Move UI for MapBox GeoData Cloud

tilemill-project / tilemill

TileMill is a modern map design studio

https://tilemill-project.github.io/tilemill/

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Move UI for MapBox GeoData Cloud #926

Open gundersen opened 12 years ago

gundersen commented 12 years ago

@Willwhite @dhcole, What do you two think about moving the link to MapBox's Cloud out where more people will see it?

dhcole commented 12 years ago

I think we're gonna need to do this as we expand the data browser to include more than just shapefiles. I think it should also be at the top. I could see this working in the following way:

Clicking add layer takes you to the mapbox data browser, but you can click file, sqlite, or postgis to add custom data
Once you select a layer in the mapbox data browser, it populates the relavant field in the sqlite or file tab
- For sqlite, if you select spatial data, it loads as the primary layer; if you select tabular data it loads as an attachment (or prompts you to pick spatial data first)
when you edit a layer, you're taken directly to file or sqlite tab where the data is entered, so basically the mapbox data tab just helps you find public data and pre-populates the other tabs
we should also build out metadata for datasets in the mapbox browser

willwhite commented 12 years ago

Cool ideas. We should define the idea of MapBox data a little more before making UI decisions about it. This is actionable once there is a plan for making MapBox data section navigable enough to be "the default" method of adding data.

The big one @dhcole already mentioned: metadata that explains what you are looking at.

gundersen commented 12 years ago

Not sure if this is the best approach, just an idea - let me restate the problem:

People don't find/use the data browser.
(to Dave's point) we now have different kinds of data (shape + sqlite) both being listed under MabBox Cloud.

Thoughts?

jeffreyameyer commented 12 years ago

As a n00b, the current MapBox layers are too buried & definitely seem out of place in "files." Cloud should be on the same level as File / dbflava1 / dbflava2. For that matter, so should favorites - what if 1 of my faves is a PG db, one is a local file, etc. For that matter, if "File" is a top level segmentation, why have two separate "db" items listed?

Recommended top level: File | SQLite | PostGIS | MapBox | Favorites

And, on this point, I'm not sure the average newbie user understands the difference across "dos-lsib-201109," "natural-earth-1.3.0," and "natural-earth-1.4.0."

jeffreyameyer commented 12 years ago

Also, I understand the interest in figuring out the larger "correct" answer, but I'd encourage making some small changes sooner.