No-BS Calorie Counter

**ignatzami** · Posted On: 6/11/2009 10:01am

Originally Posted by leyon

This is the model that Daily Plate uses. New additions basically are community-contributed, but popular stuff (like say McDonald's or some other famous brand) is monitored so only mods can make changes to the nutritional value.

Oh yeah. Brands. Brand names = better categorization.

Understood, I haven't decided how I'm going to handle the actual back end data. I may do serialized objects, but maintaining compatibility would be a nightmare.

I'm also considering doing a database driven design, allowing users to upload, and download, new content if they so choose. I'm currently working on the front end, once that's done I'll sit down and hash out the back end.

**muddy** · Posted On: 6/11/2009 10:07am

How about letting user's see the contributor for any item. So if I trust, say Russ, for example, and in the database I see:

User: Russ
Item: 3 oz skinless chicken breast
Calories: 140

and

User: Troll
Item: 3 oz skinless chicken breast
Calories: 25

Then I know what to do ...

**ignatzami** · Posted On: 6/11/2009 10:12am

I'm also thinking of adding a rating system to entries. If an entry gets a low enough rating then it will be dropped from the DB.

This way if Troll's 25 calorie chicken gets X (probably 10) "thumbs down" then it would be dropped.

**ignatzami** · Posted On: 6/11/2009 10:14am

Double Post

**muddy** · Posted On: 6/11/2009 10:25am

Originally Posted by ignatzami

I'm also thinking of adding a rating system to entries. If an entry gets a low enough rating then it will be dropped from the DB.

This way if Troll's 25 calorie chicken gets X (probably 10) "thumbs down" then it would be dropped.

thats a good idea. and as a mod, if Troll really gets out of hand, maybe you can delete all his entries and ban him from entering data at your discretion ...

**ignatzami** · Posted On: 6/11/2009 10:30am

Originally Posted by muddy

thats a good idea. and as a mod, if Troll really gets out of hand, maybe you can delete all his entries and ban him from entering data at your discretion ...

I'd like to avoid banning people, but it's not a bad idea.

**Onr3e** · Posted On: 6/11/2009 8:36pm

Originally Posted by ignatzami

I'd like to avoid banning people, but it's not a bad idea.

there's always someone to ban from a system, if the disadvantages outweigh the advantages then it's only logical.

**top dachi** · Posted On: 6/26/2009 3:50pm

i can never find information/help on gaining weight

please take us smallies into consideration when building the database.

**TheRuss** · Posted On: 6/26/2009 5:21pm

Originally Posted by top dachi

i can never find information/help on gaining weight.

PROTIP: Eat more.

**rw4th** · Posted On: 6/27/2009 1:06am

Originally Posted by ignatzami

My issue with the daily plate is the wide variance in calories reported for the same food.

That's why some foods have a little "verified" tag next to them. If you don't find any entries you agree with, you can enter it yourself and use your own version of the food. I've been using the Daily Plate for a long time and it already does everything you just suggested and has an extensive user maintained database.

My aim is to provide a community checked group of foods, ingredients, and recipes. A "No BS" version of Daily Plate.

What foods and from which locales? Who is going to do your data entry? The variance in the Daily Plate database is largely due to the imprecise nature of calorie calculation and differing labels on products from one location to another (not to mention differing labeling laws).

Your idea might be good as a pet project to practice your skills, but beyond that I don't think you grasp the scope of what creating this "no-bs" database entails.