librelist archives

WorldMap: a customized version of GeoNode

From:

Matt Bertrand

Date:

2011-01-14 @ 14:57

Hi everyone,

I've been developing a customized version of GeoNode called "WorldMap"  
for Harvard University's Center for Geographic Analysis.    Some of  
the new features built so far include:

- Search layer attributes by text and highlight matches on the map
    - Specify which layer attributes should be searchable

- Query layers by mouse click: display the selected feature's  
attributes and outline it on the map.
    -  Set layer attribute titles that appears in query results

- Display layers in a category tree
    - Allow renaming and drag/drop of layers and categories

- Metadata link on layer properties window which redirects user to  
that layer's description page

- Display Picasa and YouTube feeds based on keywords assigned by the  
user

- User-assigned URL suffixes for maps (worldmap.harvard.edu/maps/ 
<user_url_suffix>

- Introductory window on first visit to any map, with content  
determined by the map owner.

- Assign layer/map access permissions to users by email address  
instead of existing username: create accounts for the addresses if  
they don't already exist and send an email with their username and  
temporary password

The project is still in the alpha stage and there are plenty of kinks  
to work out, but feel free to check it out if you're interested - you  
can visit the website at http://worldmap.harvard.edu/alpha, it's  
currently running on Amazon Web Services.  The code is also available  
at https://github.com/cga-harvard/cga-worldmap.  Any feedback you can  
give would be much appreciated.

Many thanks to the GeoNode team for putting together a great platform  
and making this possible!

----------------------
Matt Bertrand
GIS Programmer
Center for Geographic Analysis
Harvard University
617-495-1168
mbertrand@cga.harvard.edu

Hey Matt,

First off, I wanted to compliment you on your work so far. I have some
personal interest in your project going back to one of my own undergrad
projects (http://brown.edu/aaah/) and so was very excited to see you
continuing development of your AfricaMap and WorldMap on an open platform
that I help to develop.

I was asked to review the progress of your WorldMap alpha to see what we
could learn in the continuing development of GeoNode. So, if you'll permit
me, I'll further the conversation with some comments below.

Cheers,
Rolando

--
Rolando Peñate
Design Lead
OpenGeo - http://opengeo.org/

On Fri, Jan 14, 2011 at 9:57 AM, Matt Bertrand <mbertrand@cga.harvard.edu>wrote:

> I've been developing a customized version of GeoNode called "WorldMap" for
> Harvard University's Center for Geographic Analysis. Some of the new
> features built so far include:
>


> - Search layer attributes by text and highlight matches on the map
>    - Specify which layer attributes should be searchable
>
> - Query layers by mouse click: display the selected feature's attributes
> and outline it on the map.
>    -  Set layer attribute titles that appears in query results
>

Both search and query are useful features but the results table feels a
little crammed on the right-hand side, especially on my laptop. Have y'all
considered attaching the table along the bottom instead? For example:
http://projects.opengeo.org/geoext/wiki/GeoEditor

Also, can you please point me at the interface for defining attribute
titles? I can't seem to find it.

- Display layers in a category tree
>    - Allow renaming and drag/drop of layers and categories
>

The categories are useful, especially when creating maps with lots of layers
as is the case with the BostonMap or AfricaMap. Could you please point me at
the interface for creating and managing these categories? Are they only
generated based on the addition of new layers and then modified from there?


> - Metadata link on layer properties window which redirects user to that
> layer's description page
>

This is a good idea and we should implement in GeoNode as well. I'd suggest
opening in a new tab or window though, to avoid losing unsaved changes to
the map.

For our reference: http://dev.geonode.org/trac/ticket/920


> - Display Picasa and YouTube feeds based on keywords assigned by the user
>

It took me a while to figure out what the Picasa and YouTube feeds in that
little "More..." menu were all about. What was the motivation for creating a
separate menu for what are essentially point layers instead of creating a
"More..." (or "Social Web" or whatever) cateogry in the layer tree? This
could also solve the weak connection between the field for defining keywords
(in the map properties/metadata) and the layers themselves as Picasa or
YouTube specific settings could be handled (independently) as layer
properties.


> - Introductory window on first visit to any map, with content determined by
> the map owner.
>

Great idea, we should implement that as well to provide viewers with some
context. I assume this is populated with the title and abstract from the
metadata?  I noticed that it still shows up when no description has been
provided—you may want to make it conditional on their being content to show.

For our records: http://dev.geonode.org/trac/ticket/922

- Assign layer/map access permissions to users by email address instead of
> existing username: create accounts for the addresses if they don't already
> exist and send an email with their username and temporary password
>

This is a nice idea and we should extend our permissions system (
http://dev.geonode.org/trac/ticket/864#comment:4) to allow for email
addresses. We've also thought of something similar for our future groups
workflow (http://dev.geonode.org/trac/wiki/Groups#a3.ManagerView). One
question though, do you allow users to register multiple email addresses to
their user account or is it a one-to-one relationship? It would perhaps be
useful to allow users to register multiple email addresses, select a primary
for notifications, and allow for some method of duplicate account resolution
from the user profile (http://dev.geonode.org/trac/wiki/UserProfile) to
prevent the proliferation of accounts.

