Hi Sarah

Although the subject matter is clearly very close to my day job, I'll respond first in a personal capacity.  But on both fronts it sounds like an interesting project.

As others will no doubt concur (or perhaps refute?!) this is something I feel that would be imminently 'doable' in Wordpress.  There are some very neat geo plugins that would link this to Google Maps.

I think though the first questions, before the choice of hosting/technology, are ones around information architecture, user journeys, user generated vs editorial content, what constitutes a tree vs a type (I'm not sure when you have written 'tree' you mean a single specimen or a species/cultivar) etc etc.  And you could even consider whether it needs complex functionality on its own website at all - I could see one solution using Flickr and its API, for example, and just delivering the final maps on the site.

If you happen to be anywhere near Kew I'd be happy to chat through things over lunch.

Regards, James

----------------------------------------------------------------------
James Morley                       [log in to unmask]
Website Manager                    Tel. +44 (0)20 8332 5759
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew         www.kew.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------------


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> Sarah Jenkins
> Sent: 02 March 2011 13:57
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Tree Website
> 
> Hello
> 
> I am setting up a website to provide user friendly information on fruit
> trees in public property in London.  I am not a techie (but will learn
> to
> be one) and would appreciate any advice that anyone can offer.
> 
> The basic idea is that all the fruit trees in London would be plotted
> on
> an online map.  People would be able to search this data by postcode
> and/or by type of tree/fruit.  The search would then display on a map
> each
> instance of that fruit in the vicinity of the area they searched.
> 
> I would like this site to be as educational as possible, so each fruit
> tree will provide a link for the user to learn more about the tree,
> with
> photographs, descriptions, history, folklore, recipes and growing tips.
> 
> I am particularly looking for advice on:
> a) buying web space and a web domain (any idea as to how much space
> would
> I need and do I need to decide how much from the start or can I
> generally
> acquire more later?), and any recommended providers of either;
> b) recommended programmes to use
> c) recommended programming courses (or books) that would useful to this
> project;
> d) any advice as to which map software to use (I am leaning towards
> Openstreetmap and Ordnance Survey - I would prefer to stick with
> something
> available under a Creative Commons licence)
> 
> These are massive questions, but any advice, tips or leads would be
> really
> useful.
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> Sarah
> [log in to unmask]
> 07946 470 960
> 
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