A sample google mapIn the past, I’ve been scared away from adapting Google Maps by talk of the API. I had concluded it was for super-duper geeks only. It seems I was quite wrong. It’s for mere mortal webmasters too.

In next-to-no-time, you too can create a user-friendly map — and it’s one of the best things you can do for your congregation’s site. In fact, there are only five steps, one of which you’ve probably already done.

  1. Get a Google account.
  2. Sign Up for the Google Maps API. Pick a directory on your site, e.g. http://www.firstuunashville.org/directories/. (Hint: if you pick your root, you’re going to have to put the file in the root.) Click on “Generate API Key.” This will create a random string of about 90 characters. Hang on to that key.
  3. It also generates some sample code. Using Dreamweaver or your web editor of choice, copy that code into a new file in the directory you chose and upload. Go to that page, and voila – you will see a map… of Palo Alto.
  4. Find your church on a regular Google map, e.g. http://local.google.com/maps?q=1808+Woodmont+Blvd,+37215
  5. Zoom in and click on “Link to this page” (on the right near the top). Copy the URL and get the latitude and longitude, e.g. 36.114035, -86.805607. Paste this into “GLatLng” function. Upload the code again and, there you have it - a map to your church.
  6. You could stop right here, but if you want to add more features go to the GMapEZ page and click on Get Started. Follow the GMapEZ directions, and you can do all kinds of cool things. For my church’s map, I changed the dimensions to 550px by 350px and did the following steps:
    1. Just a map.
    2. Add a marker.
    3. Changing the Map Type. (I prefer the G_MAP_TYPE).
    4. Big map controls.
    5. Specifying an extent.
    6. Then I got really carried away and did a map with Multiple markers. I can’t pretend that this last map is terribly useful, but a web diva has to have fun.

One tip…. After I got the map working, I made backup copies of the files before going on to a step that might mess things up. I uploaded and tested after each step to be sure all was well.