(YouTube Video Link)
The evolution of Google Maps and the Google Maps mashup continues with another MAJOR new Google Maps feature that puts you more in control of the map you view, create, and today.. mash up for yourself! A simple new viewing feature will let you view a mashup from within Google Maps, as well as layer multiple mashups for an expanded view previously only possible by opening each mashup's website individually!
Not long ago you might remember my post about Google Mapplets. Mapplets are compact versions of Google Maps mashups that are viewable from directly within the Google Maps site itself. Since May 31st, numerous Google Maps geo-developers have been hard at work creating Mapplet versions of their mashups accessible, until today, through a special preview website. Today Google is making these Mapplets available to you and the public on Google Maps to view, interact with, and mash up with other Mapplets for a totally customizable Google Maps viewing experience.
To get started all you need to do is visit Google Maps and select the My Maps tab. To add Mapplets to your view, just click on the "Add Content" link and explore or search the directory for Mapplets that appeal to you. You might have already gotten in and played around with the easy maps creation tool called My Maps that was launched back on Apr.5/07? Perhaps you've created your own Google Map with points, photos or videos? You can now layer these My Maps creations among other third party Mapplets, then save the resulting view you've compiled as its own mashup in your My Maps tab for later viewing! Google Maps users in following countries will be able to make use of this new feature: US, the UK, Canada, Australia, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia; Also available in the following languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Russian and Chinese (TW).
Here are some cool Mapplets to get you started:
- Webcams Worldwide
- Wikimapia Layer
- YouTube videos
- Leisure activities - Sanoodi
- Flickrvision clone
- Ski Reports and Conditions
- Weather Bonk Live Conditions Map
- WeatherBonk Typical Weather
- Altitude Resolving Tool
- Wikipedia Mapplet
- UK potholes and hazards
- Gas Prices from GasBuddy.com
- Webcams Belgium
- Vinyard Hunter Australia
- Gainesville Regional Transit System
- US Address Lookup
- Flickr Photo Mapplet
If you're a Google Maps geo-developer and you haven't yet ported your mashup to a Mapplet, don't get left out.. Get Started Here!
[Via Google Lat-Long Blog]
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5 comments:
Can I use Google Earth to help create these. I have Coordinates from my GPS or have saved point by using whatever the push pin is?
I can copy the coordinates over to maps.google.com if need by, but maybe I can save the step.
I particularly like the UK potholes mapplet. It takes a particularly type of obsessive to try and plot all the potholes in the UK. I'm even more impressed that they have picked up three potholes in the English Channel.
I'll definitely be looking out for them the next time I'm on a ferry to France.
I agree that this is an exciting development. To me the usefulness would be in creating layers that could be re-used in different maps. Currently my organization has been working on creating MyMaps, and then embedding them in our site. I would love to be able to do, as you say... "You can now layer these My Maps creations among other third party Mapplets, then save the resulting view you've compiled as its own mashup in your My Maps tab for later viewing!".... However, I do not see how this is possible. I can select multiple MyMaps, but there is no way I can find to save these into one new MyMap layer (which I can then embed in my site). I would very much appreciate an explanation of how multiple MyMaps layers can be saved into one new layer.
Thanks very much,
Mike
Mike, I have created the New 7 Wonders of the world Mapplet. Have submitted to the Mapplet directory, will see when or if gets added. But you can add the following link to "my maps" and try it out ---> Link
The biggest problem with MyMaps right now is that you can only display 100 markers at a time on a single map. That renders it nearly useless for a lot of applications.
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