The EarthRanger PTP, Public Tracking Plaform, is an embeddable map that allows clients to customize and configure how they display animal tracking data in their own website using EarthRanger hosted collar data.
Users of EarthRanger had asked for a way to publish specific animal tracks on a seperate informational website with a look and feel similar to EarthRanger. With that request in mind, we built a widget platform, itself a map with tracks on it, that is ready to be placed in a customers marketing/informational/educational website. Like EarthRanger, the widget uses Mapbox to display a map and has internal functionality to display animal tracks, icons and an informational card.
The animal tracking data is provided by the client's EarthRanger server and this widget constructs a default map described below. Read the Configuration section below to learn more about customizing your map.
Prior to using this PTP, think about how you plan on building a web page around this widget. You will be hosting this widget/map in your own website. This widget is provided as a directory of files that is designed to be embedded into your web page utilizing an IFrame. A configuration file as described later defines basic attributes of the map as well as a place to enter a narrative including pictures of the animals you plan to showcase on your website.
See the location of Great White Sharks in this use of our PTP by (Sustainable Oceans Society)[https://www.sustainableoceansociety.co.nz/]
A website to host the widget - wordpress or some other way to host the widget in a webpage. Web developer expertise - this widget is delivered as a directory of javascript and supporting files. You will require someone with some expertise of setting up and deploying the PTP A mapbox account - this to host the map used by the PTP. There is a no cost plan for using Mapbox when you stay below 50K pageviews. If you think your map will go viral, we can help you contact Mapbox about your use for possible discount pricing. Animal list - in EarthRanger, we will help you setup a subject group that will be used in populating the list of animals display in the PTP. There is some setup too on our side to make their track data available. Contact EarthRanger Support when you are ready.
- Go to https://github.com/PADAS/er-map/releases and download the lastest release
- Copy the build directory from the download into the public folder of your source code
- Create an iFrame to embed the map into, letting the src variable be
src={`${process.env.PUBLIC_URL}/build/index.html`}
- Edit public/config/config.json in the build folder to specify your server name
- Run your website and see our default map
Next steps: finish personalizing your Earth Ranger Embeddable Map by filling out the remainder of config.json.
{
"server": <domain>,
"public_name": <public_name>,
"map_title": <name>,
"color_scheme": <"aquatic" | "earthtones" | [array of hex values]>,
"map": {
"center": [<longitude>, <latitude>],
"zoom": <number in range 0-22>,
"show_subject_names": <boolean for displaying labels under icons>,
"simplify_map_data": <boolean, when true hide icons as map is zoomed out>,
"map_icon_size": <number>
},
"subjects":
{
<subject id>:
{
"name": <subject name>,
"age": <subject age>,
"icon": <url/path to icon image (.png/.jpg only)>,
"pictures":
[
{
"path": <url/path to image (any extension supported by HTML)>
}
],
"fun_fact": <fun fact about the subject>,
"detail_description": <simple html content, wrapped in quotes>
}
}
}
* = required
- *server: the server we set up for you
- e.g.: "ermap-server-sandbox.pamdas.org"
- *public_name: name of public presentation of data, path on server to movement data
- map_title: the name of the map that appears in the legend
- default: "Animal Tracker"
- color_scheme: an array of hex colors used for bullets in the legend and displaying the track of the associated subject
- presets:
- "earthtones": shades of red/orange/brown
- "aquatic": shades of blue/green
- default: "earthtones"
- e.g.: ["#00374", "#005B70", "#219DB8", "#511913", "#711E17", "#961F1A"]
- presets:
- map.center: the initial center coordinates displayed on the map, [longitude, latitude]
- default: [-109.3666652, -27.1166662] (Easter Island)
- map.zoom: the initial zoom level of the map in the range 0-22, higher numbers are more zoomed out
- default: 11
- map.show_subject_names: a boolean for whether or not to diplay subject names below their icons on the map
- default: false
- map.simplify_map_data: a boolean for reducing icons on map as the map is zoomed out
- default: true
- map.map_icon_size: number to advise on the subject icon size
- default: 30
- <subject id>: the id of a subject in EarthRanger
- <subject id>.name: a new name for the subject
- default: the subject's name from EarthRanger
- <subject id>.age: the subject's age
- default: ""
- <subject id>.icon: an image to be used as the subject's icon on the map
- default: a photorealistic image of the animal based on its common_name from EarthRanger (if we have an associated image), otherwise its icon from EarthRanger
- must not be a .svg
- <subject id>.pictures.path: an image to be displayed in the subject's legend. The 1st image (if one is provided) is used in the subject's popup
- <subject id>.fun_fact: a short fun fact about the subject to be displayed in its popup
- default: ""
- detail_description: simple HTML content wrapped in a string to be displayed as a subject's story
- default: ""
The only required fields are the server domain and public_name, all other fields can be deleted or marked as null to use the default value.
To add more subjects, simply add another <subject id> and its associated data.
In order for a subject to have a story, it must either have picture(s) or a detailed description.
A few commands for local development
yarn install
yarn build
yarn start
Manasi Shah, Zage Strassberg-Phillips, Lauren Vreeken, Chris Jones