SOBI2 is a fantastic directory component for the Joomla CMS. Using the power of SOBI2, a developer (or even a motivated novice) can build a Website that organizes any kind of data from business listings, to recipes, to software downloads, to photo galleries, and even more. SOBI2 even has a neat plugin available that searches by 'radius' or specified proximity to a selected Postal Code/ZIP Code. Want to create a site that lets people find dental offices (or anything else!) within a user-specified radius of their homes? Then SOBI2 is your solution of choice, especially if you want the power of content management and ease of use that Joomla brings to the table.

Only one little problem, really. SOBI2 has a fantastic search capability that can return excellent results for a user based on location, keyword, etc. But that list will not appear on a map. The individual listings will appear on a map, but the list of search results itself won't. That is, unless you have the Google Mapping for SOBI2 Search Results plugin from CorFun!

CorFun has been offering its Google mapping extension since January 0f '09. In that time, the solution has been implemented by a variety of Websites in over 20 different nations. The uses for CorFun's mapping component have ranged from 'garage sale' sites to corporate Websites with vendor locations to even a site listing medical marijuana outlets in California.

"We have built multiple SOBI2-based Websites," said CorFun president Olan Chancy, "Which is why we came to view the lack of search result mapping as an issue. It was a hard job to come up with a fix for this technically, but we were able to, and the market adoption of this software has just been remarkable. The only drawback to version 1.0 was the need to install the changes manually using hacks. With 2.0, that limitation is now gone. The new plugins install easily and cleanly using SOBI2's plugin installer."

Version 2.0 does not introduce any new functionality. Mapping can still be done by Geo-code or by Postal Code/ZIP Code. The mapping for search results can still 'float' down the page so that the map travels down the page as the user scrolls. This makes long columns of results less taxing on the user to navigate. The major enhancement is that now the install and configuration takes minutes and is so easy that even a dedicated Web hobbyist can do it. See the example below of searching based on the keyword 'Orlando' from the site FreeBeerBuddy.com

"There are just two plugins to install," says Jerry Johnson the lead developer on this application, "The first is a SOBI2 template that includes the mapping code. This can serve as the basis for customization. The second is the mapping code itself which is an installable plugin. We also include step-by-step documentation to help even novice Joomla users install and configure the software."

The new, completely installable version is available from CorFun as of last December 2009. To learn more, visit the Google Mapping for SOBI2 Search Results page.