!!!!! If you want to make sure you dont get lost in the haunts thats no longer in business you got to tell Larry and help him out. This will only ensure you get extra business and your haunts will recieve the best exposure. What had you rather have 50 haunts listed and only 15 actually still in business? or have 20 haunts listed and all up and running? Come on there are many states lets work with Larry on this one and get your state cleaned up to the most up to date and active haunts out there! Shane Graystone Manor

[shawnc]

California

I have begun going through the California list and will let you know what I find. After that, I can work my way east.

[Haunted Illinois]

This whole thing is just absurd. Why should people all around the country be obligated to scrub the HauntWorld.com Haunt Directory for valid listings? Especially if they have to do it every year.

As a web developer, I know that resetting a database is EASY. One simple command will do it. I do it every year, so it’s no big deal.

Adam,

I can not do that. However I am going to have someone go through page by page link by link and delete anything that doesn't have an active website.

It takes a lot of work to create a profile, and do all that work, so I do not want to delete something just because a few here and there are no longer around. Again you personally follow haunts in your state, can you give me a list of ones you know are no longer around?

I can clean up your state quickly!

Larry

That is absolute horse hockey that you can’t reset the event listings. I know better. If the user accounts are what you are worried about losing, just reset the listings without erasing the accounts. Even if it the account information and the event listing info is all in the same database table (doubtful), add a flag that can be toggled on and off. If a listing hasn’t been edited in “X” number of months, just set the flag so the listing won’t be shown. That way, you don’t lose any data. By resetting the flag, you could reactivate old listings at a later date, if necessary.

Having created my own Haunt database & website, maintaining it since 1999, I have a pretty good idea of how these things work. LOL. This isn’t rocket science, people. It can be done, and rather easily, with the right web development solution.

The haunt owners have to take an active role in updating their info. While I don't like the idea of just dumping everyone right after Halloween and making them start over, they need to be responsible for keeping their info on all sites current. It is a free listing, after all, so how can anyone complain about being made to stay current? I have done a lot of website work and there are limits on what you can do. I think a lot of people watch too many high tech movies.

The fact is that Haunt owners are often too busy to take an active role in updating their information, unless of course, they are given the proper incentive, like their listing being made inactive. I provide FREE listings on my site and I keep the information current every single year. What is everyone else's excuse? LOL.

If you have done a lot of website work, you should realize that what needs to be done is a VERY EASY task. Keeping the user accounts intact and resetting the event database is a piece of cake.

Why do people think this is so difficult??? I do it every year and so do other websites like HauntedWisconsin.com and ScaryOhio.com.