Create Zoomable & Interactive Maps with jQuery
Each location on the map would be represented by a bullet. Clicking the bullet would bring up more information on the location. Since the locations of the bullets tended to be highly clustered, zooming into select sub-regions was possible.
Limitations
This was originally developed for one project with very specific requirements. While I have taken the time to generalize that code into a plugin, I have not made it as generic as I would have liked and will do more in the future to improve it given enough interest. Here is a list of its current biggest limitations:
- Data Required In Plugin Setup – Ideally all of the required data would be stored in the html pages that drive the bullets. This would allow a CMS to more easily generate additional depth levels without needing to play with the javascript. All that is required in the js now is an array of the sub-regions along with their dimensioning data.
- Data Accessibility Unaddressed – The plugin currently does nothing on its own to make content available to search engines and those with disabilities. This is left up to the developer to do, though it shouldn’t be too challenging since the plugin requires all of the data to be expressed in html.
- API – Right now it is impossible to programatically interact with the map once it is launched. Eventually it will have a simple API to assist in navigation and other manipulations.
Even with these limitations, this is ready for production and is being used on several sites as seen above in the demos.
Screenshot
Requirements: jQuery Framework
Demos, Download & More Info page: http://www.newmediacampaigns.com/page/a-jquery-plugin…
License: MIT License
