Wildwalks map based search tool - beta test

[wildwalks]

Hi Guys

I have finished coding a new search tool for the walks on wildwalks. I would appreciate some real life testing before I make it live.

Here is the link http://www.wildwalks.com/walk_search.html.

There is a link (on the right of the map) to an intro video, but hopefully the tool makes sense on its own.
Occasionally you may get "data may still be loading" message on the map. You can fix this by either zooming in, or clicking on the "share" link to refresh the page. This is a bug that I am working on.

I would love to here what you think, so fling me an e-mail to matt at wildwalks (with a dot) and the com.
Or I guess post a reply here, which ever you prefer.

Thanks for your help

Matt

[Son of a Beach]

That is very cool!

Just one thing - it took me a while to realise that the search results were appearing dynamically. I clicked the "Go" button and was waiting for something to happen, not realising that my search results were already there on the page. I don't know if there's any way to make it more obvious (to unobservant people like me).

[wildwalks]

That is very cool!

Just one thing - it took me a while to realise that the search results were appearing dynamically. I clicked the "Go" button and was waiting for something to happen, not realising that my search results were already there on the page. I don't know if there's any way to make it more obvious (to unobservant people like me).

Thanks Nik
Glad you like it.
Yeah the "Go" button really does nothing, but when testing it with people, they really kept looking for the search/go button. Maybe I need a "working...." div to pop up at the top of the list whilst the search is happening.
Thanks
Matt

[geoffmallo]

Great to have this feature Matt. I'll do a bit of testing and let you know. But this is a great addition to your site.

[buggeriamold]

Nice idea.

It doesnt work so well with my version of Internet Explorer.

The pop ups over the map come up randomly on mouse over & become stuck to the point where it isnt usable by me.

I am sure its just a versioning thing, & not a problem for most.

Mark

[wildwalks]

Nice idea.

It doesnt work so well with my version of Internet Explorer.

The pop ups over the map come up randomly on mouse over & become stuck to the point where it isnt usable by me.

I am sure its just a versioning thing, & not a problem for most.

Mark

Hi Mark
Thanks for the feedback
Can you let me know what version of Internet Explorer you are using, I will see if I can fix it. I tested against the most popular versions, but there are always funny quirks.
Thanks
Matt

[Lindsay]

This is great stuff Matt Works very smoothly for me (using IE8). Thanks for setting it up.

[wildwalks]

This is great stuff Matt Works very smoothly for me (using IE8). Thanks for setting it up.

Great stuff, Thanks Lindsay
Matt

[north-north-west]

It also works very well with Firefox. Impressive job.

[davidmorr]

Seems like it could be quite a useful tool, but does seem a bit rough at present.

Just to set the context, I typed in Yengo, and got 6 results. I'm using Safari 5.0.6 on Leopard.

1. When I roll the cursor over a walk, the search fields and the top half of the map are overwritten by a description of the walk. In order to see anything there, I need to close the description, which is not obvious as the text does not look like a window. I struggled with how to get rid of it for a while at first.

2. The description overlays the map which I might want to look at. Especially if I have already zoomed in to the local area. It also sometimes overlays the balloon that appears if I have clicked on a walk.

3. Sometimes the balloon is pointing off the map.

Could I suggest that you have only one set of info about each walk, either appearing when you roll over the walk or click on it. Further, I would suggest that the current description that appears after a rollover not overlay the map, but appear below the map. This would resolve items 1 and 2 above.

[wildwalks]

Thanks David
Greatly appreciate your clear feedback
I will have a bit more of a play with the interface and see if I can make it a bit more friendly, I think it does get cluttered very quickly.
Close, but not quiet there yet.
Thanks
Matt