The three sites with which I am involved have considerably more members outside the USA than within. I continually get comments from new members after they have gone through the sign-up process suggesting that CC needs to recognize that not all countries have "states", and that states other than American ones do exist in the rest of the world.

Could you please change the States drop-down box to permit the identification of Provinces and/or Territories and/or Counties - and permit the Registrant to enter a State/Province/Territory OTHER than one located within the US of A?
Thank you
Michael

Can you help me out and tell me specifically what we're missing? The State field is already labeled States/Provinces and we do list many other options there than just states. We also recognize not all countries have states already, which is why there's a blank (or null) option. A blank for a state is a perfectly valid selection. In the country dropdown we've listed every country already. Numerous sites here are based in Canada, the United Kingdom, Africa, Panama, etc.

Can you tell me specifically what we're missing, or do you think it would be necessary to have an "Other" option in the States dropdown list that would dynamically allow people to type in the "other" state or province of their choice? I think ideally we should have all possible options in there so I think I'd opt to know what we're missing so we can add it.

Anyone else? What are we missing in the State/Provinces dropdown and/or country dropdown?

I was able to add Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, 48300, Mexico without any trouble.

We have a Bangkok, Thailand. Don't seem to have any issues, but he just added Country of Thailand, left State blank., which I believe is okay.

Last time I was in Thailand was the late 60s, and don't really remember if they have Provinces, but probably do.

Brad,
The problem is simply that if one selects a country other than USA or Canada, the only option one has is to leave State/Province blank. I'm not aware of any way in which I could enter at State/Province from, say, Australia, or South Africa.
I don't know how Janie Blank (above) was able to select "Jalisco" for State/Province - I was unable to reproduce that on my website.
The restriction could be resolved by permitting non-USA/Canada registrants to type in the name of their particular State/Province.

She did it by typing "Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco" all in the City field.

Here's the problem with just adding a field for people to type something themselves: Inevitably people are going to type things differently. Some will type their State/Province correctly, some will misspell it unintentionally, somebody else will make a typo, somebody else will use an abbreviation, etc. This makes it impossible to get accurate numbers when adding up stats, plotting on maps, and more. Thus I'd rather add things we need that are missing.

First, the system is currently set up with a static dropdown. I recommend moving the Country field above the State/Province and City fields and then dynamically populating the State/Province field based on what country was selected above. E.G. if somebody selects Canada for their country, they will then ONLY see the Canadian Provinces listen in the State/Provinces dropdown, instead of having to wade through all of the 50 US States which couldn't possibly apply based on their country answer.

Second, based on my research it looks like we need to add the following based on your suggestion:

Provinces in South Africa:

Eastern Cape
Free State
Gauteng
KwaZulu-Natal
Limpopo
Mpumalanga
North West
Northern Cape
Western Cape

Provinces in Australia:

1. Queensland
2. New South Wales
3. Victoria
4. South Australia
5. Western Australia
6. Tasmania
7. Australian Capital Territory
8. Northern Territory
9. Jervis Bay Territory
10. Norfolk Island
11. Ashmore and Cartier Islands
12. Heard Island and the McDonald Islands
13. Macquarie Island
14. Coral Sea Islands
15. Australian Antarctic Territory
16. Christmas Island
17. Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Is there anything else? I'm sure there's all kinds of additional States/Provinces but we're hardly experts on world geography. I just need to know what people are needing based on the Country selection -- it's pretty easy to find the states/provinces if I know what people are needing. We'll start with adding the above. If you need any others just let us know.

What you suggest would be wonderful - and I agree with requesting Country first, to make the State/Province drop-down relevant.

Brad, great approach, and in my opinion would be great for the new expanded CC. However, I think this could be quite an undertaking. For instance, I have one classmate in Thailand. He just simply registered as city of Bangkok, and country of Thailand, leaving State blank. Below is the Google list of Thailand provinces.

Primary subdivisions:
Thailand is divided into 75 changwat (provinces) and one maha nakhon (municipality).

