Embedded Google Maps

I discovered that Google Maps now supported embedding maps directly into web pages without needing to use the Google Maps API.  It’s just cut and paste.  I thought it was zippidy-doo-dah and off to the routing races.  Well it was almost that easy.  In Google Maps I created my first route map for one of my Chili Bun SS/BB runs, it was actually the Northbound return route.  I clicked on "Link to this page",  copied the code from the "Paste HTML to embed in website" window and then pasted it into the HTML code for my article.  I then switched to the WSIWYG view and PRESTO!, my embedded map appeared with the route and all the waypoints.  I was happier then a hog in a wallow or is that happier than a dancing banana.  I always get those mixed up .

Then it was on to my Southbound route.  I followed the exact same steps and PRESTO-CRAPO the map appeared but there wasn’t any route or waypoints .  I repeated the process a couple of times with the same results.  If I clicked on the "View Larger Map" link below the embedded map I was taken back to Google Maps and there is the map, route and waypoints in all their glory.  I looked at the embedded code and I couldn’t see anything that could make any difference.  I searched the web and the Google Maps site for any tips and came up with zippo .  I tried a lot of others things but this post is already boring enough so I won’t elaborate.  I finally give it up and just left the honked up map in my now updated article. 

I revisited this a couple of times over the next week or so but I just couldn’t get that route to work right.  Tonight, for some reason, I decided I was going to resolve this dilemma or just nuke the embedded maps all together.   I went back into Google Maps and created the route from scratch and then went into "Link to this page".   I decide to see what the "Customize and preview embedded map" page would do for me.  As it turned out it didn’t directly help correct the problem but it did show me that my route and waypoints were not working in the preview page either .  Now we are getting somewhere.

I again started the route from scratch and after adding each waypoint I went to the embedded map preview page to see if the route and waypoints were still being displayed.  One after the other everything was working like a finely tuned BMW .  Well it did until I got to the Bermuda Triangle of Google Maps, Gustine, CA.  As soon as I added that waypoint the route and all the waypoints would disappear from the embedded map preview and subsequently the embedded map .  If I deleted it and entered all the remaining waypoints everything worked just fine.  I started a new map and just entered that one location and even that would not show up in the embedded map.

Not to be undone by a buggy piece of mapping software I decided to manually zoom in on the map location and add a destination point that way rather than entering an address.  A big PRESTO-ZILCHO resulted from that gambit.  I tried this a couple of times at slightly different locations around my refueling point and eventually a point I created, literally on top of I-5, finally worked.  So it was back to square one rebuilding the route and manually entering that one waypoint at the magic location.    Success was finally achieved.  So then I was back into my editor pasting in the new embedded Google Map code and both of my route maps are now fully functional.

I struggled with another aspect of creating the embedded maps.  I would create the route and then scale and position the map to how I wanted it to look in the article.  The embedded map always ended up looking like the map did when the last waypoint was entered.  It didn’t matter if I zoomed from the embedded map preview page or the full Google Map.   I finally figured out the magic sequence to get what I wanted.  I had to reload the page after re-scaling the map.  Only then would the embedded map codes be updated.  

I know to err is human and to really screw up takes a computer but give me a break, please .  It’s still a nifty feature and I will be using it frequently.  Knowing about the problems will allow me to avoid them in the future. Well at least until the next Google Maps software upgrade anyway .