Monday, November 06, 2006

Sierra Interactive Real Estate Maps

I've been working on a new real estate company project, called Sierra Interactive. From the site, "Sierra Interactive provides brokers and agents with a fully integrated marketing and lead-generation system that is seamlessly integrated into a new or existing web site."

I developed the mapping part of this web application, and the time devoted to it had left me little time to update Metro Mapper. However, I do hope to use some of the knowledge gleaned from this project to improve Metro Mapper in the coming months. In the meantime, take a look at the Sierra Interactive application, and contact them or contact me if you're in the real estate business and are interested in the product.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

New Feature: Center of Map

Now you can get results without typing in a street address! Select "Center of Map" on the left, then drag and zoom the map to your new location, marked by the "crosshair icon" .

This has been an often requested feature, and allows someone who's not familiar with the city to perform searches. Now you can check out a neighborhood or area of the city just by centering your crosshair over it and updating them map.

Maps Upgraded to Version 2

Today I've upgraded the Google Map code from Version 1 to Version 2 for all 6 maps, improving a number of key features:
  1. If you use the Satellite or Hybrid views, you can now zoom 2 levels deeper so you can clearly see each and every building. In each popup there is a new "binocular icon" that lets you zoom in all the way.

  2. The maps all work better in Internet Explorer, although the Firefox browser still displays the maps faster.

  3. The Hide/Show feature on the left of the map works quicker and with a greater viewing area.

  4. Popup display issues with the Opera broswer are now fixed.

Sunday, April 30, 2006

One Month Since Launch: Visitors from 6 Continents

Metro Mapper Beta has been live for 30 days now, and we've gotten 1,422 absolutely unique visitors, with hits from all 6 populated continents. Thanks for everyone's support. We've taken some of your feedback and are already working on new features which will be launching in May.

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Updated Map: Restaurants

The restaurants map has been updated with the most recent data. This will probably only be updated once a month in the future, since the scores and the restaurants don't change that often. I did notice that some restuarants that previously had questionable scores have now cleared their name.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

New Map: Historic Sites

A new map is now live on Metro Mapper showing all registered historic sites from the National Historic Registry. This is one of dozens of maps that will be coming soon, and first one to be added since the launch a week ago. I hope you enjoy it and discover something about the history of your neighborhood. And please, tell your friends.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Comments and Kudos

I'm happy to report a few people that have picked up the launch and posted comments about Metro Mapper on their blogs. Thanks everyone!

1. Google Maps Mania [link]

A site I've been following closely since its inception has to say:

"Here is a great Google Maps implementation for the city of Louisville, Kentucky. It packs in maps for Crime, Sex Offenders, Traffic Cams, Homes for Sale and Restaurants. The use of info-windows is quite unique in this mashup."


2. Glenn Letham at Anything Geospacial [link]

He says:

"...enter Metro Mapper. The application offers quick links to auto generated mashups themed on events like crime locations, sex offenders, traffic maps, and restaurants. Very nice..."

3. Garrett French at Search Engine Lowdown [link]

He calls it out by saying:

"Louisville, KY (my hometown) Google Maps mashup!!"

4. The Boston Globe - Starts and Stops Blog [link]

Mac Daniel wants the same site for Boston, especially the traffic cams:

"Why don't we have something like this? Louisville has this very thorough traffic site, with multiple camera position laid over a detailed roadway map.

5. Japanese MSN Space Blog - (in Japanese)[link]

Not sure what is being said, but they call out the traffic cams and sex offender maps.

Updated Map: Sex Offenders

This afternoon I updated the Sex Offender Map with the most recent data available. Initially I will post when these updates happen. In the future they will be updated on a schedule, so I won't have to post a message every time.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Feedback from the Weekend

Thanks to everyone for the dozens of emails and comments about the site. Most were positive, but some people noticed SQL errors which prevented certain address searches from working. There were also some Opera browser issues, and of course, typos.

The SQL errors and typos reported have been fixed, and I apologize for any inconvenience. I'm looking at the Opera issue which affects the display of the popups.

Please continue to forward to your friends and colleagues and use the "Contact Us" form on the site to report any other issues. Thanks!

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Metro Mapper is Live (Beta)

After 7 months of work, the Louisville Metro Mapper is having its birthday. The public launch of the site is today. It will be in beta (testing) form for a while until I get some feedback from people like you and find a way to keep the data continuously updated. Enjoy, pass this message on to your all of your friends and family, and let us know what you think!

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Teaser Page

A very sparse teaser page has been put up on the site now to hopefully generate some interest and traffic. Enjoy the pretty colors until we launch the Public Beta phase.

Monday, March 06, 2006

Metro Mapper is Version 6 Alpha

The Metro Mapper website is going through its final finishing touches before hitting the Beta stage and being made public. Check back in a few days for a launch announcement.