Wordpress Instamapper & Google Maps Plugin

By andy | August 17, 2008

Download Wordpress Instamapper & Google Maps v1.3 Plugin

Version 1.3 - 4 / October / 2008

Version 1.3 contains further features for debugging, this is again in response to a few people having issues while implementing the plugin / widget. This seems to be when API keys aren’t correct or when the InstaMapper data for your device isn’t shared.

There is now a control option, which allows users to browse through previous map location updates. A link back to this blog is also now included, this can be removed (in options) but would be very thankful if you leave the linkback active!

I welcome any bug reports, comments, or feature requests. Simply comment on this post!

Download Wordpress Instamapper & Google Maps v1.1 Plugin

Version 1.1 - 31 / September / 2008

Version 1.1 contains a “debug” feature, this is in response to a few people having issues while implementing the plugin / widget.

If you have had problems - please upload this new version and turn the debug setting on from within Design / Widgets. Once enabled if you require assistance, please comment this post or email me with your blog address and I will attempt to investigate.

Download Wordpress Instamapper & Google Maps v1.0 Plugin

After doing a lot of reading on Google Maps and other geo location services, I wanted to implement something on my blog. Unable to find a suitable plugin, I created a mashup of two services…

Instamapper - a service which you can send your current location to, using a mobile device (iPhone, Blackberry)

Google Maps - a service which allows you to show a map based on geo location data.

You will see a map on each page of this blog (bottom left). This map location is updated from my mobile device. This plugin gives you the following options…

Map Size - Allows you to change both the width and height of the map to display
Pin - This allows you to display your exact location with a pin
Pin Colour - Change the colour of the pin
Pin Letter - Change the letter of the pin
Zoom Level - Change from street level to country level

Installation of the plugin is very simple, first you must have an API key for Instamapper.com and an API key for Google Maps. Once you have both API keys, you must complete the following…

Upload `google_map_track.php` to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory.
Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
Update your settings from `Design` and `Widgets`
That’s it!

Once installed you can place the map in your sidebar / footer, adjust the settings to suit your blog (map size, pin colour, letter).

Hopefully there will be some more updates coming soon! Please comment for feature requests / bugs / general comments.

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Topics: Development, Mobile Devices
Interact: Trackback Link
Tags: Bug Reports, Control Option, Debugging, Exact Location, Feature Requests, google, Google Download, Google Maps, iphone, Location Data, Location Services, Location Updates, Maps Download, Mashup, Mobile Device, Pin Pin, Suitable Plugin, Which Allows Users, Widget, Widgets, wordpress

21 Responses to “Wordpress Instamapper & Google Maps Plugin”

Matt on August 17th, 2008 at 9:33 pm

Very nice! can we make it more specific? i.e on the john…
Chris on August 19th, 2008 at 3:27 pm

Thanks for the tip about your plugin. I installed it, however its not working. Feel free to e-mail me to work through it. I also have google talk at the same address.

Cheers.

Chris
Sébastien on August 19th, 2008 at 8:35 pm

Very nice !
i suggest to not limit the plugin to a widget. It could be very nice to have the map in a dedicated page.
Is it possible ?

Sébastien from France
andy on August 20th, 2008 at 7:36 am

Sébastien thank you for your suggestion, I will look into this option! Check back for version updates!
MHDesign on August 22nd, 2008 at 1:39 am

This is a great initiative you’re taking on, however it’s not working on my site either. Feel free to shoot me an email so I can give you the link (it’s on my dev site) and you can see what it’s doing, which may hopefully help you fine-tune this plug-in.
Jon Wright on August 28th, 2008 at 3:47 pm

Nice idea although i’m getting:

“An error occured while returning the latest map, please update your location”

Both APi’s are valid and Instamapper is currently tracking my iPhone ok. Any suggestions??

Many thanks for a potentially great app
Sébastien on September 1st, 2008 at 9:03 am

Andy,

Thanks to your plugin, I created also a plugin for my personal use. It let Fickr pictures & InstaMapper position to be localized on a Google Map.

I created a blog if some other people are interested in : link
baron on September 7th, 2008 at 7:23 pm

hi. Thanks for plugin

perfect.

Regards
metime on September 16th, 2008 at 12:06 am

Hi,

I can’t seem to get this to work in my sidebar. The widget returns this error, no matter how I adjust the variables. Looks OK when I use instamapper though - that is finding the device ok.

“An error occured while returning the latest map, please update your location”

Can you help?
Cheers
andy on September 16th, 2008 at 12:48 pm

@metime, I’ve emailed you direct regarding the issue!
Dedwarmo on September 26th, 2008 at 5:57 pm

If you are getting this error:

“An error occured while returning the latest map, please update your location”

and the map is not showing up try going to your Instamapper settings and click on “Manage devices.” Then click on “Share” next to the device you want to show up on the map.
BOK on September 28th, 2008 at 11:25 am

The WordPress auto-update downloads a new version 1.2, but the file is empty… Any idea?
andy on September 28th, 2008 at 6:29 pm

Version 1.3 should now be available, let me know if you have any issues!
metime on September 29th, 2008 at 8:35 am

I’ll download v1.3 and give it another try!
metime on September 29th, 2008 at 9:24 am

Nope - same problem - could you take a look? I’ve got debug mode switched on. Cheers.
BOK on September 29th, 2008 at 2:27 pm

OK - the upgrade to 1.3 from withing WP went smoothly. But now the widget says: “An error occured while returning the latest map, please update your location”.
I’ve updated my position, which shows up on InstaMapper, but not on my blog…
andy on September 29th, 2008 at 8:13 pm

@metime: The return that the InstaMapper API is giving you seems to be “bad request”.

I believe your InstaMapper account isn’t set up for 3rd party applications to access. First; login to your http://www.instamapper.com account; click manage devices, click configure API access. Then click “enable API access” next to the device you wish you track.
Celexa on October 2nd, 2008 at 5:06 pm

Thank you for constantly updated, always a pleasure to read.
Jon Wright on October 8th, 2008 at 2:46 pm

Hey thanks for the update.

Works a treat

Jon
Martin on November 30th, 2008 at 10:47 pm

Hey, I just can’t active and make working this widget. When I active plug in and go to design and widget. Add the widget to the sidebar 1, save changes, then the widget menu ends with %BEG_OF_TITLE%iPhone Map%END_OF_TITLE% and you can’t save or move or do anything with widget anymore. The same on blog page. Wordpres 2.6.5 using K2 Theme
dremeda on December 19th, 2008 at 9:07 pm

Looks promising once it is not constricted to widget based installs. Anything is better than the iFrame method recommended on Instamapper.

Thanks for the hard work!