Guardian's n0tice launches free Maptastica tool

The Guardian's n0tice project has launched a free mapping tool.

Maptastica has already been used internally by the Guardian to create a 'live music map' of crowdsourced photos and reviews from gigs, and by the n0tice team for a project around high streets.

The n0tice platform allows users to create online noticeboards of events and other information, and is being used by hyperlocals and news sites.

Those who want to create a map with Maptastica need to first create a noticeboard on n0tice and then enter the URL of that board into the free wizard tool. The map can then be customised and embedded on a web page.

For example, you can create a noticeboard of local events, adding postcode information to say where they are happening. The noticeboard URL is then simply added to Maptastica and all the events are plotted on a map, which you can customise and embed on your news site.

A full explainer on how to create a map is at this link.


The Guardian's live music map, which was created with Maptastica

Maptastica is the latest in a series of free tools created by the n0tice team. Other curation tools include Hash Gordon, for images, and location-based tool FeedWax, both launched last year.

Speaking at Journalism.co.uk's conference news:rewired earlier this month (19 April), project lead on n0tice Matt McAlister announced that Maptastica would soon launch (a video of the presentation is at this link).

McAlister explained that n0tice users can add information to their boards manually and also by importing spreadsheets or RSS feeds containing location information.

The idea for n0tice was sparked by a Guardian hack day and was first announced two years ago. It powers the GuardianWitness platform, a crowdsourcing initiative launched two weeks ago.

Coinciding with the launch of GuardianWitness, n0tice announced a paid-for VIP service aimed at publishers.

Journalism.co.uk has been closely following the development of n0tice. You can read more about it here.

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