Help:Google Maps

Google maps can be embedded in the pages of any Wikia where the Googlemaps extension has been enabled. If you have a use for maps on your local wiki, please contact us so we can enable them for you.

Google maps can be created in two ways:
 * 1) The code can be entered using the "edit map icon" shown on all edit pages.  This is more of a "point and click" method, and allows you search the map for the view you want.
 * 2) The code can be entered directly.  This is useful if you are comfortable with wiki coding and know the coordinates of the places you want to map.

Definitions
Placemark/marker/icons: A thumbtack on that map which indicates that more information will pop up when you click the thumbtack.

How do I use the editor's map?
If you are not comfortable with the code below, or don't know the coordinates for the places you want to map, you can use the editor's map. This is found on every edit page. Simply click the map button above the edit box.

Once visible, the map can be moved to show the correct area by using the controls on the top right, or by clicking and dragging. The slider on the right can be used to zoom in.

To add the map:


 * 1) Ensure that your cursor is in the edit box at the point you want the map added.
 * 2) Move the editor's map until you can see the area you wish to map.
 * 3) To add a placemark, clicking your chosen point.  Add a caption, and then click "save & close" to close the bubble.
 * 4) Other options can be changed by clicking the options below the map.
 * 5) Finally, copy the code in the grey box below the map, and paste it into the edit box below.

Warning: If you save or preview before copying the code into the edit box, you will lose your map.

Using preview closes the editor's map, and shows a preview of the map you have created. This map can't be used to add points; click "show map" again to show the editor's map. Although you can move the preview map, you can't add placemarks.

A simple Google map example
 42.711618,-73.205112,the fabulous, famous Sawyer Library

Creates:  42.711618,-73.205112,the fabulous, famous Sawyer Library

Coding
Google maps start with the code and ends with

The main coordinates are the center of the map. For example, to center a map on Berlin, you would take the coordinates latitude 52.523777, longitude 13.411896.

So the basic code would be:



Any coordinates for placemarks on this map need to go between the two basic start and end tags, in the format "latitude,longitude,label". So for example, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin is at latitude 52.499683, longitude 13.333907. Giving the code:

 52.499683,13.333907,Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

The text after the longitude is the text added to the placemark. Wikilinks can also be used here if you wish.

More placemarks can be added between the tags, each on its own line:

 52.499683,13.333907,Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church 52.510019,13.369893,Berlin Philharmonie

The default zoom can be adjusted within the first tag:

 52.499683,13.333907,Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church 52.510019,13.369893,Berlin Philharmonie

0 is the furthest away, 21 is the closest in.

Easiest way to find coordinates
The easiest way to find coordinates is using a geocoder such as http://www.infosports.com/m/map.htm. Other resources can be found by searching for "free geocode" on Google or another search engine. Alternatively, go to Google Maps, find the location you wish to map, move the map very slightly and click "link to this page". The "ll" value in the resulting URL contains the geocode.

Why is the map box grey?
If you've entered the code correctly and all you are seeing in the map box is grey, check that you haven't got the longitude and latitude the wrong way round!

Extension options
Available coding options are:


 * width (in pixels; default is 740)
 * height (in pixels; default is 600)
 * lat (the center latitude on the map)
 * lon (the center longitude on the map)
 * zoom (the zoom level; 0 is the furthest away, 21 is the closest in)
 * type ("normal" or "map", "hybrid", or "satellite"; default is "hybrid")
 * controls (small creates +/- zoom buttons, medium has zoom buttons and pan buttons, large has pan buttons with a sliding scale for zoom, and none has no buttons)
 * selector (show the map/hybrid/satellite selector? yes (default) and no.)
 * scale (show the distance scale? yes and no (default).)
 * overview (show the inset navigation map? yes and no (default).)
 * icons (URL template for custom markers, with "{label}" where the name of the icon will be inserted; defaults to " http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/marker{label}.png ")
 * icon (URL for markers without an icon specified; defaults to http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/marker.png)
 * units ("meters" or "miles"; default is "meters".)

All attributes are optional.

So the final code might be:

 52.499683,13.333907,Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church 52.510019,13.369893,Berlin Philharmonie

Markers
In the content of the tag, you can define one marker per line.
 * Each line can optionally start with an icon name in parentheses; unless you set the "icons" attribute, icon names are the upper-case letters of the alphabet. example: (S)
 * the latitude, then a comma, optionally a space, example: 42.711618,
 * then the longitude, then a comma, example: -73.205112,
 * then the text for the pop up information balloon. The label can include wiki coding (and commas) example: The fabulous, famous Sawyer Library 

For example:

 42.711618,-73.205112,the fabulous, famous Sawyer Library 42.711618, -73.205112, the fabulous, famous Sawyer Library (S) 42.711618, -73.205112, the fabulous, famous Sawyer Library

Because the "icons" attribute defaults to " http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/marker{label}.png ", that last marker will use the icon http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/markerS.png. You can host your own collection of icons on your server, but note that they'll have the same anchor points as Google's default icon. Check out Mapki's collection of icon images for a bunch of icons you can use.

Paths
To connect multiple points with a colored path, start the line with a color in RGB hex format., for example:

42.711618,-73.205112 42.714779,-73.204544
 * 1) 330000

This will connect the two points with a colored line. Any points not on a line should appear before all points on lines. For example:  42.711618, -73.25112, this point is not on a line 43.224024, -70.28301, neither is this one 42.202452, -72.83101, this is on a line of color #77077 45.214425, -72.48114, so is this 42.201324, -70.95811, this starts a second line 43.404142, -73.44514, this is also on the second line
 * 1) 770077
 * 1) 668800

Produces:

Any text on the same line as, but after the color code will be ignored.

You'll probably want to use the Editor's Map to generate this coding.

Tabbed info balloons
New to version 0.7 To create tabbed info balloons, each tab should have a plain-text title surrounded by inward-leaning slashes (like /this\) followed by a caption that can include wiki coding. Example:

 45.214425, -72.48114 /Info\       This is where Ulysses Grant is buried /Directions\ Click here to get driving directions

That will create a marker whose info balloon has two tabs. Note that you can put as much or as little space as you'd like between the title and the caption to make the tabs readable.

If a marker has a regular caption and tabbed captions, clicking the point will only show the tabbed captions.