Almost exactly a year ago, I joined the Maps API team to be a middleman(woman) between the literally thousands of Google Maps API developers and our internal Geo teams. So this post is both a summary of the 2007 and my first year here. I originally anticipated this being a short post until I started reviewing posts for the last 12 months, and realized that it's been a mighty eventful year. Get yourself a cup of joe (or boba, my fav) and get ready to look back on 2007:
New API features:- New classes:
- GPolygon: Create shapes on top of the map.
- GGeoXml: Overlay KML or GeoRSS files from any domain on the map (with support for advanced features like Network Links in KML).
- GGroundOverlay: Overlay an image over a given GLatLngBounds. (From KML's GroundOverlay)
- GScreenOverlay: Overlay images in fixed positions on top of your map div. (From KML's ScreenOverlay)
- GDirections: Get the polyline and localized directions HTML for a simple to/from query or array of waypoints.
- GTrafficOverlay: Overlay traffic conditions for major roads on top of the map.
- GGoogleBar: A shiny control wrapping the AJAX API's LocalSearchControl. The easiest way to let users search for local businesses on the map.
- GHierarchicalMapTypeControl: A control that shows nested maptypes and checkboxes for toggling.
- Other fun stuff:
- GPolygon/GPolyline "click" events: Create pseudo image maps or trigger info windows on poly clicks.
- GMarker.setImage: Great for mouseover/highlighted effects, GMarker.show/hide: Great for easy marker group toggling
- GInfoWindowOptions: maxContent, maxTitle: Specify maximized content for your info window.
- G_PHYSICAL_MAP: A map type that displays terrain features like vegetation and elevation.
- MarkerManager: The first offering in the open source lib, an open source version of GMarkerManager with additional functionality.
- LabeledMarker: A GMarker extension that lets you display text ("labels") on top of markers.
- DragZoomControl: A GControl extension that letsusers zoom by dragging a rectangle of interest (and in latest versions, give them a back button and zoom history!)
- ExtMapTypeControl: An open source version of MapTypeControl, with an additional Traffic button/key.
- ExtInfoWindow: A GOverlay extension that lets you create custom info windows with CSS, and easily pull in content with AJAX.
- Articles:
- Revised documentation: Now with conceptual sub-sections and more examples
- New issue tracker to help developers report and find bugs. (Resolution for 2008: fix bugs!)
- Developer Day slides & presentation videos
- Better map tiles for: India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Russia, Turkey, Lithuania, Slovenia, Taiwan, Croatia, Greece, Thailand & Estonia, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, plus 40 more nations.
- Added geocoding support for: Brazil, Portugal, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Ireland, and the UK.
- Created a filterable spreadsheet to track coverage.
- Include KML or GeoRSS files in your sitemap.
- Search for KML files on Google Maps or Google Earth.
- Create a Mapplet version of your Maps API mashup to let users mash it with other Mapplets on Google Maps.
