Question

http://railskits.com/map/

Would you like to launch your own
google map mashup? Need a way to
easily get data onto a map, but don’t
want to have to dig through piles of
poorly documented Google Maps
javascript code?

The Map Rails Kit allows you to deploy
a map mashup instantly. It extracts
all the Google Maps implementation
details, organizes all the
customizations into an easy to use
config file, and reimplements the map
controls, bubbles, and markers so your
app looks unique.

Populating your map with markers
consists of working with a few simple
ActiveRecord models so it’s amazingly
easy to get started. Create marker
records with titles, bubble content,
and location. If you specify just an
address to your markers, your markers
will be automatically geocoded for
you. You can even add tens of
thousands of markers to your maps
easily, and they’ll dynamically load
onto the map only when they are
currently in view as your users
navigate the map.

The Kit includes all the usability
polish that your users would expect in
a commercial map mashup. Their current
map settings are always saved via
session so when they come back to the
page later on, they’re right where
they left off before. For new
visitors, we support hooking into an
ip2location service in order to
initialize their current position. So
they immediately see their current
spot on the map, and can begin
interacting with it.

This Kit was authored by Jacques
Crocker.

Answer 1

This is kind of subjective, but I don’t find the Google Maps API nearly as daunting as the blurb makes it out to be. I don’t think I’d pay half a grand for an API to the Maps API — especially since you can buy a whole book on the topic for like $15 even if you find Google’s docs lacking.