Province HASC ISO FIPS Reg Population Area(km.²) Area(mi.²)
Amnat Charoen TH.AC 37 TH77 NE 356,556 3,161 1,221
Ang Thong TH.AT 15 TH35 C 269,419 968 374
Bangkok Metropolis TH.BM 10 TH40 C 6,355,144 1,569 606
Buri Ram TH.BR 31 TH28 NE 1,493,359 10,323 3,986
Chachoengsao TH.CC 24 TH44 C 635,153 5,351 2,066
Chai Nat TH.CN 18 TH32 C 359,829 2,470 954
Chaiyaphum TH.CY 36 TH26 NE 1,095,360 12,778 4,934
Chanthaburi TH.CT 22 TH48 E 480,064 6,338 2,447
Chiang Mai TH.CM 50 TH02 N 1,500,127 20,107 7,763
Chiang Rai TH.CR 57 TH03 N 1,129,701 11,678 4,509
Chon Buri TH.CB 20 TH46 E 1,040,865 4,363 1,685
Chumphon TH.CP 86 TH58 S 446,206 6,009 2,320
Kalasin TH.KL 46 TH23 NE 921,366 6,947 2,682
Kamphaeng Phet TH.KP 62 TH11 N 674,027 8,608 3,323
Kanchanaburi TH.KN 71 TH50 C 734,394 19,483 7,523
Khon Kaen TH.KK 40 TH22 NE 1,733,434 10,886 4,203
Krabi TH.KR 81 TH63 S 336,210 4,709 1,818
Lampang TH.LG 52 TH06 N 782,152 12,534 4,839
Lamphun TH.LN 51 TH05 N 413,299 4,506 1,740
Loei TH.LE 42 TH18 NE 607,083 11,425 4,411
Lop Buri TH.LB 16 TH34 C 745,506 6,200 2,394
Mae Hong Son TH.MH 58 TH01 N 210,537 12,681 4,896
Maha Sarakham TH.MS 44 TH24 NE 947,313 5,292 2,043
Mukdahan TH.MD 49 TH78 NE 310,718 4,340 1,676
Nakhon Nayok TH.NN 26 TH43 C 241,081 2,122 819
Nakhon Pathom TH.NP 73 TH53 C 815,122 2,168 837
Nakhon Phanom TH.NF 48 TH73 NE 684,444 5,513 2,128
Nakhon Ratchasima TH.NR 30 TH27 NE 2,556,260 20,494 7,913
Nakhon Sawan TH.NS 60 TH16 N 1,090,379 9,598 3,706
Nakhon Si Thammarat TH.NT 80 TH64 S 1,519,811 9,943 3,839
Nan TH.NA 55 TH04 N 458,041 11,472 4,429
Narathiwat TH.NW 96 TH31 S 662,350 4,475 1,728
Nong Bua Lam Phu TH.NB 39 TH79 NE 482,207 3,859 1,490
Nong Khai TH.NK 43 TH17 NE 883,704 7,332 2,831
Nonthaburi TH.NO 12 TH38 C 816,614 622 240
Pathum Thani TH.PT 13 TH39 C 677,649 1,526 589
Pattani TH.PI 94 TH69 S 595,985 1,940 749
Phangnga TH.PG 82 TH61 S 234,188 4,171 1,610
Phatthalung TH.PL 93 TH66 S 498,471 3,425 1,322
Phayao TH.PY 56 TH41 N 502,780 6,335 2,446
Phetchabun TH.PH 67 TH14 N 965,784 12,668 4,891
Phetchaburi TH.PE 76 TH56 C 435,377 6,225 2,404
Phichit TH.PC 66 TH13 N 572,989 4,531 1,749
Phitsanulok TH.PS 65 TH12 N 792,678 10,816 4,176
Phrae TH.PR 54 TH07 N 492,561 6,539 2,525
Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya TH.PA 14 TH36 C 727,277 2,557 987
Phuket TH.PU 83 TH62 S 249,446 543 210
Prachin Buri TH.PB 25 TH74 C 406,732 4,762 1,839
Prachuap Khiri Khan TH.PK 77 TH57 C 449,467 6,368 2,459
Ranong TH.RN 85 TH59 S 161,210 3,298 1,273
Ratchaburi TH.RT 70 TH52 C 791,217 5,197 2,006
Rayong TH.RY 21 TH47 E 522,133 3,552 1,371
Roi Et TH.RE 45 TH25 NE 1,256,458 8,299 3,204
Sa Kaeo TH.SK 27 TH80 C 485,632 7,195 2,778
Sakon Nakhon TH.SN 47 TH20 NE 1,040,766 9,606 3,709
Samut Prakan TH.SP 11 TH42 C 1,028,401 1,004 388
Samut Sakhon TH.SS 74 TH55 C 466,281 872 337
Samut Songkhram TH.SM 75 TH54 C 204,177 417 161
Saraburi TH.SR 19 TH37 C 575,053 3,577 1,381
Satun TH.SA 91 TH67 S 247,875 2,479 957
Sing Buri TH.SB 17 TH33 C 232,766 823 318
Si Sa Ket TH.SI 33 TH30 NE 1,405,500 8,840 3,413
Songkhla TH.SG 90 TH68 S 1,255,662 7,394 2,855
Sukhothai TH.SO 64 TH09 N 593,264 6,596 2,547
Suphan Buri TH.SH 72 TH51 C 855,949 5,358 2,069
Surat Thani TH.ST 84 TH60 S 869,410 12,892 4,977
Surin TH.SU 32 TH29 NE 1,327,901 8,124 3,137
Tak TH.TK 63 TH08 N 486,146 16,407 6,335
Trang TH.TG 92 TH65 S 595,110 4,918 1,899
Trat TH.TT 23 TH49 E 219,345 2,819 1,088
Ubon Ratchathani TH.UR 34 TH75 NE 1,691,441 15,745 6,079
Udon Thani TH.UN 41 TH76 NE 1,467,158 11,730 4,529
Uthai Thani TH.UT 61 TH15 N 304,122 6,730 2,599
Uttaradit TH.UD 53 TH10 N 464,474 7,839 3,027
Yala TH.YL 95 TH70 S 415,537 4,521 1,746
Yasothon TH.YS 35 TH72 NE 561,430 4,162 1,607
76 divisions 60,913,637 513,120 198,117
Province: except Bangkok Metropolis, which is a municipal administration.
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes.
ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. For full identification in a global context, prefix "TH-" to the code (ex:
TH-63 represents Tak).
FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4.
Reg: Thailand has unofficial, but standardized, regions: Central (C), Eastern (E), Northern
(N), Northeastern (NE), and Southern (S). Some sources make Eastern part of Central.
Population: 2000-04-01 census.
Capitals: Capitals have the same names as their provinces, except for Bangkok
Metropolis (Bangkok). Sometimes the capital name is given with the generic prefix "Mueang".

We'll start with whatever people are needing. It's not difficult to put something in the database. If somebody selects Thailand we can populate those 75 entries quite easily.

Our Internatonal Friendship Club (IFC) is now live and we are introducing it to our members tonight. We loaded the membership list. But when you put in MEXICO for the country the drop down list for states is only for USA. It would be good if we could just type Jalisco in this box for state.

Is this doable?
¡Gracias!
Janie

I'll research on my end.