W dniu 2/18/12 6:00 PM, Platonides pisze:
You are requiring Flash and Java support? You won't get much support for embedding that into Wikipedia (specially Flash, does it at least work with eg. Gnash?).
Thanks Platonides, you asked very good question.
Wikipedia long standing policy was to use content only in open formats. Even if Flex framework is now fully open source (Apache) then Flash Runtime is still owned by Adobe.
But this is not an issue - ShareMap goal is not to integrate any Java or Flash content to wikipedia.
With ShareMap user can create interactive maps in SVG format. SVG file that is fully open format compatible with HTML5 and natively supported by all modern browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, Internet Explorer). Animated SVG files are supported on both desktops and mobile devices (Smartphones, Tablets).
At current moment it is possible to add animated SVG maps to Wikimedia. But like all SVG files they are presented on article in rendered form as PNG without any interactivity. To view fully functional version user has to click once to go to Wiki Commons page and click again to view SVG in browser. It is not a surprise that almost nobody do that.
Rendering SVG to PNG made sense 5 years ago when browser does not supports natively SVG. But as I mentioned before today it is not longer problem <svg> tag allows direct embedding SVG content inside HTML web pages.
How author can currently add animation to article ... by adding animated GIF - terrible.
One word about ShareMap map designer - current editor is created with Flash 10 and Flex framework, ShareMap team does not think that it is feasible to convert project to older version of flash (that can be run with Gnash) or to HTML5 app. About year ago same discussion about technology was performed within Open Street Map project - their web map editor Potlach was earlier designed in old Flash and it was possible to run it in Gnash. But the development was reached limits of old Flash and they decided to use use Flex inside Potlach 2. The dillemma was very simple - create map web editor that requires proprietary Adobe Flash Player or don't create anyone [1][2]. But editor is important for 500 Wikipedia map creators not 5000000 map consumers.
In short summary about ShareMap technologies: 1. Map design is performed in Flash application 2. Map embedding as interactive SVG (or in future maybe HTML5 Canvas with WebGL 3D support).
What we need from Wikipedia Community: 1. Quick adaptation of direct SVG embedding inside Wikipedia (MediaWiki engine) 2. Help from volunteers in testing, evaluating and development. 3. Help with infrastructure, currently we are working on servers that we can you use for Creative Commons things, because we use them also for commercial project, but I think that in future it may be feasible to run special instance of ShareMap environment on Wikimedia infrastructure and dedicated for creation map for wikipedia.
Regards and waiting for further questions J.K.
[1]http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Potlatch [2] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Potlatch_2