For our records: http://dev.geonode.org/trac/ticket/919


> The project is still in the alpha stage and there are plenty of kinks to
> work out, but feel free to check it out if you're interested - you can visit
> the website at http://worldmap.harvard.edu/alpha, it's currently running
> on Amazon Web Services.  The code is also available at
> https://github.com/cga-harvard/cga-worldmap.  Any feedback you can give
> would be much appreciated.
>

I'm also told that y'all need ways of managing permissions through the map
composer. My suggestion would be extend the Map Properties and Layer
Properties dialogs with Permissions tabs that included forms (editable for
managers, uneditable for plebes) for managing permissions.

Also, in the layer panel on the left, I'd include links or icons for common
functions (layer properties, remove layers/categories, etc) as the existence
of context menus on the layer tree is not immediately obvious.


> Many thanks to the GeoNode team for putting together a great platform and
> making this possible!
>

And thank you for working with us to improve it!

Cheers,
R

Hi Rolando,

Sorry for the late reply, I somehow overlooked your message.
>
> Both search and query are useful features but the results table feels 
> a little crammed on the right-hand side, especially on my laptop. Have 
> y'all considered attaching the table along the bottom instead? For 
> example: http://projects.opengeo.org/geoext/wiki/GeoEditor
I'll bring up that suggestion with Ben, sounds good to me.  Another idea 
is  to make the side tab for the results wider by default.

> Also, can you please point me at the interface for defining attribute 
> titles? I can't seem to find it.
The interface for specifying attribute titles is at the bottom of each 
layer's 'update description' page.  There is a table showing each 
attribute name, along with an editable text field for changing the 
attribute title (it defaults to the attribute name) and a checkbox for 
determining if the field should be searchable (disabled for 
non-character fields).  Soon we want to add a way to specify a sort 
order for displaying the attributes in the map results panel.  There is 
a new LayerAttribute model to store this info, and it's populated during 
layer upload.  In terms of displaying the attributes on the map, there 
is a new Javascript file to do that in the geonode-client project: 
GeoExplorer/FeatureQueryTool.js

>
>     - Display layers in a category tree
>        - Allow renaming and drag/drop of layers and categoriesThe
>     categories are useful, especially when creating maps with lots of
>     layers as is the case with the BostonMap or AfricaMap. Could you
>     please point me at the interface for creating and managing
>     these categories? Are they only generated based on the addition of
>     new layers and then modified from there?
>
When a layer is added to the map, the category it appears under 
initially is the 'topic category' field from the Layer model (or 
'General' if the topic_category is blank).  The layer categories 
available come from a new LayerCategory model.  However, once on the 
map, the category's name for that particular layer and map is stored in 
the MapLayer model (the 'group' field) and the order of categories in 
the tree is stored in the Map model (the 'group_params' field).  Those 
are all passed along in the 'config' JSON for the map.

>     - Metadata link on layer properties window which redirects user
>     to that layer's description page
>
>
> This is a good idea and we should implement in GeoNode as well. I'd 
> suggest opening in a new tab or window though, to avoid losing unsaved 
> changes to the map.
I will probably be working on just that very soon.  Right now I'm 
working on adding the data search and upload pages as tabs in a new 
window on the map page.  You can try it out now at 
http://worldmap.harvard.edu/test but it still needs some work. For 
example, the map's 'beforeunload' event stops working after the 
BoundingBoxWidget is rendered in the window.

> For our reference: http://dev.geonode.org/trac/ticket/920
>
>     - Display Picasa and YouTube feeds based on keywords assigned by
>     the user
>
> It took me a while to figure out what the Picasa and YouTube feeds in 
> that little "More..." menu were all about. What was the motivation for 
> creating a separate menu for what are essentially point layers instead 
> of creating a "More..." (or "Social Web" or whatever) cateogry in the 
> layer tree? This could also solve the weak connection between the 
> field for defining keywords (in the map properties/metadata) and the 
> layers themselves as Picasa or YouTube specific settings could be 
> handled (independently) as layer properties.
Eventually we do want to treat those feeds as just another kind of 
layer, and allow users to add other georss feeds as new layers.  But 
this was just the best I could come up at the time given the deadline 
for including them and my initial unfamiliarity with the geonode code.

