[Mapserver-users] map of mapserver users and providers

[Joe Bussell]

The replies I have recieved on and off group suggest that this is a good 
idea.  I have also obtained permission to go ahead from my boss.  I will 
craft up a first pass at an data input form.  There has been some 
suggestions which will have to be thought out.

One suggestion was to separate the data based on users vs. professional 
development houses.  Users could be any user of mapserver, while 
developers would include individuals or firms involved with providing 
GIS solutions via mapserver.  This seems like a good plan as it would 
provide a portal for folks searching for developers in their area.

The other major suggestion was to include the information in a WMS/WFS 
format.  I am uneasy about this, though I am not really sure why.  I 
would be happy to hear any pros/cons.

My intention will be to use our geocoder from TrafficDodger to provide 
the answer to "where is my nearest 'n' developers?".  The user input 
will be derived from either a map click or a text field.

The form fields I am considering are:
Name		
Affiliation	
Location	(lat,lon)
URL
Summary		(small html paragraph to describe projects or services)

I do not wish to turn this into a matrix of specialties indicating if a 
particular group provides PHP or PostGIS deveopment.  That is where the 
URL and summary comes in.  On a search I will return a table of 
providers/users in order of great circle distances.

Comments?  Suggestions?

Cordially,

Joe Bussell
www.TrafficDodger.com



Joe Bussell wrote:
> I would like to create a map of the users of Mapserver.  The plan is to 
> take something like http://www.trafficdodger.com/perl/warp.cgi and make 
> a similar page with user's locations plotted.  This could easily turn 
> into a regional developer locater...
> 
> If there is interest I will craft up a form to input the data.  If 
> enough people participate I will create the map and associated locater 
> service.
> 
> Cordially,
> 
> Joe Bussell
> www.trafficdodger.com
> 
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