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05 Site debuts new "Where Are We Now?" map
July 21, 2010
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Now you can view locations of 05s on a beautifully rendered Google Map
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Continuing the Class of 2005's long-standing tradition of leadership through technology, the Class of 2005 Website debuts today a dynamically updating "Where Are We Now?" map.
The map shows the locations of nearly every 05 in the class on a Google Map that is draggable, zoomable, and dynamic. 05s can zoom in and out on the map to find classmates in their area or in a particular area of the country that they have an interest in.
"Becka and I are moving to Austin, TX in a couple of weeks, and I wanted to be able to quickly see what other 05s were in the area," said Webmaster Morgan Brown. "This helps me do that."
If multiple 05s share the same address - for example, roommates or married couples - they will all appear listed under the same red marker.
05s can update their address by clicking a link above the map. They can also search for other 05s using the search tool, but Brown cautions that it's still in beta.
"We debuted a social networking platform 5 years ago, but it didn't really catch on," Brown said. "The search is largely a relic of that. I'm trying to revamp some features
to make them more accessible and useful, but haven't finished yet."
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Multiple 05s living in the same apartment show up with one tag |
The new Where Are We Now? map replaces what was a mainly text-based version, allowing users to click through continents, countries, states, and cities to find other 05s in the same city. Brown felt that version was limited.
"05s that lived in Boston wouldn't necessarily see the proximity of their classmates in Cambridge," Brown said. "But now you can easily tell by looking at the map how close other 05s are to you."
The page doesn't show you addresses for any 05s - only their location on the map. Still, Brown felt that there could be privacy concerns and so password protected the entire page. 05s will need to sign in using their VOX ID (Blitzmail username & password).
There are still some kinks to be worked out, Brown said.
"The way Google renders the points on the map is a little slow, so the map takes 10-15 seconds to load even on a fast connection."
Brown also notes that,
"one interesting feature is that the site recognizes where you are in the world by your IP address and centers the map on that location. But sometimes the site struggles picking up the user's IP. I set it up so that it defaults to NYC because there are just so many 05s located there, it's kind of impressive."
05s can view the map by visiting dartmouth.org/~class05/whereAreWeNow.php and logging in with their blitzmail account info.
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