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Changelog - Locations App

All notable changes to the Locations app will be documented in this file.

The format is based on Keep a Changelog, and this project adheres to Semantic Versioning.

[2.0.0] - 2025-09-12

Added

Smart Location System

  • Hybrid Geocoding: Intelligent location detection that reuses existing location data to reduce API calls
  • Dynamic Boundaries: Automatic neighborhood boundary calculation based on user distribution
  • Crowd-Sourced Naming: Community-driven location naming with weighted consensus system
  • Confidence Scoring: Quality metrics for locations based on user participation and name agreement

New Database Fields

  • center_latitude and center_longitude for calculated location centers
  • estimated_radius for dynamic boundary management (200m-2km range)
  • confidence_score for location quality assessment (0.0-1.0 scale)
  • name_suggestions (JSON) for tracking community name votes
  • total_users for user count tracking
  • last_boundary_update for boundary recalculation timestamps
  • needs_verification, is_auto_generated, moderator_approved for quality management

New Models

  • LocationNameSuggestion: Tracks individual user name suggestions with vote weights
  • LocationModerationLog: Audit trail for all location modifications and admin actions

Smart Location APIs

  • POST /api/locations/locations/smart_update/ - Intelligent location update with boundary detection
  • POST /api/locations/locations/{id}/suggest_name/ - Community name suggestion system
  • GET /api/locations/locations/{id}/name_suggestions/ - View grouped name suggestions with fuzzy matching
  • GET /api/locations/locations/nearby/ - Find existing locations near coordinates
  • GET /api/locations/locations/search/ - Enhanced search with confidence scoring

Administrative Features

  • POST /api/locations/locations/{id}/flag_for_review/ - Flag locations for moderator review
  • GET /api/locations/locations/analytics/ - System analytics for staff
  • POST /api/locations/locations/{id}/update_boundary/ - Manual boundary recalculation
  • Enhanced Django admin interface with confidence indicators and bulk actions

Name Consensus System

  • Weighted Voting: User votes weighted by account age, activity, and verification status
  • Fuzzy Matching: Automatic grouping of similar name suggestions (85% similarity threshold)
  • Quality Safeguards: Profanity filtering, length validation, and character restrictions
  • Progressive Consensus: Names update when new consensus reaches 60% confidence with 10%+ improvement

Boundary Management

  • Automatic Recalculation: Boundaries adjust as more users join locations
  • Centroid Calculation: Geographic center computed from user coordinates
  • 90th Percentile Radius: Optimal coverage using statistical distribution
  • Bounds Enforcement: Minimum 200m, maximum 2km radius limits

Enhanced

Existing APIs

  • Location List API: Added confidence scoring, smart filtering, and quality indicators
  • Location Detail API: Enhanced with boundary information and suggestion analytics
  • Search Functionality: Improved with fuzzy matching and confidence-based ranking

Database Performance

  • Added spatial indexes for geographic queries
  • Optimized count aggregations using subqueries
  • Database constraints for data integrity

Admin Interface

  • Color-coded confidence scoring display
  • Bulk boundary recalculation actions
  • Location flagging and approval workflows
  • Detailed suggestion management views
  • Comprehensive moderation logging

Migration Notes

Database Migration

  • All new fields have safe defaults for production deployment
  • Existing location data automatically migrated to new structure
  • center_latitude/longitude populated from existing coordinates
  • Confidence scores calculated based on data completeness and user counts

Management Commands

  • migrate_location_data - Migrate existing location data to smart system
  • --dry-run option for safe preview of changes
  • --recalculate-boundaries for boundary updates
  • Duplicate location detection and reporting

Breaking Changes

Model Changes

  • name field is now non-editable (auto-generated from hierarchy or consensus)
  • Location creation now requires coordinate validation
  • JSON fields require MySQL 5.7.8+ or fallback to TextField with serialization

API Behavior Changes

  • Location update now uses smart boundary detection instead of simple coordinate matching
  • Name suggestions response format changed to grouped structure by default
  • Individual suggestions now require show_individual=true parameter

Performance Improvements

  • Reduced API Costs: 70-90% reduction in geocoding API calls after initial location creation
  • Efficient Queries: Spatial database queries for boundary detection
  • Caching Strategy: Smart caching of frequently accessed location data
  • Batch Operations: Optimized bulk location processing

Security Enhancements

  • Vote Weight Validation: New user accounts have reduced voting influence
  • Rate Limiting: Protection against suggestion spam (configurable)
  • Input Validation: Comprehensive name suggestion filtering
  • Audit Logging: Complete trail of all location modifications

[1.0.0] - 2024-01-XX

Initial Release

Core Features

  • Hierarchical location model with 17 geographic levels
  • Coordinate-based location storage with unique constraints
  • Basic location management APIs (CRUD operations)
  • Geographic search and filtering capabilities

Geographic Hierarchy

  • Administrative levels: Country, State, County, District
  • Urban areas: City, Town, Village, Hamlet, Municipality
  • Neighborhoods: Suburb, Borough, Quarter, Neighbourhood
  • Specific places: Road, Building, Commercial, Amenity

APIs

  • GET /api/locations/ - List and filter locations
  • GET /api/locations/{id}/ - Location details
  • Location search with text matching across all fields
  • Geographic filtering by administrative levels
  • Activity-based sorting by post and store counts

Integration

  • Posts association with locations
  • Store geographic positioning
  • User location assignment
  • Community location linking

Utilities

  • get_or_create_location() for intelligent location matching
  • Automatic name generation from hierarchy
  • Duplicate prevention logic

Migration Guide

Upgrading from v1.0 to v2.0

Prerequisites

  • Django 3.1+ required for JSONField support
  • MySQL 5.7.8+ recommended (or use TextField fallback)
  • Install dependencies: fuzzywuzzy[speedup], python-levenshtein

Migration Steps

  1. Backup Database
pg_dump your_db > backup_before_smart_locations.sql
  1. Update Dependencies
pip install fuzzywuzzy[speedup] python-levenshtein
  1. Run Migrations
python manage.py makemigrations locations
python manage.py migrate locations
  1. Populate Existing Data
python manage.py migrate_location_data --dry-run  # Preview
python manage.py migrate_location_data            # Execute
  1. Verify Migration 
    python manage.py shell
>>> from locations.models import Location
>>> loc = Location.objects.first()
>>> print(f"Confidence: {loc.confidence_score}, Users: {loc.total_users}")

Frontend Updates Required

Update location detection code to use smart endpoints:

// Replace simple location updates
await api.post("/api/users/update-location/", locationData);

// With smart location updates
await api.post("/api/locations/locations/smart_update/", {
  latitude,
  longitude,
  geocoded_data,
});

Add name suggestion UI components for enhanced user experience.

Backward Compatibility

  • All existing APIs continue to work unchanged
  • Smart features are additive enhancements
  • Gradual migration path - can deploy without immediate frontend changes
  • Existing location data automatically enhanced with confidence scores

Support

For questions about the smart location system implementation or migration assistance, please refer to the documentation or create an issue in the project repository.