AllenK

Could anyone recommend a Google Map Wordpress plugin that supports
zooming with fingers on a mobile?

I am using:

WordPress Plugin: Google Maps v3 Shortcode | The Urban Nomad

It's awesome. But the only way to zoom is with on screen +/- buttons.
While people naturally try to zoom with finders on a mobi.


Or perhaps there's a piece of code that will allow launching Android/iPhone Map App
when tapping on the Google Map marker?

Or code that links a written address to a Map App
(like href="tel:xxxxxx" launches 'tap to call'?)


Thanks guys, any advice is greatly appreciated.



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WillR

The problem is the Google maps that allow you to zoom with your fingers are those which you must embed into your site using iframes. Iframes are not recommended for mobile websites. This is why you will see most people using static map images on mobile sites and then linking to the Google map should people want to zoom in or move around the map at all.

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AllenK

Will,

thanks for the clear explanation.

Is it possible to link a text address to Google Maps or Map App,
so tapping launches the map (and sets a marker)?


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WillR

Definitely, and that's exactly what I do. This is what the code would look like if your address was 123 Story St. Brooklyn NY 11218

<a href="http://maps.google.com/m/local?q=123 Story St. Brooklyn NY 11218" rel="nofollow">123 Story St. Brooklyn NY 11218</a>

If a user clicks on that address they will be taken to the mobile version of Google Maps where they can zoom in and scroll left/right, etc. If they are on a smartphone such as the iPhone it will instead open up the Google Maps app and give them the full function map to play around with.

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Jay Moreno

just fyi there are two versions of google maps for mobile devices that i have found - they have very slight variations in what they do

1) http://maps.google.com/m/local? - this is the one Will mentioned it will work on almost all devices i have tested it on but for newer phones it has limited features

2) http://maps.google.com/m/places? - this version works best on newer feature phones that are not android or ios driven but are running new browsers than can handle javascript since this version is javascript driven and offers more features for those type of phones over the previous one - such as better panning and zooming for example...

The url structure is also more complex on the latter and you are best off using firefox and useragent switcher to make sure you get the right url

for me i am big advocate for user agent detection instead of using screen size detection when it comes to handling mobile visitors.

Using user agent detection i will actually use both urls and server the best option to the appropriate device to enhance the end user experience, but testing really is the key... if your using emulators and your taking mobile web development seriously invest in some real mobile devices - android, ios, blackberry... you dont need a contract. With all you can just use the phones wifi feature. Instead of an iphone invest in an itouch or if you dont have the money at least use the one hour free trial offered at perfectomobile to see what at least one of your sites look like across a number of REAL but different devices... its a great learning experience!

btw if your not using user agent detection and you serve the latter google maps url in some instances it will cause a browser freeze on slightly older blackberry devices ie 8530!

hth