>     - Introductory window on first visit to any map, with
>     content determined by the map owner.
>
>
> Great idea, we should implement that as well to provide viewers with 
> some context. I assume this is populated with the title and abstract 
> from the metadata?  I noticed that it still shows up when no 
> description has been provided—you may want to make it conditional on 
> their being content to show.
>
Actually that is populated from a title field and text area (which has 
some default content) on the 'Save' window.  I agree that it would be 
better to show it only if the user has something specific to put there.

> For our records: http://dev.geonode.org/trac/ticket/922
>
>     - Assign layer/map access permissions to users by email
>     address instead of existing username: create accounts for the
>     addresses if they don't already exist and send an email with their
>     username and temporary password
>
>
> This is a nice idea and we should extend our permissions system 
> (http://dev.geonode.org/trac/ticket/864#comment:4) to allow for email 
> addresses. We've also thought of something similar for our future 
> groups workflow 
> (http://dev.geonode.org/trac/wiki/Groups#a3.ManagerView). One question 
> though, do you allow users to register multiple email addresses to 
> their user account or is it a one-to-one relationship? It would 
> perhaps be useful to allow users to register multiple email addresses, 
> select a primary for notifications, and allow for some method of 
> duplicate account resolution from the user profile 
> (http://dev.geonode.org/trac/wiki/UserProfile) to prevent the 
> proliferation of accounts.
Right now each user can only have one email address.  I think in geonode 
it's possible to register the same email address more than once? But in 
worldmap I'm forcing all users to have a unique email.

>
> For our records: http://dev.geonode.org/trac/ticket/919
>
>     The project is still in the alpha stage and there are plenty of
>     kinks to work out, but feel free to check it out if you're
>     interested - you can visit the website at
>     http://worldmap.harvard.edu/alpha, it's currently running on
>     Amazon Web Services.  The code is also available at
>     https://github.com/cga-harvard/cga-worldmap.  Any feedback you
>     can give would be much appreciated.
>
>
> I'm also told that y'all need ways of managing permissions through the 
> map composer. My suggestion would be extend the Map Properties and 
> Layer Properties dialogs with Permissions tabs that included forms 
> (editable for managers, uneditable for plebes) for managing permissions.
Good idea, I'll probably be working on this soon.

This is really awesome, it's good to see someone really customizing GeoNode
for their own needs.

--
David Winslow
OpenGeo - http://opengeo.org/

On Fri, Jan 14, 2011 at 9:57 AM, Matt Bertrand <mbertrand@cga.harvard.edu>wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> I've been developing a customized version of GeoNode called "WorldMap"
> for Harvard University's Center for Geographic Analysis.    Some of
> the new features built so far include:
>
> - Search layer attributes by text and highlight matches on the map
>    - Specify which layer attributes should be searchable
>
> - Query layers by mouse click: display the selected feature's
> attributes and outline it on the map.
>    -  Set layer attribute titles that appears in query results
>
> - Display layers in a category tree
>    - Allow renaming and drag/drop of layers and categories
>
> - Metadata link on layer properties window which redirects user to
> that layer's description page
>
> - Display Picasa and YouTube feeds based on keywords assigned by the
> user
>
> - User-assigned URL suffixes for maps (worldmap.harvard.edu/maps/
> <user_url_suffix>
>
> - Introductory window on first visit to any map, with content
> determined by the map owner.
>
> - Assign layer/map access permissions to users by email address
> instead of existing username: create accounts for the addresses if
> they don't already exist and send an email with their username and
> temporary password
>
> The project is still in the alpha stage and there are plenty of kinks
> to work out, but feel free to check it out if you're interested - you
> can visit the website at http://worldmap.harvard.edu/alpha, it's
> currently running on Amazon Web Services.  The code is also available
> at https://github.com/cga-harvard/cga-worldmap.  Any feedback you can
> give would be much appreciated.
>
> Many thanks to the GeoNode team for putting together a great platform
> and making this possible!
>
> ----------------------
> Matt Bertrand
> GIS Programmer
> Center for Geographic Analysis
> Harvard University
> 617-495-1168
> mbertrand@cga.harvard.edu
>
>
>
>

Yeah just yesterday I looked at the boston instance and really liked the
GetFeatureInfo implementation, as well as the layer selection panel.

Do you sync it regularly with GeoNode's master branch?

On Jan 14, 2011, at 12:09 PM, Ariel Nunez wrote:

> Do you sync it regularly with GeoNode's master branch?


I was syncing it with GeoNode every few days up until December, I'll  
likely sync it again early next week.

-Matt

Matt,
really awesome work!

Ciao
Luca

2011/1/14 Ariel Nunez <ingenieroariel@gmail.com>:
> Yeah just yesterday I looked at the boston instance and really liked the
> GetFeatureInfo implementation, as well as the layer selection panel.
> Do you sync it regularly with GeoNode's master branch?

-- 
Luca Casagrande
http://www.lucacasagrande.net
twitter: lucacasagrande