The UK Postcode Project
- Created on 05 April 2011
Over the years, UK customers have occasionally had problems with the postcode radius search, as it wasn't possible to access a complete UK postcode database due to the monopoly over these by the postal system. Instead - they had to make do with only a partial database consisting of 3 or 4 character postcodes - which resulted in the need to limit the size of postcode data entered into the property details form and search form.
In recent times though - complete databases have become freely available on the web via the UK's open data site - which is good news for my EZ* customers ;-)
These packages consist of about 110+ CSV files of complete UK postcodes - so over the coming months, I'll be working my way through them to convert them into CSV files that can be imported via the EZ Realty and EZ Autos postcode import function.
As they become available - I'll post them in the downloads area - but a word of warning, you won't be able to upload all of them onto your site. There will simply be too much data for the search system to work. I would recommend uploading only those postcode packages that you need to search your property listings.
If you find a particular package that you need isn't available - eg. nw.csv (which stands for all postcodes beginning with the letters NW) - submit a support ticket and ask that I add it "next on the list" for processing. I'll only be processing packages when I've got available time though, as support and essential development work does have to come first ;-)
As a start though, I've got 20 UK postcode packages processed and available for download - so if you've got a subscription for the Joomla 1.5x version of EZ Autos or EZ Realty - log into your account and visit the downloads area to see which ones have been processed so far.
Instructions for use:-
If you're doing a new installation of EZ Realty or EZ Autos - simply import the postcode CSV file via the admin area cPanel postcode import function.
If you've got an existing installation of EZ Realty or EZ Autos and have previously uploaded an older database of UK postcodes - the first thing you need to do is determine whether there's a postcode package available for the postcode range you need. If there is - then you should go into phpMyAdmin and empty the #__ezautos_postcodes or #__ezrealty_postcodes table of the postcodes that are in it - and then import the new postcodes via the EZ* admin cPanel postcode import function.
