.. include :: substitutions.txt Introduction ===================== |GC| is a |J| 1.5 component that allows embedding of *Google Maps* into a |J| website. Standard |J| Articles, can be bound to geographic features such as *POINTs*, *LINEs* and *POLYGONs* and the resulting maps can be shown in the article page and in an overview map. A single |GCI| can be represented by more than one geographic type: so that you can have simultaneously a set of POINTS, some POLYGONS and some LINES for a single |J| article. |GCIs| on the map are grouped by |GCLs|, appearance can be fully customized through layers configuration. .. note:: |GC| was created as a sort of *Geographic Index* to |J| articles, the earliest versions had a tight binding between |J| articles and the geometric features that |GC| was going to show on its maps. Suggestion from the users made |GC| subsequently evolve to cover more general use cases, it is now possible to create |GCIs| independently completely unlinked to existing |J| articles. Key features ------------ What makes this component unique among other mapping tools in the |J| galaxy is probably the level of assistance (this is really what people pays for), its ease of use, its configurability and and its input/output functions. Input functions allows you to import tracks from a *GPX* file or directly draw into a map window within your browser, all your data will also be readily available in *KML* format. Fromt the control panel interface you can configure the appearance in details: for each |GCL|, you can style: * Line color * Line width * Polygon line color * Polygon fill color * Polygon line transparency * Polygon fill transparency * Point icon * Point icon size (KML only: not supported in the embedded map) Of course you can configure several aspects of the main map appearance: * |TOC| (TOC) type (hidden, list, select) * TOC position (left, top, right, bottom) * TOC and main map width (onyl useful for TOC position left and right) * Which layers should be activated at start (none, all, selected) * Map dimensions * KML icon (hide or show) Map types --------- |GC| can produce different kind of maps, allowing a broad range of use cases. Overview maps ............. An :ref:`Overview Map` can be used as a *geographic index* to your |J| contents (articles or other |J| elements), this kind of map is typically used as a primary or secondary home page to show how website's contents are positioned on the globe. Automatic maps .............. An :ref:`automatic map` is generated by a |J| :ref:`content_plugin` which automatically adds a map to an article's page if the article has an associated |GCI|. Tag maps ........ Tags maps are the most flexible type of map: they are inserted by a |J| :ref:`content_plugin` which replaces the `{geocontent}` string when found in an article's body. Tags maps can be configured in depth to show or not to show the |TOC| or certain layers. Current limitations ------------------- * You cannot place more than one map on a single page. This limitation will be eventually removed. .. _glossary: Small glossary --------------- Just a few terms used in this manual and their meaning: * |GCL|: layers are groups of geometric features (|GCI|, see below), they also hold all informations concerning the appearance (colors, transparency, line width etc.) of the |GCI| * |GCI|: these are the geometric features which share the same balloon text (if any), the same hyperlink (if any) or the same link to a |J| article (if any), |GCI| can also be ''complex'' in the sense that |GC| does not pose any limitation on the number or geometric type (POINT, LINE or POLYGON) of the individual geometric entities you place in a |GCI| * |TOC|: a list of layers with associated controls to switch visualisation on or off and optionally a small globe icon to download layer's contents in the KML format. * **Front-end**: the public side of |J|, the |J| administration control panel is also known as *back-end*.