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Ask HN: Could somebody please create a friendly interface to Google Maps API?

2 points by fernly ↗ HN
Trying to make simple google map to embed in a blog post about a boat cruise. No can do! Maps doesn't know about boats (other than ferries). I just want a curvy line up this channel, down that one, a line that I can rubber-band a little to show we went up this inlet and around the back of this island.

Do a little searching: lots of tutorials on the Maps API, with pre-reqs of Javascript and OO... give me a break! Yes I'm a programmer, no I don't know those nor have time to learn them just to inset a couple of maps in my blog.

Google's My Maps allows you to save a complex route with custom icons, but not via anything but road, public transit or airline, nor any other type of overlay. Bing, Mapquest have similar constraints. travellerspoint and others let you make itinerary maps but just draw straight lines from point to point.

There must be many who use google maps and who would like to show a detailed, customized route over water (think of all the weekend sailors!) or by private plane (private pilots!) or cross-country by hiking or skiing -- decorated with maybe a few circles, arrows, labels -- maybe links to pics taken at a given site.

So here's the idea: a user-friendly "draw on your map" website. It lets registered users put scalable point-to-point routes and other decorations on maps via a normal drawing-tools interface (virtual "pen", "hiliter", or "stamp"), compiling to maps API javascript under the covers. Host the decorated map and provide shortcut view and embed links. Paid mode unlocks more stuff (graphic features, number of waypoints, number of maps).

8 comments

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jgillich
GeoJSON is a great format that is supported by a lot of mapping tools, including Google Maps and Leaflet. And there is a nice editor for it already: http://geojson.io
fernly
Hmm. I could draw a line representing the boat ride from Flåm Norway around to Gudvangen, so success there. But it's not clear to me what to do with the resulting code, a list of tuples of 15-digit coordinates. Remember, I'm suggesting a need for a tool that can be used by Judy Nonprogrammer. She (and I, who do know what an API is but don't want to spend time coding and testing merely to draw a sketch map) want to draw that line and immediately use and share the map with the line on it.
zimpenfish
The geojson.io site also gives you an iframe for embedding or HTML link to your map if you hit the SHARE button.
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Lorenz-Kraft
Hi, there is another nice library, but not google maps based:

There is also a nice ferry example ... http://kartograph.org/showcase/italia/

fernly
This, kartograph.org, looks really useful for the mapmaker who can program. Very, very pretty examples! However, it still requires programming knowledge, Python to create an SVG map, and good HTML/CSS and basic JS to load and display one.

I'm still suggesting the need exists for a no-programming, WYSIWYG, web-based, map design and share site. The number of potential users is I think large, but the intersection of those with Python/HTML/JS knowledge is miniscule.

zimpenfish
Doesn't Google Map Engine let you draw on maps? I've just made this fake boat trip on there - https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zZqQ_1KFWn6s.kygz...

They're embeddable on websites too - https://support.google.com/mapsenginelite/answer/3024935?hl=... (although with low limits on the number of views)

http://milermeter.com (used to be http://gmap-pedometer.com) also lets you draw on maps but I'm not sure how embeddable they are.

You could export the GPX from miler meter into GPS Visualizer and use their "share my map" feature - http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/atlas.html

Faffy though, you're right.

fernly
Yes I knew about drawing lines on a My Map; the interface to do is quite awkward to use, but only straight segments and AFAIK there's no way to set color or line width or dash/dot. In other words, it is like so much about Google Maps: it is infuriating because it teases you with what it could be but is not.

Thank you very much, however, for leading me to what I couldn't find before, the iframe embed code for a "my map". It isn't anywhere under "Share" of course; it's hidden under the folder icon.

However, when I do embed a my map, as here:

http://thispageintentionally.blogspot.no/2014/07/test-post-o...

...the layer menu fills 1/3 of the iframe and won't go away. Another demonstration of GMaps teasing you with function that is almost helpful but not.

Here's another: in My Maps you can create a layer that includes directions from A to B for car, bike or walking, but you cannot show directions using the public transit mode. Why? What tourist does not want to show a route that involved a train or bus?

Yet another: when you create a layer with directions, it does not support directions to/from any of the points you've defined on that or another layer. Each destination has to be a new search.

Anyway excuse the anti-GMaps rant; my point is that this an application that would have wide use by many, the underlying engine (Maps API) is there, a clean, well-thought-out UI based on that engine could be a winner.