Google Maps – continued

Hi guys,

many of you asked about details regarding the upcoming changes in Google Maps API, so here is a few answers, which hopefully will make it more clear

1. When will this change take place?
   Google says Jun 11, my experience is that it will be gradual and might be later
2. Will my maps stop working?
   This is a tough one, the anwer is “maybe”. If you provide Google with your billing details, it will work 100%. I want to emphasize that the MT scripts as such will remain fully functional. If you do not provide Google with your billing account, then this is uncertain. In some places Google suggests it will stop working. Elsewhere they mention “it might work”. You have a free quota, which most likely you will never exhaust, so this decision is up to you. One thing I want to add though is that unfortunately, my feeling is that sooner or later it will stop working unless you provide the billing details because over the only 2.5 yrs Ive been doing this, they changed the API twice already, always getting closer to this scenario.
3. Will all maps stop working?
   No, especially in case of blocks I often used Leaflet maps, which are not affected. Leaflet is faster and simpler, so useful for some things. However, it can also do less so in some cases, especially plugins and pages I created for earlier versions of MT, use Google Maps.
4. Which pages exactly might be affected?
   Here is a list (hopefully I did not forget anything). If it really stops working, then the map will not show up, the rest of the page/block/plugin should work fine.
   Pages
   • setup.php
   • pages/climate

   Blocks

   • currentBR
   • webcam

   Plugins

   • cityConditions
   • climateCanada
   • climateMaps
   • climateCustom
   • climateUS
   • countryDetail
   • disasters
   • earthquakes
   • geography
   • issTracker
   • marine
   • riverHeightsUS
   • spcReports
   • ukAir
   • usExtremes
   • weatherMapsUS
   • weatherMETAR
   • weatherRecords
   • windDirection
5. Can all Google Maps scripts be replaced with Leaflet?
   No. Unfortunately whether we like it or not, Google Maps API is by far the most sophisticated and extensive maps api out there. Some scripts cannot be done in Leaflet because it does not provide these features/services. In other cases it could be replicated closely, however these two work completely differently, the syntax is different so it is basically writing the script from scratch.