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1 More Time: Clarifying How To Do Mash-up Using A Variey of Custom Marker Icons

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Hi WPMU People: I’ve read this support topic thoroughly and I realize that I’m retreading well covered ground here. Still, I’ve tinkered around with the plug-in for a while and I can’t get it to do what I want, So once again, for those of us in the slow class:

Lets say I wanted to create a mash-up map displaying local Flower Shops, Liquor stores and Funeral Parlors (apparently some has passed-on in this hypothetical), and I want the Flower Shops to have a flower icon, the liqour stores a whisky bottle and the funeral parlors a tombstone. How how would I do that?

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 2:37:22
  • TonyRLA
    • WPMU DEV Initiate

    Hi johnnymestizo (o a lo mejor: que tal guey?)

    These map plugins do multiple custom markers

    gmap3

    google-maps-v3-shortcode-multiple-markers

    The first one uses jQuery and looks pretty awesome

    Right now I’m testing the second one. One Custom Marker is easy the short code looks like this:

    [ map z="5" address="Tokyo, Japan" marker="yes" markerimage="http://code.example.com/apis/maps/documentation/javascript/examples/images/beachflag.png"]

    But I’m not seeing the mash-up happening with it…

  • DavidM
    • DEV MAN’s Mascot

    Hi guys,

    Hope you don’t mind my moving this to the feature suggestion forum as the plugin doesn’t provide a way to use specific marker images depending on categories, etc.

    Sounds like a great idea and we can have a better look at it through a request here.

    Anyone else up for some custom marker images, specified on a category basis?

    -David

  • Stickel Sells
    • WPMU DEV Initiate

    This is a great idea. The WPMUdev plugin has some great features, but it seemed to be conflicting with other plugins I’m running, so I deactivated.

    I’m now using SimpleMap, which has a great store locator and is excellent for multiple locations. It has a way to mark some listings as “featured”, but I haven’t figured that out yet.

    It seems like their paid version has the solution for including custom marker images. Hope WPMUdev wraps some of these features into the next Google Maps update!

  • TonyRLA
    • WPMU DEV Initiate

    Hi all, Happy Thanksgiving to all in North America, and G’day to our hosts in Oz.

    I agree that an update of the WPMU Gmaps PlugIn is a good idea. Since I’ve now done an exhaustive audit of all the Maps plugins currently out there, here are my humble suggestions:

    With V3 Google has greatly improved the compatibility and usability of the maps API, and have made the entire suite of Google Maps/Earth functionalities accessible to remote users. There are some slick WP plug-ins being offered presently, but there isn’t one of them that delivers the whole package. There are some that do well at GEOIP, a few store locators like David mentioned, some that do bike paths and routing, a marijuana dispensary locator (it’s California, Dude) and of course the custom markers and mash-ups I originally asked about.

    So overall, my general suggestion would be to go for the “total package” – basically to wrap the GMaps3 API in an intuitive GUI allowing WP/BP end users to deploy the maps content in the same way people use it natively on Google’s sites. Some specifics that aren’t already being done by others:

    1) Real-Time traffic/drive-time calculations/routing the quickest drive between 2 given locations.

    2) Animated Google Earth Tours – being able to autoplay a pre-programmed series of views along with displaying comments or “narration”.

    3) Calculating topographic area (acreage of a real estate property for example)

    4) Google reviews/local content and recommendations

    5) Print maps/directions, make a Google voice call or start a Gtalk chat from the map.

    And the one thing I really need (that the GMaps3 API can do, but doesn’t out of the box): matching or grouping subscribers/members/users by proximity. I realize that might be a long-shot for the WPMU Dev Team, but I’d argue that for a buddypress site publisher ( for example – hint hint) it’s a killer App!

    There’s my $0.02.

    And JohnnyMestizo: points comin @ U. Let’s put the guy over the top, people!