NextEuropaMap Module is tailored to European Union maps
The European Commission is working on an open source module for the Drupal content management system that will make it easy for website editors and site contributors to create explanatory EU maps. Using the NextEuropaMap module does not require users to know Javascript, and map-creation is presented in the system’s content interface.
“There are several alternative ways to make maps in Drupal based websites, but they all come with many configurable options, or require a combination of multiple modules”, explains Boris Doesborg, one of the Drupal software developers working on the European Commission’s Europa Platform. “NextEuropaMap is a basic module, for straightforward use cases and requires little configuration. The aim is to let users create maps, without the need for assistance from a site administrator.”
The European Commission plans to consolidate hundreds of its websites on its upcoming Europa Platform, which is being developed on Drupal 7, and the NextEuropMap module will be part of this.
Assistance
Development of the module is funded by the EC’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content & Technology (DG Connect), with assistance from Drupal developers working for the Directorate-General for Informatics (DIGIT). The module is available on GitHub, and published under the European Union’s free software licence, the EUPL.
“The module can be used freely by other EC DGs, agencies, and anybody else who uses Webtools Map", adds Luca Arnaudo, team leader in DG Connect. The Webtools map widget is the EU official mapping Javascript library. The module is provided by the EC’s DG for Communication.