Crowdsourcing the Ultimate San Francisco Travel Guide—Without Losing Control of Your Data
How to harness the wisdom of your entire network (and the internet) to build a curated SF itinerary, all while keeping your data organized, transparent, and secure using Sort.
Let’s say you’re gearing up for a long-awaited trip to San Francisco and want to create the definitive list of must-see spots. You checked Reddit’s AskSF subreddit and get overwhelmed with all the suggestions (there are 145,000 members available for advice!). You also have tons of friends, colleagues, and online contacts all dying to share their favorites—coffee shops in the Mission District, hidden murals in the Castro, kid-friendly parks in SoMa, you name it. Crowdsourcing recommendations is a fantastic way to discover new experiences…but it can also become overwhelming fast.
Keeping track of everyone’s tips in text messages, emails, and endless spreadsheets quickly leads to confusion: Which version is up to date? Who suggested adding or removing that quirky doughnut shop? Did you remember to note how long it takes to explore Golden Gate Park?
Wouldn’t it be nice to have an organized view of suggestions?
The Power of a Collaborative Database
Rather than juggling multiple Google Docs and email threads, a single, well-structured database—like the Visit San Francisco database schema—helps you:
Stay Organized: All suggestions live in one place.
Offer Context: Each spot can have a neighborhood, type, recommended time needed, description, and visitor notes.
Save Time: No more copying and pasting tips into a spreadsheet for hours on end.
This approach eliminates confusion about which version is the most recent and ensures everyone sees the same up-to-date info.
Enter Sort: Modern Workflows for Managing Valuable Data
Now, what if you need to handle everyone’s travel suggestions and keep track of changes, approvals, and updates in real time? That’s where Sort comes in.
Sort helps teams manage valuable data that still needs a human touch for review and approval. In other words, it’s perfect for something as collaborative and dynamic as crowdsourcing travel tips.
Data Accuracy: Ensure your crowd-provided tips are verified and organized.
Data Workflows: Spend less time manually editing or merging people’s suggestions.
Data History: Keep a clear log of who added, updated, or removed a recommendation—and why.
How a Crowdsourced Trip Guide Works with Sort
A User Proposes a Change
Whether it’s a friend or an online contact, anyone can submit a new travel tip—for example, “Add La Taqueria in the Mission District with a recommended 1-hour visit.” Sort collects these suggestions in one place.An Team Member Reviews / Approves It
Whoever’s organizing this trip (or their data-savvy helper) sees a simple queue of proposed changes. With one click, they can accept or reject a new SF recommendation. Say “Yes” to La Taqueria, “No” to that questionable tourist trap.Apply Changes
No SQL or messy copying and pasting needed. With the push of a button, Sort updates your SF database behind the scenes — the new data is instantly live and visible to everyone.Everything Gets Logged
Sort tracks when a change was made, who approved it, and any notes about why it was added. So if your best friend wonders, “Hey, what happened to that arcade on Pier 39?” you can see exactly why it was removed or changed.
Why Use Sort Instead of a Simple Spreadsheet?
Unified: One centralized location for both suggestions and approvals.
Intuitive: Anyone can add new spots in plain English—no complicated software required.
Simple: All changes are made with a single click once approved.
Transparent: You’ll see a clear history of every modification, so no confusion about “Who removed that coffee shop?!”
Secure: Sort ensures granular access controls, so only the right people can approve or reject suggestions.
Ready to Give Sort a Try Or View the Sample Database Above?
You’ve seen how easy it can be to crowdsource the ultimate SF itinerary (or any dataset that needs human review). Now it’s time to see Sort in action:
Browse the sample Visit San Francisco database
Schedule a Demo with the Sort team and let’s dig into your use case!