Creating a Custom Live Map Website Using PHP: Seeking Feedback and Future Planning
Developing a real-time map interface similar to Liveuamap can be a rewarding project, especially when you aim to understand the underlying technologies and improve upon existing solutions. Recently, I embarked on building a “homemade” version of Liveuamap, driven by several motivations and constraints. I’d like to share my journey and gather feedback from the community.
Project Background and Motivation
Due to current circumstances, I’ve been primarily working on a Chromebook, which limits my development environment to lightweight text editors and online tools. While cloud IDEs like GitHub Codespaces or similar platforms exist, I find them somewhat uncomfortable to use and prefer to reserve their use for more critical tasks. Consequently, I opted for a minimal, DIY approach, leveraging just a text editor combined with some AI assistance.
The goal was to recreate a simplified version of Liveuamap—a dynamic, real-time map that displays live events and updates. The original open-source code for Liveuamap is often unmaintained and challenging to deploy, which prompted me to develop a more straightforward and manageable solution.
Technologies Used and Constraints
Given my current environment and hosting limitations, I am focusing on PHP-based development with free hosting services. While I am excited about adopting modern web technologies like Node.js or other contemporary stacks, I am constrained by the available free hosting options and my current comfort level.
Looking Ahead: Technology Stack Considerations
In the future, I am contemplating whether to upgrade my tech stack for better performance, scalability, and maintainability. Specifically, I’m curious if transitioning to Node.js or similar modern frameworks would be beneficial, or if there are more suitable options given my constraints.
Demo and Feedback
I invite anyone interested to check out the live demo here: https://aregan.byethost33.com/aregan/. Your feedback on both the current implementation and ideas for future improvements would be highly appreciated.
Conclusion
Building this “homemade” live map has been a learning experience, and I’m eager to refine it further. Whether you have suggestions on technology choices, code structure, or deployment strategies, I look forward to your insights.
Thank you for your time and support!
