I am using a jquery plug-in for Google’s API 3 called gmaps3 (http://gmap3.net). It has lots of functions from adding a simple marker to “clusters”. The examples are great and the provided documentation simplifies what would be a tedious process. However, despite the extra help, I find myself scratching my head at some of Google’s syntax.
Currently, I am going to use this for a standard “search for location” page. So far it has worked out well.
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Posted by Corey
Funwatercraft uses dealers to sell their Hydrobike parts and bikes. To determine and manage each dealer’s territory they needed some tools built into their Ordering Processing System.
To sum up the requirement:
To keep it priced in budget, we had to look for some free web services. I found a lot of web sites that allow you to get a list for the US (ex. http://www.free-zipcode-maps.com/) and a very nice site that shows the ZIP Codes visually, Maps.Huge.Info.
I put link to those online tools in the web application for them to do some manual work, however, I still need the main function of auto populating the dealer territory with a set of postal codes. I finally came across this free Web Service GeoNames http://www.geonames.org/
The service is free for light users. You can only return 500 rows and your radius can be no more then 18 Miles (30 km). There is a premium paid service that removes these limits, however, for Funwatercraft, it is more then enough. It also works for most of the worlds.
So, the business flow is
Also, in the master search, I added code that will determine if the requested search is a ZIP Code or a Postal code and find the dealer for that code.
It’s pretty slick. Only four hours of work.
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Posted by Corey
When dealing with visual clients, it helps to create a few wireframe mockups of the core functional pages. A wireframe for a website is basically a rough sketch of the page elements and their spatial relationship between them. This helps to make sure everyone is thinking the same way. Clients can see how their ideas will play out before they commit to a more in-depth process.
When I am at a desktop, I use Visio for my wireframe mockups need. However, I came across iMockups for the iPad by Endloop Systems inc. Not bad at all. I found myself sitting in the front lobby of my client’s business waiting for a delivery. I pulled out my iPad and started to wire up another mini-application. I was impressed. I was able to create several screens in a 20 min. sitting on a couch. The desktop/Visio combination is still faster, however, this iMockups app is perfect when you are away from your main computer.
My first wireframe using iMockups.
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Posted by Corey
Code and Processes 