Flex and Google Maps
We’ve tentatively chosen two applications to run our visualizations: Adobe Flex, which would handle netMap and chronoMap, and Google Maps, which would run geoMap (probably with a Flex overlay).
The choice for netMap and chronoMap was a tough one. There are few nice, open source tools out there, including prefuse, Simile Timeline, and Simile Exhibit. All of these are free, and very much in the spirit of Phylo. But each has its drawbacks, and using three different tools to run visualizations might slow down loading time and make integrating displays difficult. There’s also some worries about getting any Java-based tools to perform reliably in different browsers.
Flex overcomes a lot of these worries. It runs in a Flash environment (which is standard across all browsers) and it allows us to implement netMap and chronoMap in a single application. It also has some neat animated transitions, which you can see at http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flex/samples/dashboard/dashboard.html.
The choice to go with Google Maps API was a bit easier. The application is constantly being expanded, and there are lots of ways to customize it for our needs. Ideally, we’ll overlay some Flex elements on Google Maps, but it’s hard to say where that technology will be by the time we launch.
At any rate, you can expect to see some slick and consistent visualizations run by Flex.
drupal implementation 20Nov2007
Phylo will run on drupal, an open source content management system (CMS). After a few months of development, we’ve realized the need for several things:
- a robust tracking system that can record additions and changes, including user information and comments on why changes are being made,
- a secure sign-in area for user information,
- a search engine with advanced capabilities, and
- a general system that can be updated without heavy time investment in new coding.
drupal is one of the leading CMSes and will be able to meet all of these needs, and more. One of the most user-friendly features will be a site-wide login system. Once you’re signed in through the website, blog, or forum, you’ll automatically be signed in to the other two as well, allowing you to upload or change information, make comments, and post messages without addition logins. Hopefully this will help to encourage discussion on information, since the forum will always be one click away through the main menu.
drupal will also come in handy long-term as well. Once the core visualizations and functions are complete, we’ll be able to export a Phylo drupal module for use in other fields. So when someone in (say) English or sociology wants to create a Phylo in their own discipline, they’ll just need to install drupal and then activate the Phylo module.
