The Brat Map

Da Nag

Da Nag

Administrator
Staff member
Introducing: The Brat Map

To skip all the gory details, just click here, and go have fun with our latest C-Brat toy!

For those of you with a little more patience, here's the scoop.

The Brat Map leverages our membership information to build a dynamic, interactive map using Google Maps technology. Getting your information on the map is simple:
  1. Login with your C-Brat account
  2. Update your profile to include your ZIP code (see privacy info below)
  3. If you haven't done so already, enter your C-Dory information.

That's it!

Features

The default map contains a push-pin for every C-Brat who has entered the required profile information above. The push-pins are color coded by C-Dory type; there's a unique color for 16's, 19's, 22's, 25's, Tomcats and "Other".

There's also a unique color for Dealer and Factory Representatives, which are further distinguished by a "D" and "F" on the push-pins.

No need to memorize any of this - there's a legend at the top of the map.

Usage

Usage of the map is pretty self-explanatory, but there are a couple tricks that are not obvious. If you're familiar with Google Maps, you'll be right at home.
  • If you want to narrow the scope of displayed members, click on the push-pins in the legend. This will redraw the map, showing only members with the C-Dory type you selected. This also works for listing Dealer and Factory representatives that are members.
  • To center the map, move your mouse to the desired location, and double-click. The map will center on that spot.
  • Use the slider on the left side of the map to zoom in/out. It's a good idea to center the map first, on the area for which you want more detail.
  • You can pan the map - just hold down your mouse button and drag the map display.
  • Once you can distinguish one push-pin from another (things get crowded when zoomed way out), click on them for details about the member or dealer. The popup window includes a link to the member's profile, location info (if available), information about their C-Dory, a link to their photo album (if one exists), and any information in the member's signature.
Limitations

The main limitation...apologies to our Canadian friends. The Google map interface that builds the map requires lat/lon coords to determine where to stick the push-pin. Trouble is...I can find no publicly available list of Canadian postal codes with their related lat/lon central coordinates. Unlike the US, which provides this info free of charge via the US Census web site, the official Canadian version costs $9,000...:shock:

I've got a couple queries out, but have found nothing yet. If anyone can find such data, by all means - let me know so our Canadian Brats won't be left out in the cold...so to speak.

Privacy

The ZIP code you enter in your profile is not visible anywhere - folks can't see it when they look at your profile. Also, the push-pin centers itself in the approximate center of your zip code - you can zoom way in to the street level on the map, but for obvious reasons, we don't want to pinpoint a member's house.

Still, as with all the info in your member profile, we won't ever use it for anything other than making this site better, and you're more than welcome to leave any of this data blank. If you don't want to be on the map, just don't enter a ZIP code.

That's about it. I'll be updating this post as new features are added.

Updates

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2005-10-23
Map code rewritten to address performance problems
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It just hit me I'm taking a couple things for granted...there are a couple things that may not be obvious, unless one is familiar with how a Google Map functions.

- Centering the map. Move your mouse anywhere on the map, and double-click. The map will center on that spot.

- Use the slider on the left side of the map to zoom in/out. It's a good idea to center the map first, on the area for which you want more detail.

- Once you can distinguish one push-pin from another (things get crowded when zoomed way out), click on them for details about the member.

- A push-pin will only exist if your profile has C-Dory Model info, and a zip code entered.

- A word on privacy. The ZIP code you enter in your profile is not visible anywhere - folks can't see it when they look at your profile. Also, the push-pin centers itself in the approximate center of your zip code - you can zoom way in to the street level on the map, but for obvious reaons, we don't want to pinpoint a member's house. As with all the info in your member profile, we won't ever use it for anything other than making this site better, and you're more than welcome to leave any of this data blank.

Have fun!
 
Chuckpacific":o6ktb887 said:
Bill,

Enter Zip Code where...? Under what category? City? State?

Chuck
Click to expand...

Chuck - if you click on the "Profile" link at the top of every page, you should now see a ZIP code field. Enter your 5-digit ZIP there, then click submit at the bottom of the page.

Any problems, let me know.
 
Supernerd, your subjects adore you! Perhaps none of us ever have been privy to such selfless technical alacrity.

In addition to the above encomiums, read what a national magazine said about you: Bay area denizen Supernerd shines in his dimly lit mew, maximizing both brilliant white orbs to fashion "Flipper", a constituent to enhanced facilitation of online communication with his aquatic playmates.
Laconic in person, virtually loquacious in his veiled quarters, Supernerd continues to impart his mellifluous tone of sublime benevolence to the fawning fans comprising his sailing subculture. ~Computer World

Supernerd, you're the coolest!
:star
 
Very cool Bill. Just for giggles I changed my zip code to my place in Maui where we are right now and was able to generate a satellite view also. Would a data window on the home page where you could type in a zip and get a map of that area be of any use? Might be good for planning a trip. Might also put more stuff on the home page than you want.
 
My God (or yours). Jeff must be salivating at the thought of all those empty spaces in which to sell C-Dorys.

From So-Cal, this is really trick. A link on the home page is needed (but you knew that.)

Boris
 
way cool nerd dude. I like the fact that it just sticks your pin in roughly the center of your zip code (I'd druther not have everybody knowing where I live or the next thing ya know Mike would be dumping dogs off at my house).
It seems that I'm surrounded by them damn green push pins, does that mean that I'll have to upgrade to a green push pin or be ostresized
 
Some updates:

- The legend at the top of the map is now click-able. Select any of the C-Dory types to display only members with a particular model.

- Dealer and Factory reps who are members here have their own push-pins now. As with the C-Dory types, you can choose to display just them from the legend as well.

- The info in your signature is now included in the popup for your push-pin.

- By popular demand...the link to the Brat Map is now in the header that appears on all pages. As such, I've removed the link from the "Links" section on the home page.

Rather than hunt through this thread for updates, tips and tricks, I'll keep the first post up to date as things change - look there first.
 
Bill,

As long as you're making a few changes to the links in the headers of all pages, what would you think about adding a "Posts Since Last Visit" link to all pages? I used to go back to the front page every time to get to the new stuff but since just put a link on my browser's tool bar to "posts since last visit". It would be a little nicer to have it in the headers of each page.

Great job on the maps!

Roger on the SeaDNA
 
The performance problem (discussed here if you missed it) should be resolved. In my testing (Firefox 1.06/1.07 and IE6), the Brat Map now renders in just a few seconds.

Nerd speak to follow, for anyone who cares - the rest of you can just go enjoy the snappy new map.

The Problem: Truth is, I took a shortcut for the initial version. There's some code out there(Google Maps EZ - link here) that allows for very easy generation of custom Google Maps - basically, if you can write HTML, you can create a custom map. For any of you with personal web sites that want to include a simple map and plot a few points, you might want to check it out.

However, as we all saw, the performance sucked - the Google Maps EZ code is really only good if you need to plot a handful of markers. Once we got beyond 20 or so, it slowed to a crawl.

So...I had to completely rewrite the code, using the preferred/supported method for talking to the Google Maps API. I didn't do this initially, because interacting with the Google API directly requires coding in javascript - something I've had minimal experience in.

Bad news is, it was tougher and time consuming - yeah, yeah, that's a Nerd snivel. You can all buy me beer at the SBS and I'll get over it.

The good news is, as the map gets fancier, I've now got more control over it using javascript and the Google API. I've also started picking up a new skill (javascript coding) which can be used elsewhere around here. And at my day job, but I don't really give a crap about that.

Anyway, the new map functions pretty much like it did before. As usual, follow up here with problems/comments/suggestions.
 
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