Introduction to Neogeography

Making Some Maps

Using the techniques and tools covered previously, we can gather locations appropriate to your project. The following information will help create maps of this data.

Depending on your goal and audience, there are several ways to produce a map. There are many excellent free, open source, or commercial programs that allow you to load your own data, generate a web page, or even print your maps for offline use. You can also use web sites to generate code for embedding maps and location interfaces into your own web sites or generate an entire site. Lastly we will talk about the lower-level tools you can use to program your own maps.

Mapmaking Web Sites

Many web sites provide a way for users to easily make and maintain maps. Some sites merely collect locations and share the map on their service. Other sites help embed the maps in your own site.

Platial has gained attention as a leading social mapping site. Its primary purpose is providing a location where users can create sets of locations and share them with other users. Viewers can then check out these user-suggested locations, such as Parks in Washington, D.C. (http://platial.com/search?what=park|parks|outdoor|patio|hiking|biking|hike|bike|trail|trails&where=Washington,%20DC)

It is easy to create a map using Platial. After establishing an account, click "Make a Map" and provide a title, description, and optional icon. On the Map Creation page you can add locations. To get close to your location, enter an address, and then ...