[request] Map locator

slim · 2006-12-18 04:28:31

I am a designer, hardly a developer, so I figured I would solicit interest, and possibly assistance, in an idea I had last night. Don’t worry, and help will receive all the credit. I just need to use the thing.

I need to present a fairly large list of locations (a dozen + or so), each with a specific image and a little blurb about the location. The easiest way to do this would be to divide the list geographically, and possibly by type. I want to have a map (google earth?) with small icons that correspond to the location type on the map. When I hover over the icon, the name of the location will come up over the map. Once I click on the icon, an article will roll out from under the map, moo.fx style, and include an article image and a small blurb about the location.

For usability, if javascript is disabled, the user could encounter the map with the icons, and a list of all the locations, stacked below. More scrolling, but still accessable.

The map could be done with an image map, but I haven’t heard of or seen these around the internets much lately. Are these just uncool, or considered semantically sinful?

For posting, I would want a “location” input where either city/state or a lat/long geographical reference could be input to locate the icon on the map. The icons could be determined categorically, I am only thinking I will need 2 or 3. An article image and a small bit of text could be input, with the title of the article being the name of the location.

So first question… Has anything like this been done before? Are there any plugins that could be slightly modified to achieve what I need?

Would the Google Earth API easily come into play here? Maybe users could zoom into the locations, to get the sat view of what they are looking at.

Anyone interested in hashing out what we might need to do to make this a viable plugin? I have about three weeks before starting the redesign for this site, and I’ll be getting into learning javascript fairly heavy after that. So we have some time to roll this around.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

colak · 2006-12-18 07:28:58

would this do?

slim · 2006-12-20 16:40:36

I guess the Google API is not the most important feature I need. I think an outline if the US on a vector graphic map could better suit my needs. The important part is the ability to add multiple links to the map, with a variety of icons. I could add some labels with some css pseudoclass work.

I’ve been thinking about it and I’m not sure a plugin is where I need to go with this, I could accomplish what I need with properly formatted articles and javascript. The only “manual” input I would need to do is to update the image map every time I added an article, which would not be a very common occurrence. Plus, I’m on the clock with this site, so I won’t be losing any money doing it by hand.

How about image maps? Are these cool for the new standards on the internet?

goncalo.dumas · 2007-02-13 20:44:13

Hello Eric, Have you reached any solution for this problem yet?

I work with ESRI GIS and was wondering how could I place some point (using latitude and longitude – WGS84) over a vectorized map representing the location of previous projects I’ve been envoved in.

I’ll be exploring the available posibilities, but would like to ear from you.

Thanks.

slim · 2007-02-13 22:06:10

I have tossed some ideas around my head with css as the main layout manager, but I would need to input divs based on x, y coordinates. I haven’t done anything more than that, unfortunately my forays into web design have gone onto the back burner lately.

Let us know what you find.

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#1 2006-12-18 04:28:31

[request] Map locator

#2 2006-12-18 07:28:58

Re: [request] Map locator

#3 2006-12-20 16:40:36

Re: [request] Map locator

#4 2007-02-13 20:44:13

Re: [request] Map locator

#5 2007-02-13 22:06:10

Re: [request] Map locator

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