As a relocation consultant I have been a great fan of Googlemaps.
Yet with their new mapengine the reusability of elements have just gone.
Goodbye adding an available property for rent to a new map, snif...
Yes, you can Export and import to some extent but it has became a lot less sexy then it was before.
Thus I have put myself to the quest - committing way too much from my limited time - to find the right alternative. Here's what I have found.
After rostering these articles on CreativeBloq.com; on YahooTech! and then the usual Alternative.to listings.
#1 - Mapquest
At the first glance MapQuest seemed like a great alternative. Especially with the MapBuilder Tool. after a bit of testing though
Things I liked:
- FB login
Things I disliked, been missing:
- Import function missing
- Sharing is a drag
- Had an issue with embeding pictures (that is a major out for me)
#2 - Uebermaps
No, they are not affiliated with the uberbuzzed Uber app thing :)Yet, they deserve buzz, so here comes my review:
What I have liked:
- FB and Twitter Login
- importing maps from GoogleMaps - this one rules
- defaults to private (ideal for a consultant like me)
What I have missed, disliked:
- when importing a map with things I have to delete or take a spot off of a map one by one. That is a bit of a drag (at least on desktops/laptops). To do that you must:
- Step 1 - click on the spot (that may involve horizontal scrolling to the right) .
- Step 2 - find the Administration tab (vertical scroll down).
- Step 3 - Click on the right menu ico.
- Step 4 - Click on Delete spot
- No export function. (No) Thank you for locking me in :( guys! UPDATE: I have found out they have a great API. Now I only have to hire somebody to figure how to export, but at least I can).
- adding picture is also too CRUD. Just as for deleting spots. Yet at least reusability balances this short coming.
- also it can't seem to be a way to really reuse spots from in a newly created map :(
#3 - Bing by Microsoft
I have yet to try it. Why?
- you cannot seem to have the option to save maps - with clusters of similar of different markers. Just places,
- you need a live.com account that I may or may not have. N.B. I have had my first email address from hotmail.com back in 1995 or 1996, yes lost sight of it :(
Conclusion
Even if not reusable but it is still GoogleMaps' mapengine is the only solution that works ok.
Update:
I have finally found a semi-manual trick to work around the no KML export issue of the new GoogleMaps. Thanks to the UeberMaps guys from Germany. Here it comes...
- Step - go to http://www.google.com/mymaps to access the maps you have created
- Step - click on 'Open a Map' tab
- Step - Select and click Map to open
- Step - go to the nav bar and manually alter the original URL you find there - something like: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=zpzbqfG8E9oOm6Rqc (with bold I have put the parts you'll have to alter)
- Step - change the URL to https://mapsengine.google.com/maps/d/u/0/kml?mid=zpzbqfG8E9oOm6Rqc (N.B. the italics part zpzbqfG8E9oOm6Rqc will be unique to your map so mind it!)
Hope this last tip will save some headache for you along the way!
How do you find the scene? What other great mapping tools you know of where you can create and selectively share your custom maps, while reusing them?
