I just finished a quick project for a friend that used Google Maps. I was approached with the question: “I want to create a map that will illustrate the two hotel options and the reception hall for my wedding invitation. Do you know of any mapping software that I could use to do this?” I quickly said this could be done nicely using Google Maps, so I quickly put a map together for her. I did not need to have any extras because she is just looking for something to print out to put in the invitations, but I did learn a few quick tips I wanted to note and share.
- There is an way to get coordinates (from an address) for Google Maps. This took me awhile before I found a good solution…but I finally found out that if you use Google Maps to map the address you want to mark on the map, zoom in or out, then click on the “Link to this page” link, you can find the coordinates in the URL. This was golden.
- Google has a Geocoding API. You can create some really cool map solutions by using the Google Geocoding API…like allowing users to enter in their address to create a marker on the map.
- There are some great Google Map resources available. I found a really cool tracer utility that will allow you to draw lines on maps as well as another cool “utility” that creates maps without doing any of the coding.
I look forward to working with the Google Map API more and more…especially now since I know how to quickly and accurately find coordinates!
[tags]google maps[/tags]
