Geospatial content management system

Last updated

A geospatial content management system (GeoCMS) is a content management system where objects (users, images, articles, blogs, etc.) can have a latitude and longitude position to be displayed on an online interactive map. [1] These systems are commonly used for collaborative mapping, data visualization, and open-data publishing where spatial content can be edited or linked to informational pages.

A GeoCMS can have a map of registered users allowing to build communities geographically, by looking at users location. The help of wiki for describing geographical layers present a way to solve the problem of geographical metadata.

GeoCMS platforms are increasingly deploying within modern spatial data infrastructures, where open-data portals and geospatial catalogues support mapping, analysis and publishing workflows. [2]

Recent research on open-source geospatial content-management solutions highlights their use for heterogeneous data integration, interactive mapping and cross-platform publishing in web and mobile environments. [3]

Since the advent of Google Maps and the publication of its API, numerous users have used online maps to illustrate their web pages. [4]

Elebase is probably the most advanced Geospatial CMS in the world at this time, with full handling of text, multi-media and geo objects that extend beyond just a point on a map to areas, paths and defined geo feature types.

These frameworks have been used to build open-source GeoCMS applications that combine mapping libraries such as OpenLayers and Leaflet with spatially enabled databases like PostGIS. [5]

GeoCMS comparison

Django Drupal Midgard Plone Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware WordPress
Ability to store locationsYesYesYesYesYesYes
Ability to edit points, lines and polygonsYesYes????
Number of locations per content item?MultipleIn/about/atSee specific plugin11
Maps on content itemsOpenLayers, OpenStreetMap, Leaflet, Google MapsGoogle Maps, Yahoo Maps, MapBuilder, OpenLayers?See specific pluginMapserver or Google Maps?
Syndication formats?GeoRSS, KML, GeoJSON GeoRSS See specific pluginRSS for maps update GeoRSS, KML
Geocoding?YesYes (Yahoo, GeoNames)See specific pluginnot yet?
User location sources?Manual, SMS, Plazes, GeoRSS, ICBM, Fire Eagle See specific plugincustomized maps
Can utilize spatial database (like PostGIS)YesYes in 2.x dev branch of geofield????
Geographic Features Styling??????
License ??????
Required Platforms / Main Languages Django (Python) MySQL/PostgreSQL/SQLite/Oracle_Database PHP, MySQL/PostgreSQL/SQLite Midgard (PHP), MySQL/PostgreSQL/SQLite Plone (Python), ZODB LAMP (PHP) LAMP

References

  1. ↑ Corti, Paolo (2018). "Hypermap Registry: an open source, standards-based platform for geospatial content management". Open Geospatial Data, Software and Standards. 3: 1–17. doi: 10.1186/s40965-018-0051-x .
  2. ↑ European Union Publications Office. ′Geospatial Trends 2023: Opportunities for data.europa.eu from Emerging Trends in the Geospatial Community′. ISBN 978-92-78-43685-8. doi:…
  3. ↑ Piccoli F., et al. “An Open-Source Platform for GIS Data Management and Analysis.” *Sensors*, 2023. DOI:…
  4. ↑ Haklay, Muki (2010). "How good is volunteered geographical information? A comparative study of OpenStreetMap and Ordnance Survey datasets". Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design. 37 (4): 682–703. Bibcode:2010EnPlB..37..682H. doi:10.1068/b35097 . Retrieved 5 November 2025.
  5. ↑ "FOSS4G GeoCMS development examples". Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo). Retrieved 5 November 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.