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Yesterday, we wrote about the benefits of publishing interactive maps and showed you several examples of work being done around GateHouse with embedded maps to drive reader engagement. Today, we will show you several more examples and ideas you could launch in your own newsrooms.
There are many applications for maps. For a fire, accident or other single-plot event, you can use the basic mapping feature in Zope [see bottom for instructions]. But as you saw yesterday and will see in the examples below, there are many other possibilities to use maps for breaking news, big events and standing features.
If you have more examples you would like to share or have any questions, please contact Chris Biondi at cbiondi@gatehousemedia.com.
1] This first example comes from the Rockford Register Star. On April 14 at about 10:10 p.m., the city of Rockford and Winnebago county 911 centers were inundated with phone calls reporting a large meteor. Assistant manager editor/multimedia Chris Soprych created the map below and updated it throughout the day. "I added the smoke trail by lining up Doppler radar imagery on the the Google map," he said.
View Meteor path in a larger map
2] This second example from Rockford shows how you can plot a big event, making it easier for readers to plan their activities for, in this case, a spring arts festival. "It’s better than what the Arts Council does because it puts all the events on one map making it easier to plan your day," said Chris.
View ArtScene locations, Fall 2009 in a larger map
3] This is a great example of an ongoing feature at the Utica, N.Y., Observer-Dispatch. Public Eye runs weekly in print, but the map of neighborhood issues lives 24-7 at http://www.uticaod.com/publiceye. "We use this one for our weekly feature Public Eye," said multimedia team editor William Cannon. "We focus on reader reported problems in the area and find out what officials have to say about them. We have had a remarkably good rate of change on issues that have been brought forward."
View Public Eye 2010 in a larger map
4] This final example comes from the Messenger Post Media Group in Canandaigua, N.Y. Online editor Ryan Williamson set up this great public service map, highlighting summer construction projects in Monroe County.
View Monroe County Construction Map in a larger map
How to add a Google map in Zope and relate to a story
1. Click “Add,” then “Add Location.”
2. Fill in “Title” field and “Description” area (optional)
3. Fill in fields on right side.
- a. Geocode (optional)
- b. Address line 1
- c. Address line 2 (optional)
- d. City
- e. State
- f. Zip code
- g. Webpage url (optional)
- h. Contact e-mail (optional)
- i. Contact phone (optional)
- j. Contact fax (optional)
4. Click “Save Draft.”
5. Find story that map will be related to in Zope.
6. Click on “Add Related” on story page. Find the ‘location’ you created and select it.
7. Publish story as normal.
Yesterday, we wrote about the benefits of publishing interactive maps and showed you several examples of work being done around GateHouse with embedded maps to drive reader engagement. Today, we will show you several more examples and ideas you could launch in your own newsrooms.
There are many applications for maps. For a fire, accident or other single-plot event, you can use the basic mapping feature in Zope [see bottom for instructions]. But as you saw yesterday and will see in the examples below, there are many other possibilities to use maps for breaking news, big events and standing features.
If you have more examples you would like to share or have any questions, please contact Chris Biondi at cbiondi@gatehousemedia.com.
1] This first example comes from the Rockford Register Star. On April 14 at about 10:10 p.m., the city of Rockford and Winnebago county 911 centers were inundated with phone calls reporting a large meteor. Assistant manager editor/multimedia Chris Soprych created the map below and updated it throughout the day. "I added the smoke trail by lining up Doppler radar imagery on the the Google map," he said.
View Meteor path in a larger map
2] This second example from Rockford shows how you can plot a big event, making it easier for readers to plan their activities for, in this case, a spring arts festival. "It’s better than what the Arts Council does because it puts all the events on one map making it easier to plan your day," said Chris.
View ArtScene locations, Fall 2009 in a larger map
3] This is a great example of an ongoing feature at the Utica, N.Y., Observer-Dispatch. Public Eye runs weekly in print, but the map of neighborhood issues lives 24-7 at http://www.uticaod.com/publiceye. "We use this one for our weekly feature Public Eye," said multimedia team editor William Cannon. "We focus on reader reported problems in the area and find out what officials have to say about them. We have had a remarkably good rate of change on issues that have been brought forward."
View Public Eye 2010 in a larger map
4] This final example comes from the Messenger Post Media Group in Canandaigua, N.Y. Online editor Ryan Williamson set up this great public service map, highlighting summer construction projects in Monroe County.
View Monroe County Construction Map in a larger map
How to add a Google map in Zope and relate to a story
1. Click “Add,” then “Add Location.”
2. Fill in “Title” field and “Description” area (optional)
3. Fill in fields on right side.
- a. Geocode (optional)
- b. Address line 1
- c. Address line 2 (optional)
- d. City
- e. State
- f. Zip code
- g. Webpage url (optional)
- h. Contact e-mail (optional)
- i. Contact phone (optional)
- j. Contact fax (optional)
4. Click “Save Draft.”
5. Find story that map will be related to in Zope.
6. Click on “Add Related” on story page. Find the ‘location’ you created and select it.
7. Publish story as normal.
