F.A.Q.
(Frequently Asked Questions)
This section provides answers to questions that arise from adding maps to websites and blogs.
Please contact us if you encounter a problem adding your map which is not answered here and
we will do our best to help.
How do I create the map to embed ?
Go here
http://maps.google.com/help/maps/userguide/index.html
for full instructions on how
to create a map using Google My Maps.
My Maps can be created and edited at any of the national Google Maps sites, e.g.
http://maps.google.com (UK)
http://maps.google.co.uk (USA)
http://maps.google.ca (Canada)
http://maps.google.fr (France)
http://maps.google.de (Germany)
My map doesn't display ?
The likeliest cause is that the URL entered is not the address of a KML file.
To obtain your KML file text :
- Open your Google My Maps page, and click on the 'My Maps' tab.
- Right-click on the 'KML' link, and select 'Copy Link Location' or 'Copy Shortcut' (see below).
- Paste the copied URL into the textbox above (Right-click on the textbox and select 'Paste').
Firefox:
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Internet Explorer:
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Note : your map must contain at least one element : a marker, line or polygon.
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Mapping Tips
Using Google My Maps you can add descriptions for places in plain text and then illustrate the description
using some HTML. Here are a few simple HTML features to use.
1. Adding Images to map descriptions
This code displays an image, with a tooltip and alternate text for use if the image cannot be loaded.
<img src='http://www.mymapsplus.com/images/mymapsplus.png' width='56' height='56' title='My Maps Plus' border='0' alt='My Maps Plus' />
img
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declares an image element
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src
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the URL of the image, eg, http://www.mymapsplus.com/images/mymapsplus.png
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width
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The width of the image in pixels *
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height
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The width of the image in pixels *
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* Although not required you should include the width and height where known in order to display the Info Window using the correct size.
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title
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Shown as the tooltip for the image in Firefox (optional)
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alt
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The alternate text that is shown if the image cannot be found.
Shown as the tooltip for the image in Internet Explorer (optional)
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Positioning the image
Enclose the <image> element inside a <div > element and use a 'float' style to wrap the text
around the image.
e.g.
<div style="float:right" >
<img src='http://www.mymapsplus.com/images/mymapsplus.png' width='56' height='56' title='My Maps Plus' border='0' alt='Image' />
</div>
2. Adding hyperlinks
Heres a simple hyperlink to My Maps Plus
<a href='http://www.mymapsplus.com'>My Maps Plus</a>
Heres a hyperlink which opens in a new window (note: My Maps Plus adds this tag automatically to
all hyperlinks so you do not need to include target='_blank'
<a target='_blank' href='http://www.mymapsplus.com'>My Maps Plus</a>
Heres a hyperlink that displays a toottip
<a href='http://www.mymapsplus.com' title='My Maps Plus'>My Maps Plus</a>
Heres a hyperlink displayed in a large red font
<a href='http://www.mymapsplus.com' title='My Maps Plus' style='font-size:24px;font-weight:bold;color:red'>My Maps Plus</a>
3. Setting the Info Window Size
You can specify
the size of an info window by enclosing the html in a <div> element. Additionally
you can make the div scroll when there is more text than can fit within the info window's drawable area.
Try adding this html to an info window that has a substantial amount of text or a large image.
* An alternative is to select 'Concise Info Window' in the Map Script Options. This displays the
place description in the sidebar instead of the info window.
<div style='width:400px;height:300px;overflow:auto'>
your description html here ...
</div>
Note: single or double quotes are interchangeable in the examples above, just ensure that the type of quote matches.
e.g. an opening double-quote must be be followed by a closing double quote, and not a single quote.
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