General
The Dotnetnuke:Map project is an initiative crafted from very popular smash up DotNetNuke Module, originally called GoMap. The module, using the Google Maps API, provides the ability to pump any custom data into the Google Map in a number of unique ways.
- Standard Mode - Display all the points for the designated Module, simultaneously.
- Playback Mode - Display all the points for the designated Module, in the order which they appear in your source data. This data can have associated times and dates that control the functionality of the playback. The most common example of this is the provided "Regions Online" map which plots the Users Online data - one point for each world Region, in the order which that region was first added to your user base. A very effective display, and fun to watch!
- Positional Mode - Displays the points in your data source by Longitude, Latitude within a target radius. Whenever the user clicks the map, the points are automatically fetched from the server (via ajax of course) and plotted on the map around the selected point.
- Directory Mode - Displays the points in your data source within a configurable directory structure. This directory, similar to most other map based directory components also uses the Positional Mode interaction, so you data is easily displayed regionally.
All of the interaction provided by the module uses AJAX functionality for fetching the points, meaning that the page performs at its peak, without loss.
TimeLine
Where is Dotnetnuke:Map today? After wading through a long period of extreme corporate pressures and workload (as I'm sure my other fellow Dotnetnuke team developers experience), we are finally ready to roll out the Dotnetnuke:Map version. The beta and initial release will be a nearly one to one match of the existing GoMap module, with a number of changes which will make it more easily controlable to the user, and incorporate the utilization of the standard core DotNetNuke Ajax library (Client API), a redefined data structure for more generic capability.
There future of Dotnetnuke:Map is impressive, a new framework is already under development which will allow a more open architecture module capacity, allowing developers to create add-ins to the module to extend the functionality. The second version of Dotnetnuke:Map, the first appearance of the new framework will provide add-ins to support Yahoo Maps API, as well as provide the ability to create different view layouts.