A cool way to present directory results is to use a clickable map that makes it easier and more attractive way for your visitors to find information
With the new JQuery plugin javascript techniques being developed across the net, it is now exciting to use image maps again. For instance the great jquery plugin MapHilight by David Lynch actually hilights areas of coordinates that are plotted in a way that can be easily edited.
Admittedly to create a great hover over effect requires attention to detail as far as plotting coordinates goes but it’s worth the effort as you can see in this demo of a clickable county map of Ireland. Failing to make really tight coordinates can produce undesired results…..that’s why It’s best to have perfect clickable map coordinates for counties and states.
OK so we have all the correct coordinates plotted to produce a great hover over effect, so now we need to have a nice map design for the map in question. This is also a tedious job for a webmaster to create and trace county borders…that’s why It’s best to find a layered photoshop images with all the state borders traced with the pen tool 1 pixel in black on a white background.
I don’t think there’s really a need to go through the pain of spending hours, days, even weeks making website maps, when you can find ready made clickable maps at about 600 pixels width if you look hard enough like this clickable map of the USA and all the state maps too
If ever you need a clickable map of USA, EUROPE, GERMANY, FRANCE and ASIA there are some great maps to download with editable photoshop images and html code to save yourself a mountain of precious time. One last note: Joomla users can experience difficulty adding image maps to their pages, some of these maps have a solution for this proble… that’s a big relief for Joomla users that have tried and failed to add clickable maps before.