MapTrot

Saturday, May 12, 2007

If You Can't Beat Em - Join Em! Maptrot Now Supports KML/GeoRSS (MyMaps, et al)

When I started building MapTrot, there were no other 'create your own map' sites. Now there are a bunch of them. Google did not have MyMaps, either, and now they do.

So what's an aspiring Map creation site to do? Be inclusive!

MapTrot now supports adding any number of "Layers" to a created map. These layers can be a KML or a GeoRSS URL. What does that mean? It means you can create a map anywhere that supports KML or GeoRSS, and include that map in a MapTrot map. You can, of course, still add additional locations to the map as well, just as before.

How cool is that? Very.

You can find some related maps and put them together on the same map page.

For instance, here's a combination of 3 KML map files (Ontario Parks, US National Parks, and North Carolina Parks), plus one location I added for Rocky Mountain National Park:





Link To Full Map
Note that, as above, you can link to or embed your mashed up maps.


Here's another example, this list of the 10 best places just came out for singles, families, retirees, etc. I created each list seperately as a Google MyMap map, and then combined them all in one MapTrot Map:
Top Ten Places

Note that you can check/uncheck the layers to turn then off or on.


Now it's your turn! Find some cool KML or GeoRss files out there, and add em to your maps. Combine em and make new maps! The possibilities are endless!


BUT WAIT, that's not all... you can also export your published maps to KML (click the KML icon at the top)! This allows you to view your MapTrot created map locations in Google Earth or any tool that reads KML. What about using a MapTrot map as a layer in another MapTrot map?? Yup, you can do that.


The KML exports just the Locations you've created on a map, though, it doesn't export the information from any layers you've created.


Happy Mapping!

2 Comments:

At June 15, 2007 12:06 PM , Blogger Austin said...

The KLM/GeoRSS feature is amazing! Thank you so much for this, there's no other site (I can find) that does this. Using my Nokia N95 phone I can drive (or ride my motorcycle as is the plan) and track the entire trip AND geocode photos taken with the camera automatically sent to flickr. I come home, spend 5 minutes uploading the kml and adding the feeds and BAM I have a full trip map with route and photos along the way! Example: http://maptrot.com/mapView.jsp?mapId=7decbfbd-9be4-4e77-9a5b-d444a0ea4afd

PLEASE add new features like a sidebar to summarize markers, and the ability to change the marker icon.

Thanks for such a great product!

 
At April 17, 2008 1:24 PM , Blogger Johnny T said...

Below is a KML file that keeps up to date with the latest motorcycle rallies in California.

http://www.weaselsspfld.com/kml/massachusetts.xml

 

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