This now means that schools are shown on the map, allowing for users to see where they are located within the area they are searching.

Denoted by a a new icon, Infant, Primary and Secondary schools are each highlighted with a link to their latest Ofsted Report.

We will soon be rolling this new feature out to our client’s websites on a site by site basis.

mappr.co.uk outlines what mappr can do for different industries that require the plotting of porperties or locations, as well as related data, on a Goolge styled map.

mappr.co.uk has a simple, clean look that means the user can quickly gauge whether or not our service is for them.

For current LivePropertyMap.com clients, this purchase now means the full consolidation of existing online services under one roof at Kaweb.

The benefits of this include:

• single port of call for the provision of all of your sites’ online activity
• speedier maintenance / support for mapping issues
• new mapping features to be rolled out in the next 12 months

New owner, new name

With the integration of LivePropertyMap.com into the Kaweb fold, we are also taking the opportunity to rebrand the LivePropertyMap.com service into one that will now be known as mappr.

mappr is a product name we have already started using, and one we think more reflects the global nature of our mapping service (as well as being less of a tongue twister!).

However, due to there being no need for a commercial license, and the superior amount of support available (including the excellent Mike Williams tutorials), we at Kaweb plumped for Google Maps for our new service, mappr.

The service will be primarily used to plot estate agents’ properties on a map, allowing potential homebuyers to see what real estate is available in a given area. The aims of the project were:

-    Automatic geocoding from postcode data in order to plot the markers
-    Summarise property info in a panel rather than the default info bubble
-    Real-time updating on map movement or criteria change

Automatic Geocoding

Geocoding is simply the process of turning an address into a set of latitude-longtude co-ordinates. In the case of property, we intended to essentially convert the postcode into co-ordinates, to be stored in the database. However, due to the Royal Mail’s copyright, this requires payment. There are attempts at an open database, though this remains incomplete.

Google do offer a free geocoding service via their Maps API but the UK results are somewhat variable, over a mile off in some instances. The solution was somewhat surprising – simply use another of Google’s APIs – the AJAX Search API, in Local Search mode. Using the REST interface, we were able to retrieve accurate JSON-encoded data that was simply parsed and stored. Example PHP code:

$postcode = 'WS13 6TJ';
$url = "http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/services/search/local?v=1.0&q=".urlencode($postcode);
// Note how referrer is set manually
$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_REFERER, "http://www.kaweb.co.uk/");
$body = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
// Now, process the JSON string
$json = json_decode($body);
// Latitude: $json->responseData->results[0]->lat
// Longitude: $json->responseData->results[0]->lng


Display summary panel on click

Rather than use the native information bubble GInfoWindow, which we felt was rather uninspiring, we wanted to display a semi-transparent panel overlaid on the map. The key to this was to inject the HTML into the map’s holding div once the map content had been loaded. For example, using the markup below as the document’s starting HTML would mean anything within the “map” div (i.e. mappr_panel) gets overlaid when the map is rendered.

<div id="map"><div id="mappr_panel">Panel Contents</div><div>

Instead, we used our Javascript framework of choice, jQuery, in conjunction with a marker click listener.

// Create a marker called our_marker here
Event.addListener(our_marker, 'click', function(){
var contents = 'Marker ID: ' + our_marker.id;
show_panel(contents); });

function show_panel(contents){
var panel = '<div id="mappr_panel">\
' + contents + ' \
<\/div>';

$('#map').append(panel); // Puts the panel div inside the map div...
}


NOTE: jQuery’s remove() function was then used when we wanted to hide this panel.

Real-time updating on map change or criteria change

We needed the map to reload properties (incidentally we used an AJAX approach) and redraw following either a map movement (e.g. zoom, pan), or a change in search criteria.

The first was a simple case of :

GEvent.addListener(map, 'moveend', redraw_map);    // Call redraw_map() on drag / pan / zoom end

The second however, required the function to be triggered following a form change. Again, jQuery was used. By simply including class="onchange" on form elements that may change, we could harness jQuery’s selector syntax to actually apply the onchange event.

$(document).ready( function(){
$('.onchange').change(redraw_map);
}

The finished product can be seen by performing a map search at http://www.chartex.co.uk.

Kaweb have developed a new online mapping service that enables properties to be shown on a Google-styled map.

The application, dubbed mappr, has been developed in-house and is designed to work with existing client sites (such as our estate agents) as well as be integrated into other service industries that require this type of solution.

Database driven, the software makes use of information we already hold for existing Kaweb-hosted clients. Where a client is not hosted by Kaweb, the data can easily be imported into our systems via feeds from third party sites/suppliers.

mappr features include:

• Zoom functionality
• Map/satellite/hybrid toggling
• Intelligent information overlay

Tailored to suit, Kaweb can build any data-specific requirements into the map and style accordingly.

Estate Agent Property Mapping

The new service will mean more intuitive property searches for users. Allowing them to search and display properties from their chosen criteria quickly, and furnish them with all the necessary property details, will be a real time saver.

The screen shot below shows how the software can be applied to a commercially-based agent (with many property types).

Other Applications

Any online service that requires the placement of a property/service on a map can make use of this software. These could include housebuilders, developers, UK-based retail outlets and any service requiring location-based search results.

mappr Updates

Planned updates include a client admin area and property clustering as well as more end-user enhancements – so look out for more from mappr!

www.mappr.co.uk