One of the advantages of using a fully hosted Web GIS is that we can deploy new versions of the application quickly and with minimal disruption to the user. Gone are the days of waiting years for new updates to be released and then having to install them on every single computer at a cost of thousands!
With District Online, as soon as we make changes to the application, you can see them immediately. This means we regularly make updates and apply new functionality without disrupting your work.
So the end of March brings one of these updates, and while the mapping interface itself may not appear to have changed much, we have made some fundamental changes in the administration panels and the core back-end code. Let's take a look at all the changes we've made.
There are a few things in District Online mapping interface that you will notice. Firstly, the left panel where the options to choose base layers (such as Aerial Photography and Ordnance Survey mapping) can now be undocked to present an easier view of the base layers, as well as the GIS layers such as Tree Preservation Orders or Flood Map zones.
What's more, you can now expand and collapse these groups of layers to give you a clearer view of the GIS information that is available to you.
For staff at Bath & North East Somerset Council you will also notice that there are many more layers to choose from. This is an ongoing programme to give more staff access to more information, all through the simple District Online interface. So if you notice that your department's data is not in District Online yet, make arrangements with your GIS team and you can benefit from sharing your data with your colleagues.
Now I won't go into detail on the administration panel updates because the majority of people won't have access to them, but the key functionality changes allow the administrator to create these new groups of GIS layers and assign them to users. These layers can now be assigned custom colours, symbols and labels based on their attributes and data types.
So, as ever, have a look at the updated District Online and hopefully you'll be using it every day!
Any comments or suggestions, drop us a note in the User Forum (currently in need of some input!) and one of our team will reply.
We have just published a new Google Chrome Web App that allows users to quickly gain access to the Web GIS. Click here to go to the Web Store (if you're using Chrome).
By installing the Web App in your Chrome browser you will have a large link that will take you to the homepage. If you are already logged in then it will take you straight to the mapping.
Although Google Chrome only accounts for approx 10% of traffic to our Web GIS, we'd like to promote the use of the newer modern browsers such as Internet Explorer 8 and 9, Firefox, Safari and Chrome. These new browsers support modern webpage formatting and allow us to implement clever functionality that is not possible in browsers like Internet Explorer 6 which is 10 years old this year!
Today we have a stand at the "Redesigning Local Services" event at the Barbican Centre in London. We'll be demonstrating our District Online and Parish Online web applications as well as showing some of the new mapping products we supply; obliques, 3D building models and height data.
The event is being held in the large greenhouse in the Barbican exhibition centre. I'm surrounded by palm trees, tropical birds and there are streams of koi carp. Certainly not the most normal venue but cool nonetheless!
If you're heading to the event come and see us, and if not get in touch!
As I write this we are in the process of launching our new Web GIS Portal. It's only been 3 months since we launched the first page design, and indeed the Web GIS itself, but a lot of progress has been made since then.
This new design aims to keep the users of our Web GIS well informed of new developments and examples of how the product is being used. This Blog will include posts from myself (Chris Mewse) as well as other members of the Web GIS team. We may also bring in guest bloggers from our customers or partners of Getmapping.
We urge you to register for the User Forum as we hope this will become the primary location for posting suggestions, issues/bugs and tips that you'd like to share with other users.
Our Tutorials page will be populated with useful videos from all aspects of our Web GIS, spatial data warehouse and Map Streaming Service. This page will be useful for newcomers to the product, or veterans looking for tips on using new features.
Please explore the new content on the site and don't forget to report back if you spot things that are missing or just plain wrong!
