XPlot
XPlot is the trademarked name given to the mapping engine developed by Tim Harincar and used in SailBlogs.
>== History == XPlot was developed in 2001 to support various expeditions that were using an early version of XJournal. The basic idea was to build a mapping engine that would allow each expedition project to have a custom map that not only fit into the design of the overall website, but was scaled and marked with information relevant to the project. For example, to show an ocean crossing or polar expedition where existing web maps of the time had no data.
At the time, various expeditions laid out the basic requirements for a map: both manual and automatic position reports, links to blog posts, point history and various distance computations were required, and all remain in the system today.
Contents
Added into SailBlogs
In 2005, XPlot was built into the first version of SailBlogs as an obvious feature to advanced users. The major difference at this point was the construction of standard maps that would be used by many users as opposed to the fully custom maps that were previously used. New maps were developed specifically for sailors to for an emphasis on long-distance ocean travel.
Key Features
Blog Integration
XPlot map points can be linked in various ways to associated blog posts. The default SailBlogs maps first show a summary balloon with the first bit of a blog post and thumbnail image, allowing the visitor to see the post information before clicking to the full blog post. This feature allows visitors to browse blog by geographic location.
Point History
The XPlot Manager allows points to be added in with any date, allowing back filling of the map to fully document past positions.
Automatic Position Reports
XPlot supports receiving position reports from a number of devices & systems, including Inmarsat M/Mini-M, Inmarsat C, Inmarsat D+, ARGOS, SPOT tracker, SailMail, XGate/Ocens and SailBlogsVR.
Google Earth Support
In 2005 with the major release of Google Earth, SailBlogs was one of the first blogging systems, if not THE first (1 2), to embrace this method of displaying geographical information related to blog posts. An obvious extension of the base XPlot maps, Google Earth provides the visitor with unprecedented detail of an XPlot history and related blog entries.
Configuration
User controllable settings are handled by the XPlot Manager which is part of the SailBlogs Administration.
Map Description
XPlot maps are Mercator Projections.
References
- Making Google Earth integration seamless, Ogle Earth, 2006-04-04
- Sailblogs.com Supports Google Earth, Google Earth Blog, 2006-04-06
