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We've seen an increased desire by clients to add mapping to their websites – but they usually don't ask for it that way.

Clients begin by seeking new ways to visualize their information and make it easier to sort through information. In other words, they are looking for ways to make the content more relevant to the user.

Google Maps and Professional Associations

Some examples – I sat in a meeting today with an large professional association where the executive director talked about the "fire hose" of data their current site provides. It's too much; it's not relevant. His quick solution – not a better search or filters or better information architecture – is to show people and businesses near the user.

In his mind, nearer to me = more relevant to me.

A map view of search results is the ideal way to present this information rather than a filtered list. Why? Because maps offer a visualization of information that is easy to scan – and scanning is the way we all read on a screen.

Plot Custom Data on a Google Map for Universities

Here's another example – we launched a website for Lesley University last fall. Lesley offers off-campus programs in 250 sites across the US. I knew this – but it wasn't until I saw all 250 sites plotted that I understood at glance where they offer classes.

• I could see the clusters of regions where they work
• I could quickly see how far I would need to drive to take a course
• Clicking on the map pin showed me only the course available at that site

What's essential here is that the prospective student is asking a number of questions about the degree program: cost, time commitment, value, and course material. A standard text search is good for finding courses by name, but this isn't the only important decision factor. In this case a map more quickly answers other questions – how far will I have to drive? does this fit into my life?

Google Maps API and Google Maps Mash Up

The Google Maps API provides a way to plot your data on the Google Maps base. Plus you can plot third-party geo-coded information – such as transit stops – to add more value to your users. In addition, your users can add data to your maps such as polygons and lines plus the supporting meta-data.

See Examples of Google Maps Mash Ups

Drupal celebrates its 9th birthday today on January 15th.  Congratulations to Drupal creator and software visionary Dries Buytaert!  And what better way to celebrate the birthday of new software than to add a new release.  Today is also marks the official release of Version 7 Alpha 1.  9 years, 7 versions, and millions of users are quite a remarkable achievement.

We regularly see the power and efficiency that Drupal brings to website design and development projects.  Combining web content management, social networking, and work flow management Drupal is a great tool for many business needs.  It also is quite flexible as we've found out as we've been adding mapping and GIS functionality to social communities.  Drupal gives us a great productivity boost and gives our clients an easy to maintain and enhance website.

So Happy Birthday Drupal!  We're looking forward to another 9 years and seeing you turn 18!

The Google Map API provides a robust interface for developing custom maps using your custom data. These maps are much more than way-finding. They are powerful visualizations of data that can be manipulated by users. In addition, a map offers a unique method of displaying search results.

OHO Interactive has developed Google Maps integrations that combine map data, with proprietary data, with public data records (such as public transportation), to provide unique, valuable user experiences.

Learn More About Our Experience Free Webinar: December 16, 2009

Congratulations to Acquia, the commercial Drupal support company, for adding 200 new customers over the past 6 months.  That brings them to over 250 customers in less than a year!  Quite a feat at anytime but certainly impressive in today's economy.  

Drupal creator Dries Buytaert gives some insight on his blog and there is also a company press release from Acquia. 

As a veteran of of many content management system (CMS) implementations over the  past dozen years these facts from the press release just jump out at me:

• Over 400,000 active Drupal sites
• Over 4,000 contributed modules backed by thousands of active developers
• Nearly 60,000 downloads of Acquia Drupal, Acquia’s distribution of Drupal

These are astounding numbers that are driven by a very powerful product which jumps beyond the CMS category in many ways..  At OHO we work quite a bit with both Drupal and Acquia and one of most impressive parts of Drupal is how it can be powerful both business users and advanced developers.  It is a powerful building block for marketing and content driven websites.