SOBI2 is the premier directory component for Joomla. JMaps takes SOBI2's power and extends it by taking the entries in the directory and putting it on interactive Google maps! This article gives an overview of what SOBI2 can do, and especially what you can build by combining SOBI2 with the JMaps module and plugins from CorFun!

About SOBI2

SOBI2 is a free directory component for the Joomla Content Management system. It is available for download from Sigisu.net by clicking here. SOBI2 is used for all kinds of projects such as:

• Business Directories
• Dealer Directories
• Classified Ads
• Weblinks Directories
• Download Directories
• Mini-Web spaces of the MySpace variety
• Photo and Media Galleries
• And more!

Below are just some of the great features of SOBI2:

• Creates an unlimited number of Categories to house entries. What these categories are depends on what you are trying to show. They can be types of businesses, types of dealers of your product, types of churches, types of restaurants, types of medical professionals, types of products for sale (classified ads), types of Web Links, or even types of users if you are using SOBI2 as a kind of online profile or “mini-Website.”
• Shows (optionally) a main page that has all the categories, and show individual pages by Category straight from a menu system. People can browse the directory by category. 

Example of a few categories from a SOBI2 Main Category Page

• Provides fantastic search capabilities – SOBI2 has a general search capability by Keyword, but also can generate search dropdowns automatically based on the values on the entries for a field.

SOBI2 Search Page With Select Boxes

• SOBI2 has two views available for each entry. What is called a vCard view which shows up in Search Results or when browsing a Category. This view can be customized to show whatever information you like.

SOBI2 vCard Shows on Category Browse Pages and Search Results

• Creates custom field information to show on entries. You can show any kind of information you can imagine on a SOBI2 entry such as Name, Address, Description, Professional Affiliation, Religious Affiliation, YouTube videos, Hours of Operation, Product Description, etc. If you have ever seen a piece of information show up in an online listing, you can add it to SOBI2. You can show your information in a simple view, or you can have tabs and organize your information within them.

Top of a SOBI2 Entry Using Tabs for Organizing Information

• Automatically builds search tags that are automatically generated and which generate real Google juice.
• With some additional free plugins, SOBI2 can add in:
  
  • Downloads
  • Photo Galleries
  • Mp3 files
  • Reviews and Ratings
  • Contact Forms

Gallery Plugin Showing an Mp3 File and YouTube Vidoes

• With paid plugins SOBI2 can be extended to
  
  • Search by distance from a specified Zip Code or location. Click here for more information on Radius Search.
  • Import large number of entries and categories from a CSV file

SOBI2 Search Module With Radius Search

JMaps and SOBI2

SOBI2 provides the method for entering and organizing your data. It also provides the method for displaying it to users, and provides the Search capabilities. What SOBI2 is not capable of doing is mapping the entries on a Google Map. JMaps has a SOBI2 plugin that can put Category Entries on a map. When mapping by Category you can show:

• Entries for one or more categories you specify on a map, optionally limited by state
• Custom colors for each category

JMaps Showing Entries From 3 Categories Across the U.S. with Unique Colors by Category

• Entry details can show in a shadowbox to encourage site users to stay on the map page and look at as many entries as possible

Entry Details in a Shadowbox

• Featured entries in a special color, and with an optional star marker
• Map on any Joomla page in any Joomla module position!

This is actually just a small sampling of the capabilities that JMaps has when mapping by category entries.

JMaps can also be deployed to show Search Results on a map. Since JMaps can be put in any module position, your search page results can be organized based on any design that suits your site’s purpose.

Integrity Business Referrals – A Case Study for Using SOBI2 and JMaps

The purpose of integritybusinessreferrals.com was to let Christians find other Christians in their area in business. As a business directory, it had also one unique feature. The search option features “Church Affiliation” as an option. Since many Christians attend large churches and only know a small part of the congregation, the option to search by Church is a great idea. This feature works automatically. The search box populates with all the unique Church values present on all entries. No effort is necessary to generate the search – the system does it for the Webmaster!

SOBI2 Search Module on integritybusinessreferrals.com

The site is Joomla 1.5.18 and the directory itself uses the SOBI2 Component. The frontpage of the site features the SOBI2 Search Module and the Radius Search plugin, both paid extensions from the developers of SOBI2. To see a good search, in the Search Module enter a search for 100 miles from Zip Code 32703.

JMaps Showing Search Results
 
At the top of the page, you will see the JMaps module used to map search results. The option is selected to show details in a shadowbox. Farther down the page, you will see the vCards display which shows on search results and on Category browse. Clicking the business name shows the details in a shadowbox overlay, just as clicking the details in the map does. Clicking on the marker on the map shows an Info Bubble:

Info Bubbles Contain Information and a Details Link

 
On the details, we broke the information up into tabs and included quite a few of the optional plugins for SOBI2 such as the Photo Gallery, Media Player, Downloads, etc. The Description field on the data entry form allows users to enter simple HTML commands, and even embed pictures with the text.

Description Page Showing HTML and an Embedded Image

For this project, we did not use the Category Mapping option of SOBI2. That is set for a Phase II of this site, after more entries have been added and more categories filled in.

For more information, post a question below, and visit our JMaps product page.