Extension:Google Maps

Latest release (2008-02-26): Version 0.9.1 fixes a few bugs and adds the following translations: Arabic, Brazilian Portugese, Upper Sorbian, Luxembourgish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Slovak, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, and Vietnamese. See the installation/upgrade instructions.

Stay up to date with the latest releases by subscribing to the low-traffic gmaps4mw-announce.



Maps are a great way to present information, and the Google Maps Extension brings the coolness of interactive, annotated maps to your wiki. With Google Maps Extension, you can:
 * Spice up articles with maps of anywhere in the world
 * Marvel at detailed street maps and stunning satellite imagery
 * Use the interactive editor's map to add markers and colored paths with wiki-fied captions
 * Look up cities, addresses, and businesses with the built-in search engine

What does it do?
The extension hooks into your MediaWiki installation in two ways: first, it defines a tag that translates a special syntax into a map with captioned markers. As the name implies, the extension is powered by the miraculous Google Maps API. The extension's syntax is easy; here's an example that will create a map with two captioned points:

 32.81134, 48.498341, One of many gas stations in town 32.82448, 48.504848, The town hall

To help you make maps, the extension also adds a link on each Edit page that says "make a map". This will bring up an editor's map that you can click on to add points, and it will show you corresponding map syntax to paste into your article.

If you're interested, try out the demo (click "make a map" on that page) and then check out the installation page.

Screenshot
Here's the Editor's Map in action:



How stable is it?
Google Maps Extension is still BETA, but it's come a long way since 2006. It works for a lot of people (see below) but people regularly find bugs. You can get an idea of the issues people have had over on the talk page.

The following will be addressed before a 1.0 release:
 * Performance improvements. Google Maps Extension currently slows down the page load time of the "edit" page for ALL articles. This is the single biggest blocker.
 * Compatibility with FCKeditor
 * Better support for custom markers
 * Visual interface for creating tabbed info balloons

Email me if you'd like to sponsor development of any of these features: em&#109;iller@g&#109;ail.com

