MapKit Fits in Your Side Bar

UPDATE February 16: The MapKit code and interface have been revised and improved a few times since this post. Size adjustments to MapKit are now made in the advanced settings section. Log on to Platial, go to your MapKits, and click on settings. You'll find the size options in a drop-down menu.

Soon after we launched MapKit, we got feedback from bloggers who were antsy to put a MapKit in the side bars of their blogs. Well, ask and ye shall recieve. We've been calling it, "MapKit Skinny."

All you have to do is add "MapKit.width= "numberyouwantpx"; to the code you copy from Platial. I've found that MapKit.width= "220px"; generally works swell in narrow side bars, while MapkKit.width= "240px"; looks better in wider side bars.

You have to find the side bar div in the template of your blog. If you've never done this before, do not fear! It's easier than you might think. Look for something like div id="sidebar" and try pasting the MapKit code in after that. If you need help, please send us a feedback email. We love to give advice.

You can see how it looks with some Blogger blog templates, where I was testing it earlier today. My favorite so for is MapKit in the side bar of rounders. It's cute as a button in dots (get it... button... dots...), and strikingly handsome in minima.

Comments

[Kai Carver]

You can't do general zooming in and out in the skinny version?

Also, why does it say "view all X places" if you're already viewing them all?

Perhaps that real estate would be better used with "view all / zoom in / zoom out".

In all map versions, why do the places disappear from the list when they're not visible on the map? I'd like them to still be in the list, only at the bottom and in a different color, with the most recently seen at the top of the bottom of the list.

And in the mapkits, how do I zoom in on a particular place? Shouldn't there be a magnifying glass thingie?*

You could also have "view all / zoom in / zoom out / view next" where "view next" would cycle through each of the places in turn.

*Oh, OK, there's a zoom in the description. That's not a very obvious place for a map control. And maybe I don't want to have to scroll down while I'm playing with the map.

Also I don't get the difference between hovering over a place in the list and clicking it. I mean, I know clicking will display the description below, but when I'm looking at the map, it looks like hovering and clicking do the same thing.

[Phreeze]

I'm tyring to fit my mapkit in my sidebar, but it's not working. Am I putting the mapkit width statement in the wrong place? My site is http://austinlevi.blogspot.com.

MapKit.width= "220px"; MapKit.display();

Thanks!

[Tracy Rolling]

Pheeze--

This blog post is just outdated. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I need to update it!

Now all you have to do to make MapKit side-bar sized is go to you MapKit settings and choose the side bar size from the drop-down menu. No more manipulating the code.