Is there a way to create a submission form that will go directly to a google map?

January 9, 2009 11:34 AM

Is there a way to create a submission form that will go directly to a google map?

I want to create a map that anyone can add to, but I'd like to make it so that people don't have to register with google. So, I'd like to do it through a submission form, hosted on my own site, where people can ideally:

+ Submit text that then becomes part of the pop-up window in the google map.
+ Upload a picture or video which also appears in the pop-up window.
+ Select from a series of pre-determined categories of submissions, each with its own logo.
+ Add and address, which then automatically geocodes it to the map.

And, of course, I'd love for all this to be automated - ie they would fill out the form and it would immediately be fed into the map.

Any thoughts? Is there a tool already out there that does this? Or would I have to hire someone to build the form for me? Too much to ask?
Thanks!

posted by jtajta to Technology (2 answers total)

Google Documents has a "forms" feature that allows you to take data submissions by form and put them directly into a Google Docs spreadsheet. I think, but cannot check at this time, that there is a widget or plugin for Google Docs spreadsheet that will make maps out of addresses.
posted by Xoder at 12:56 PM on January 9, 2009

Sure, you can do this - I don't know of any tools that do it (because I don't know a ton of off-the-shelf web tools), but what you would do is store the data yourself, then use the Google Maps API to create a map with your desired pop-up windows, addresses, logos, etc. It wouldn't be a "saved map" in Google so much as a map that was dynamically created by a script on your site, with the data that your form had saved.
posted by pocams at 3:07 PM on January 9, 2009