Joomla! Google Maps Blog

Well, I thought that I had read that Google was providing geocoding for the UK, but it seems like it isn't the case. I've gone back and looked for the post on the Google Maps API discussion group and I'm unable to find it. Furthermore I went to the official Google Maps API Documentation page where they have a same of the geocoding code and UK geocoding doesn't work there either. Sorry guys. If you need UK geocoding you'll just have to find it somewhere else and turn off automatic geocoding in the component.

Sorry, I haven't updated this in a while. I've been really busy with other things. Also since my webserver got hacked into I really don't have a place to test any new additions I do to the component. Having said this, I made a new version of the component which should geocode UK address. I only say should because I haven't tested this version of the component. If people could please test this on a non-production site for me that'd be great. Especially users in the UK. The link to the file is below. Also remember to post any commentary about this on the component discussion board and not here.

http://forge.joomla.org/sf/frs/do/downloadFile/projects.google_maps/frs.google_maps_2_x.unstable/frs7999?dl=1

I've posted a minor update to the component. The only noticeable change is that the Google geocoder now geocodes for Australia and New Zealand. If you are from those regions then you'll probably want to upgrade. If you don't need this feature then I wouldn't worry about getting the newest version. I'd also like to thank people on the message board that are taking time to answer other people's questions. Since I haven't had as much time to answer things, a couple people have been stepping up to the plate. Thanks guys!

I just wanted to give a quick status report on things, and explain why there hasn't been an update in a while. First off, I got a 9 to 5 job so I've been busy with that and haven't had as much time to work on the component. More than that, the features that people have been requesting are things that are pretty difficult to implement. A lot of people want more tie-ins between the CB plugin and the ACL system. The truth of the matter is that I know almost nothing about the ACL system in Joomla. Some people have noticed that my component doesn't exactly abide by the ACL in Joomla. While I think more ACL tie-ins is a good idea, I just can't implement it right now. Other requests include marker search and marker consoladation (when two markers are on top of each other). Both of those are not easy either or would create compatibility issues.

Lastly, I don't want to make an major changes until a beta of Joomla 1.5 comes out. Who know when that will be. I feel like this component is going to need quite a bit of reworking just to run on Joomla 1.5. This component is based on a very old mambo component, so a lot of the calls haven't been updated since then. When 1.5 rolls around I'd like to update the component to work with the new system.

Anyway, hope y'all are enjoying the component. Have a good one.

I've released 2.6. Not much has changed from the beta. The big changes from the beta are a couple of bug fixes and the ability to use the new onload method or the old onload method of loading the component. If you use the new method then you can put your map in an iFrame, which means that you can have it on any page you want (just put it in a wrapper). If you want to do that remember to use index2.php?option=com_google_maps instead of index.php. Index2.php just outputs the component not any of the other Joomla stuff.

I've posted some screenshots on Flickr that basically go step-by-step on how to install the component. I've used the tag com_google_maps so if you'd like to add photos with this tag then feel free to do so. Perhaps examples of common errors or just things you think that I missed would be great. I'm pretty new to Flickr so if anyone else knows some cool things that I can do then feel free to tell me. Below is a link to the set I created and the tag. The set is in a more logical order, but if people add pictures with the com_google_maps tag then you'll see more examples there.

My Set

Com Google Maps Tag

I've created a new version of the component that I am only going to release as a beta for now. So for the people that read this blog you can grab the new version here. The new features include the ability to dynamically create your XML file, which will make it a little more difficult for people to see all of your data. The XML Cache feature should also be working in this version of the component so if you want the cache to update every x minutes that will actually work now. You should be able to access your map in an iFrame by going to the url index2.php?option=com_google_maps. Since the map can be obtained in an iFrame the height and width of the map can be changed from the url using the flags mapHeight and mapWidth. Finally, the reason most of this is possible is because I added some code that no longer requires editing the body tag in your template, BUT you must remove the code in your body template if you are upgrading from a previous version. With so many new features I wanted to give the blog readers/subscribers the first chance to test the new version.

Remember to leave your comments on the discussion board at the Official Component Website.