Craigslist Search Utility (2 Viewers)

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I wrote a little search utility to make my life easier when I was searching for my 80, shopping for lenses, etc. on Craigslist. I posted this some time ago on the 80 tech page. I waited until I finally got the initiative to get a domain name and get it linked with my server to make the announcement here. And I added a third search field. Anyway, here is the link:

States

There is a writeup on the 80s tech page on how to use it here:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/243020-craigslist-search.html

Basically, I got tired of searching "Denver" for "Land Cruiser" and then "Landcruiser" and then "LX450" and then going and doing the same miserable thing for "Boulder" and then "Ft Collins" and then, well you get the idea.

This app lets you say what you want to look for and dispatches the queries and writes them back in one response. You can limit it so you don't have to see 56 when there are only a couple new ones per day. It also condenses the output with smaller font and packs the links a little which I like.

It will also let you search other categories other than cars, just look at the pulldown.

If there are any errors like some city doesn't work or Craigs has added a city since I last updated, go ahead and PM me and I'll fix it. Craigs has also changed the category variables from time to time so I have to tweak it every 6 mos or so.

Paul
 
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jammingator said:
Love it -- thanks so much!!

Something I found is that search results for Ft. Myers, FL always come up empty. The display I get is:

Results For: ftmeyers

Which is misspelled (no 'e' in Myers). Don't know if it matters or not.

Here's the link to Ft. Myers craigslist craigslist: ft myers / SW florida classifieds for jobs, apartments, personals, for sale, services, community, and events

Thanks again!!
Click to expand...

The craigslist key for Ft Myers is 'fortmyers' and as you pointed out, I had it wrong. Should work now.

Paul
 
Thank You for putting this together... and then SHARING it with us. Very Very Helpful.

Kris
 
Would it be easy to add a "Select All" radio button if you want to search all of the cities in a given state? I think it would be cool :)
 
davegonz said:
Would it be easy to add a "Select All" radio button if you want to search all of the cities in a given state? I think it would be cool :)
Click to expand...

It would be cool. I'd have to put a javascript script in there to facilitate that but I just googled it and it looks pretty simple. So yeah. Check back end of the week.

Paul
 
Thanks Paul. You need a PayPal donations button on there as well :)
 
Well done Paul. I wonder how much traffic your site is getting now?
 
davegonz said:
Well done Paul. I wonder how much traffic your site is getting now?
Click to expand...

I log each request and I'm getting approximately 4,000 unique visitors a day. I'm very pleasantly surprised that it hasn't been hacked, I've never rebooted the server. I've rebooted the web server several times but only because I want a new function to take hold.

One of my friends installed an app that allowed him to support some picture sharing utility and a month later some middle east group hacked it and uploaded jihadist propaganda complete with pics of doods with hoods and Ak-47s.

Here, just humming along. I intend to make an option to recieve the data as an excel spreadsheet. That ought to be fun.

Paul
 
Paul, great stuff. I have shared this with several family and friends and they love me for it. I of course pass on the KUDOS to the maker

Great, love this thing
 
Just one more to say THANKS!!!!!!!:)
 
Big Thanks!!

Paul - thanks for the great utility!!!

Considering getting an LC and this has made my searching so much easier.

Thanks again!!
 
super app.. love it.

wondering if I'm missing something obvious.. but is there a way to check multiple states?
I'm looking to buy an FJ40, pref from West states, so could I search all of CA, AZ, NV, etc..

THANK YOU!!
-Jay
 
ARC1 said:
super app.. love it.

wondering if I'm missing something obvious.. but is there a way to check multiple states?
I'm looking to buy an FJ40, pref from West states, so could I search all of CA, AZ, NV, etc..

THANK YOU!!
-Jay
Click to expand...

One of the reasons I think Craig lets this thing slide is because I'm not making it mindlessly easy to really bang their server. As it is, one click and a whole state goes off with up to three queries. Even that is hitting them. If I enable, with one click, a couple thousand searches, my IP would be blocked by the end of the week.

I have even resisted putting the thing in a 'robots.txt' file because the search engines would find it then.

Now have y'all seen the Firefox Add-ons? I was thinking of writing one that would make the searches originate with the user. In that case, yeah, I would do it because it would be originating from you guys and from varying IPs and that wouldn't flag anything.

Hope that makes sense.

Paul
 
pmccumber said:
One of the reasons I think Craig lets this thing slide is because I'm not making it mindlessly easy to really bang their server. As it is, one click and a whole state goes off with up to three queries. Even that is hitting them. If I enable, with one click, a couple thousand searches, my IP would be blocked by the end of the week.

I have even resisted putting the thing in a 'robots.txt' file because the search engines would find it then.

Now have y'all seen the Firefox Add-ons? I was thinking of writing one that would make the searches originate with the user. In that case, yeah, I would do it because it would be originating from you guys and from varying IPs and that wouldn't flag anything.

Hope that makes sense.

Paul
Click to expand...

Makes total sense to me. That would be a sweet plug in! Let us know when you write it.
 
makes sense.. didn't think of your exposure or risk..
it's perfect just the way it is. Thanks again for making it.
 
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