New GiS for History site

[Stephen Woodbridge]

Hi Ben,

I get a javascript error:

doctopicsEl has no properties   gishistory.js (line 113)

And the Loading...111.109  message continues far longer than I was 
willing to wait. How far does it have to get on the initial load?

-Steve


Ben Loh wrote:
> Hi folks,
> 
> I just thought I'd share our new web site prototype for exploring 
> historical census data intended for high school and college students. 
> Obviously, it's based on mapserver.  We're using php-mapscript with AJAX 
> for the interface.  I'd be very interested in any input that any of you 
> have, as we're not GIS pros.
> 
> The main url:   <http://www.gisforhistory.org/>
> 
> A direct link to a map: 
> <http://www.gisforhistory.org/projects/greatmigration/?defaultView=map>
> 
> 
> A few highlights:
> 
> * We're using historically accurate county maps from NHGIS along with 
> historical US census data from 1790 through 1970, and a few layers that 
> we constructed ourselves.  (One big issue we have right now is that we 
> aren't using simplified shape files for the counties, so the load time 
> is rather slow.  My guess is that we can cut down the load time by about 
> half with simpler shapes.).
> 
> * To help students keep track of what they're doing, we implemented a 
> "Query History" that records each click/setting they make ala 
> Photoshop's history feature.
> 
> * You can pan ala google maps by dragging the map.  (We're still 
> troubleshooting a problem with Win IE where if you have the "Temporary 
> Internet Files" setting set to "Every visit to the page" we run into 
> caching issues while dragging).
> 
> * We're using AJAX to try to minimize bandwidth issues, as many schools 
> have a narrow pipe.  (We're still trying to optimize loading. The legend 
> is generated dynamically via javascript and css to minimize the number 
> of files that need to be downloaded from the server with any single call).
> 
> * The site is intended for novices, so it is deliberately simple.
> 
> We'd love to hear any suggestions or rants!
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Ben
>