3 replies to this topic

[muesli]

We have done an online map design for a customer in South Tyrol recently:
http://sentres.com/s.......m=12&type=0

We are no cartographers so there's probably a zillion beginner type errors there. Nevertheless I'd love to hear your opinions!

Some notes:

• Map features vary strongly from zoom level to zoom level (see zoom level number in URL)
• Focus on outdoor information such as hiking paths (red & dashed), cable cars, summitts and cottages
• Elevation model not color coded, just shades of grey
• Map is meant to provide the background for markers (just switch on some categories in the top menu)

We have no influence on the geo data, only on selection and representation of features. I'm particularily not sure about the colors. What do you think?

PS. I hope this is the right place for that! I'm new here.

[Kathi]

That's a nice web map. I think you should somehow tone down the A22. It's ok in an overview zoom level, but once you zoom in I think it's too bright. Maybe you could switch how you display it at a certain zoom level.

I like how you add more detail (like forest) with increasing zoom level, but not all colours are intuitive: What's the dark grey near some mountain peaks like Petz and Burgstall, but also in other areas? Rocks? I just noticed that green isn't forest but rather meadow. Again, that's not intuitive, without further explanation I assume green is forest, while open land is white, water bodies are blue etc.

I like how you solved overcrowding of symbols with the little zoom-in windows like in cities or with symbols moving to the side when you hover the mouse over them (like with many hiking trails in the same area). But I'm not sure I like the direct links to shop's or hotel's websites when clicking on their symbols. I'd prefer a popup with a link to "more information" that opens a new browser window or tab. (I clicked on some symbols accidentally, then had to use my browsers back button to get back to the map, and then the symbols - although turned on - wouldn't show any longer. (I'm on safari, maybe that's browser dependant, but you should look into that at some time. )

When hovering over a hiking symbol the suggested trail is highlighted in the map, that's nice. I'd love the possibility to zoom to that trail (or view it in it's entire length.

Overall: It's a great start, makes me think about planning my next holidays in Südtirol!

[Gretchen Peterson]

Kathi probably gave you some great tips on color and whatnot but I just wanted to pipe in and say I think the map is great! I am particularly enamored with the little round icons set on top of the gray bar to indicate different layers (or groups of layers, rather).

Minor point: It appears as though the min zoom level is the point at which the site presents the map at first load. When I clicked to zoom out no additional territory was revealed. Perhaps a min zoom level could be set to avoid that.

[skorasaurus]

But I'm not sure I like the direct links to shop's or hotel's websites when clicking on their symbols. I'd prefer a popup with a link to "more information" that opens a new browser window or tab. (I clicked on some symbols accidentally, then had to use my browsers back button to get back to the map, and then the symbols - although turned on - wouldn't show any longer. (I'm on safari, maybe that's browser dependant, but you should look into that at some time. )

For me (Firefox 7, Ubuntu Linux), the symbols were toggled off after I had clicked on one of them in the map itself and then hit 'back' in firefox. In my case, the symbols would display once again after I had toggled them back on.

But overall, I likethe map a lot !

A couple minor suggestions or questions:

Is a scale possible ?

A couple questions though:

What do the gray solid lines with 4 digital numbers represent ? Elevation ?
What do the orange dashed lines represent ? Trails ?