On Jan 22, 2008 7:23 AM, SPUI drspui@gmail.com wrote:
We have something like that; see the template in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Tunnel#External_links , specifically http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http%3A%2F%2Ftools.wikimedia.de%2F%7Epara%2Fcg...
I just ported my OpenStreetMap plugin from de to en.wikipedia. Put importScript('User:Magnus Manske/osm.js'); on your monobook.js page (or someone make this a gadget, I'm not sure how), and on pages that have "article coordinates" (on the upper right, below the title baseline), you'll get a link that says "OSM". When you click on it, it will open a map at the top of the article. OSM is free (as in freedom), so no problem transcluding it in the article.
Screenshot from de.wikipedia for Berlin: http://magnusmanske.de/wikipedia/wp_osm.png
This uses one of my tools on the toolserver to generate the map parameters, and it will get coordinates from related articles and display them (the blue flag things in the screenshot). This, however, takes a few seconds. The map appears pretty quickly, though.
The underlying technology is OpenLayers, a free GoogleMaps-like JavaScript. It can also use other layers, e.g., NASA WorldWind. Haven't gotten around to implement that, though.
Cheers, Magnus