jMapping - Google Maps jQuery Plugin

This plugin is designed for quick development of a page that implements a Google Map with a list of the locations that are specified within the HTML.

Links

• Documentation
• Examples
• Repository@GitHub
• Downloads

Graceful degradation and Semantic Expectations

This plugin tries to allow as much graceful degradation as possible by having the HTML be as semantic as possible. The plugin expect the HTML for the locations to be grouped under a common element. Additionally, it expects the links and Map Info Window content to be grouped under the location elements. It also expects the necessary metadata to be on the location element. This way the HTML semantically reflects that all of those parts and information are associated with the specific location or place.

Usage

Start by getting a Google Maps API key. Download the necessary dependencies and jMapping.

Make sure you include the necessary scripts in your page:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?file=api&v=2&key=someapikey"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="mapiconmaker.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.3.2/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="jquery.metadata.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="jquery.jmapping.js"></script>

Make sure your HTML has a div element for the Google map, and there is a container element with some locations and their data. The data by default is expected to be on the "data" attribute of the location (this can be configured):

<div id="map"></div>

<div id="map-side-bar">
  <div class="map-location" data="{id: 5, point: {lat: 35.925, lng: -79.053}, category: 'Gas'}">
    <a href="#" class="map-link">Some Place</a>
    <div class="info-box">
      <p>Some thing for the info box.</p>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="map-location" data="{id: 8, point: {lat: 35.935, lng: -79.024}, category: 'Food'}">
    <a href="#" class="map-link">Another Place</a>
    <div class="info-box">
      <p>Example Text.</p>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

Then just call the jMapping function on the map element:

$(document).ready(function(){
  $('#map').jMapping();
});

If you need to change the markers on the map, usually for some type of pagination, this can be done by simply updating the content of the "side-bar" container to contain new location data and then calling the update function:

$('#map-side-bar').load('ajax/path/file.html', nil, function(){
  $('#map').jMapping('update');
});

OR

$('#map-side-bar').load('ajax/path/file.html', nil, function(){
  $('#map').data('jMapping').update();
});

Options

These are options that can be passed to the jMapping function to change specific settings.

• side_bar_selector:
  • Default: "#map-side-bar:first"
  • This defines the selector where location items will be searched for within.
• location_selector:
  • Default: ".map-location"
  • This defines the selector for location items. This is the element that the metadata needs to be associated with. The plugin will look for items matching this selector inside of the side bar element.
• link_selector:
  • Default: a.map-link
  • This selector defines the link that will be used to "activate" a marker on the map. If info window elements are provided the HTML inside of them will be loaded into the pop up window when these links are clicked. You should set this value to false if you do not wish to use this functionality. These links will be searched for inside of the location elements specified in the location_selector.
• info_window_selector:
  • Default: ".info-box"
  • This selector defines where the content for the Google Maps info window for each location marker is. This element will be searched for inside of the location elements specified in the location_selector. If no element is found no Info Window will be attached to the marker.
• metadata_options:
  • Default: {type: "attr", name: "data"}
  • This is the set of options passed to the jQuery metadata function. It defines how the necessary metadata for each location will be searched for. See the metadata plugins docs for more info.
• info_window_max_width:
  • Default: 425
  • This specifies what the max width of the Google Maps Info Windows can be when a marker is activated. Otherwise it will expand to fit the width of the content.
• map_config:
  • Default: N/A
  • This can be set to a function that will accept the Google maps object as it's only parameter. The function can be used to set the map type or add controls or perform any other functions you want to do on the map object before the markers are placed on it.
    If this option is not set the map type will be G_NORMAL_MAP and only the GSmallMapControl control will be added.
• category_icon_options:
  • Default: N/A
  • By default the plugin will use the default Google Maps marker icon. But you can use this option to specify what options to pass to the MapIconMaker based on category data associated with the location. It accepts 2 types of values: an object or a function.
    If the setting is to an object it will take the category data on the location and look for a key on the object that matches and return that value. If there is no value for the supplied category, it will return the value specified in the "default" key.
    If the setting is set to a function it will call the function and pass the value for the category data to the function, returning the result. This can be used for more complicated logic and for using something other then just string data in the category, such as an object with multiple data attributes it's self. The function should return an object with attributes that are valid for a MarkerIconOptions object.

Dependencies

• jQuery 1.3.2
• jQuery Metadata plugin 2.1
• MarkerManager 1.1
• MapIconMaker 1.1

License

Copyright (c) 2009 Brian Landau (Viget Labs)
MIT License: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php