Who's using it?
Please add your wiki here! Add it to the top, and feel free to add a link to your favorite article or two.
 * Crackers N Soup - Political News and polls about legislators
 * MyEvent24 - Search Engine and Yellow Pages for Events
 * Performance Boats Magazine
 * Extreme Boats Magazine : Event & Travel Guides
 * EvoitaliaWiki Google Map
 * EvoitaliaWiki
 * Das Dithmarschen Wiki
 * FortWiki : Texas Forts
 * EntreWiki : Business Idea Map
 * LOTROPEDIA : LOTROPEDIA Hispanic Community. La mayor Base de Datos del LOTRO.
 * OneBuckWiki : Community Map
 * GISDataWarehouse: Consolidated GIS data.
 * Windpark design wiki : Design a community windpark in the Netherlands, like the former dike building
 * Portal Comunitario del Bío Bío: El primer Wiki de un servicio público en Chile....y el mundo?
 * Scoutopedia (french ScoutWiki): Map of scout groups generated by bot. Example here
 * Greenlivingpedia Resource for sharing information on green living, now and for the future. Google Maps is used to show the location of sustainable buildings
 * Five Dollar Wiki Community Map Community Map
 * Karma Kerala Guide to Kerala for visitors with maps on wiki
 * wikiscuba: Dive site compendium and scuba diving encyclopedia
 * Wikia
 * MireseOnline.info Online resource for romanian future brides.
 * Trials-Forum.co.uk Mountain Bike Trials website based in the UK.
 * prisonerdavid.com California inmate who has radio spot on the Adam Carolla show. Google maps used to indicate prison locations here.
 * EsterhazyWiki: Real estate owned by the Esterházy family in former times
 * Summit Wiki Online resource for scrambling in the Canadian Rockies.
 * Student Wiki Wiki for students in the UK with maps of universities, campuses and pubs and bars
 * Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists Gaining and Maintaining Trails (Mountain Bike) in Minnesota
 * tomlevell Fiddling with googlemaps for cycling routes in the North Yorkshire Moors
 * PseudoLocal - Dedicated to helping English speakers become "locals" in China.
 * Cairns Walking Tracks
 * WikiClimb. An online rock climbing guide for routes in South Africa. Example: Crag info for the Mine.
 * Fangs & a .45 Vampire LARP Wiki, largest usage of the map is at the Domains and Territories page.
 * kinder.info.at
 * Personal Website of Erik van Berkum Maripositas.org
 * (not the) Apollo 17 Flight Journal - Main page, Trajectory
 * The Wiki Fire - The free encyclopedia of Knox College in Galesburg, IL.
 * Photo-Op-Wiki - A guide to finding photo ops world wide.
 * SpotKarte.de - A Surfspot Guide (in german)
 * NY Canals.com - A site dedicated to the New York State Barge Barge Canal System. (Example: Sylvan Beach, NY)
 * Buurtatlas.nl - example: The first site that lets you draw areas in Google Maps. The site automatically searches for links between objects and areas. This improved extension will soon be available on this site!
 * ShootingWiki - example: National Shooting Centre - Bisley
 * TeleWiki - system installer directory (example: Alabama)
 * BusyTonight - the free city guide project - Jersey City Museum
 * UrbanPlanet.org - Urban development discussion forum and resources.
 * K202 Wiki
 * Scubapedia.ca, a wiki-guide for canadian scuba dive sites. (Sample)
 * Climbipedia, a wiki for climbers. Sample Google Maps article: Massacre Rocks
 * Verdensdansker, a site for danes abroad (in danish)
 * Sacramento Wiki, a community created directory of all things related to Sacramento California.
 * UMassWiki, a student-founded wiki for the University of Mhttp://www.climbipedia.com/?title=Massacre_Rocksassachusetts Amherst
 * Golf Course Spot, a community oriented directory of Golf Courses.
 * Chips & Cosmophysique, french single-user website
 * http://www.southsilverspring.org South Silver Spring Neighborhood Association in Maryland, USA
 * Trackpedia.com Motorcycle and Automotive Racing WebSite All the race tracks in North America
 * www.bbno.info mobile phone/PDA guide to Berlin Walk along the Berlin Wall
 * ZonaCostera | KüstenZone | CoastalZone | FrangeCôtière | KustStrook, still very young community multilingual web portal with relevant and on-time information for the integrated management of the coastal zones of our world.
 * VeniVidiWiki.eu allows every one to create and share POIs (points of interest) on the map, with descriptions, links and videos.
 * Train Spotting World where, among other things, it's used for spotting reports
 * EnerWiki - Energy Industry Directory Power plants, refineries, coal mines, etc.
 * Wereldpagina.nl : World-wide travel guide
 * wikiunai.com - Tudo sobre a cidade de Unaí no Brasil
 * northwoodcycling.com: Mountainbike Tour, Spot and Trackguide for the Black Forrest
 * XCRides.com Mountain Bike routes in Italy.
 * Venesatama the wikilist of quest harbors in Finland archipelago
 * S23-Wiki ,
 * CaptainWiki.com - Cruising Guides & Sailing Blogs
 * Wikidus.de Wiki for Duesseldorf
 * Skipper2Skipper sailing portal - Marina guide and skipper portal, see Cowes
 * PlanetPedia Free Travel Guides Add your own reviews and google maps to your pages with comments
 * Marshall Foundation Annotated History Books
 * Tree-climbing at Williams College
 * Places to take children in Tokyo
 * kJams Users
 * SingletrackWiki
 * Sonar 2006 Map on krass.com
 * Manitowoc Ultimate Frisbee Concern
 * chinese delicious food wiki system
 * London Wiki
 * BWCAWiki - The Boundary Waters Wiki, making extensive use, see, ,
 * Leeds, UK based info portal
 * Wikipaddle - kayak and canoeing knowledge base.
 * Appropedia.org - The Appropriate Technology Living Library, see the Arcata Marsh for an example.
 * The Food Wiki
 * Pillr.com - see Electrical Engineering Colleges in the U.S. and Electrical Engineering Companies in the U.S.
 * An example in spanish: where to go out in Madrid?
 * Bonwiki All things Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles
 * Rob Thijssens WhereAmIFrom page With pictures!
 * NorthWest Atlanta Information Page
 * SkipperGuide - Skipper guide, see Portsmouth,, Heegermeer
 * Ulladulla Wiki - Community Wiki for the Ulladulla district on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia
 * Burkina.at
 * Rutasenbici Bicycle routes in Spain
 * Sons of the Thames Rowing Club, Hammersmith, London.
 * Alley Cat Racing, Listing of upcoming races and routes/writeups/pictures of past races.
 * Wikioz of Australia-australie A french wiki about Australia
 * Climbingspots all over the world
 * Private website of Erik van Berkum with places he has visited
 * German Green Party (Neustadt - Bremen)
 * WikiExtremadura
 * WikiSalamanca
 * GourmetPedia
 * The Photo Op Wiki... Explore places to take pictures... either next door or across the world.
 * WikiCU - a wiki about Columbia University
 * Gaiapedia
 * Unofficial Burning Man Wiki
 * WikiMarion.org - local history of Marion, IN, written by high school history students
 * NorCal Kayak Anglers Wiki - Wiki for Northern California kayak fishing
 * SpottersWiki airport spotting guide
 * Geschichtspfad.de fascist and militaristic history of Neustadt (quarter of Bremen)
 * Pubard.com french wiki website about advertising
 * Collaborative landscape wiki A landscape architecture, urban design and planning wiki
 * Northwestern University Center for Atom-Probe Tomography
 * Oberwiki - wiki for Oberlin College and greater Oberlin, Ohio
 * Krumovgrad (town)
 * Trailbrain.com
 * KletterWiki.de
 * Tj-encyclopédie Encyclopédie libre et critique sur les Témoins de Jéhovah Here an example at the end of this article