Thematic Mapping and Drupal

THEMATIC MAPPING & DRUPALJuly 28, 2012

William Hurley, Manager of Programming

Tuesday, July 31, 12

GOOGLE MAPSTuesday, July 31, 12

CHOROPLETH

A map in which areas are shaded or patterned in proportion to the measurement of the

statistical variable being displayed on the map.


OBESITY LEVELS IN THE US BY COUNTY, LIGHTER IS BETTER


HEALTH RANKING OF COUNTIES IN VIRGINIA, LIGHTER IS BETTER


ENGLISH EXAM PASSING RATES IN NYC CHARTER SCHOOLS


BROADBAND AVAILABILITYTuesday, July 31, 12

SO HOW DO WE DO IT?


MAPPING IN THE BROWSER

The simplest solution


ADVANTAGES


ADVANTAGESLarger talent poolJavascript is a common skill for web developers



Easily integrated into DrupalDrupal modules exist for many libraries



Easily integrated into DrupalDrupal modules exist for many libraries

Quicker to deployFewer op?ons means less code to write and test


GOOGLE GEO CHARTSTuesday, July 31, 12

JSMAPTuesday, July 31, 12

D3Tuesday, July 31, 12

DISADVANTAGES


DISADVANTAGESCompa8bility and performanceComplicated maps can cause issues in IE



Not true geographyGoogle can place points, others are shapes only



Not true geographyGoogle can place points, others are shapes only

No panning / zoomingDoesn’t func?on the same as Google Maps


MAPPING IN THE CLOUD

Mapping as a service


ADVANTAGES


ADVANTAGESHighly customizable mapsCan take mul?ple inputs and be styled in many ways



Can be used by less technical staffAll configura?on done through a user interface



Can be used by less technical staffAll configura?on done through a user interface

Easy to set upJust create an account


TILEMILLTuesday, July 31, 12

MAPBOX HOSTINGTuesday, July 31, 12

CARTODB DATA VIEWTuesday, July 31, 12

CARTODB MAP VIEWTuesday, July 31, 12

GOOGLE FUSION TABLES DATATuesday, July 31, 12

GOOGLE FUSION TABLES MAPTuesday, July 31, 12

DISADVANTAGES


DISADVANTAGESDependent on a servicePoten?al vendor lock-‐in



External dataNeed to transfer from content management system



External dataNeed to transfer from content management system

Opaque infrastructureHow well will it scale?


MAPPING ON YOUR NETWORK

Do it yourself


ADVANTAGES


ADVANTAGESComplete customiza8onTotal control over every part of the process



Poten8al economies of scaleUse it again and again



Poten8al economies of scaleUse it again and again

ScalabilityYour hardware, your rules


WHAT YOU’LL NEED


WHAT YOU’LL NEEDClient libraryOpenLayers, Leaflet, Modest Maps, etc



Map serverMapnik



Map serverMapnik

Tile serverUse or customize CartoDB / WindshaY, Tilelive, etc.



Map serverMapnik

Tile serverUse or customize CartoDB / WindshaY, Tilelive, etc.

Geographic databasePostgreSQL and PostGIS


DISADVANTAGES


DISADVANTAGESCustom developmentYou build it, you own it



Larger investmentServers and development costs



Larger investmentServers and development costs

MaintenanceMany products in the stack are under ac?ve development


NOW THE FUN PART


SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?


THANK YOU!Resources

Tilemill: mapbox.com/8lemillCartoDB: cartodb.com

jsMap: drupal.org/project/jsmapD3: d3js.org


Thematic Mapping and Drupal

Technology

Transcript of Thematic Mapping and Drupal