Interactive Google Map using the Twitter API

Hey! In today’s tutorial we will create an interactive Google map using the geocoding service. Using the Twitter API we will retrieve the user’s location, and then display the profile picture on the map. We will also add the click action, after which we will retrieve the user’s 5 latest tweets. So, let’s start! The […]

By Marcin Dziewulski in Tutorials on April 13, 2011

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So, let’s start!

The Markup

At the beginning let’s write some simple HTML code.

<div id="map"></div>
<div class="twitter">
	<div class="inside"></div>
</div>
<div class="posts"></div>
<div class="get">
	<input type="hidden" value="marcinmobily" />
	<input type="hidden" value="codrops" />
	<input type="hidden" value="onextrapixel" />	
	<input type="hidden" value="smashingmag" />			
	<input type="hidden" value="umutm" />
	<input type="hidden" value="1stwebdesigner" />	
	<input type="hidden" value="chriscoyier" />	
	<input type="hidden" value="marcofolio" />			
</div>

Let’s examine the code line-by-line. The first “div” will display a Google map. Another “div” is the place where we store the description, name and profile picture of the Twitter users. Next, we create a “div” which will display the last 5 tweets.

At the end of the block, we store the Twitter user name, which will be used to download the location. If this is already done, we can proceed to write the JavaScript code.

The JavaScript

At the beginning we should define the global variables.

var map, geocoder, marker, ey, my, mouseDown = false;

Then we create the main object that will incorporate all functions used by us. The most important function in this object is the ‘init’ function.

var map, geocoder, marker, ey, my, mouseDown = false;
var o = {
	init: function(){
		// in this place we will call all needed functions
	}
}
$(function(){ o.init(); }

Let’s create a new object called “map” in the main “o” object. It is an object, where the function initiating a Google Map will be placed. The first function in this object is the “size” function, where we draw the current window size. This is what we need in order to display the map in full screen. Then we create the object entitled “data” with the parameters: “zoom”, “center” and “mapTypeId”. When the DOM is ready we call the init function.

var map, geocoder, marker, ey, my, mouseDown = false;
var o = {
	init: function(){
		this.map.init();
	},
	map: {
		size: function(){
			var w = $(window).width(),
				h = $(window).height();
			return { width: w, height: h }
		},
		data: {
			zoom: 3,
			center: new google.maps.LatLng(52, 23),
			mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP
		},
		init: function(){
			var size = o.map.size();
			$('#map').css({ width: size.width, height: size.height });
			map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById('map'), o.map.data),
			geocoder = new google.maps.Geocoder();
			google.maps.event.addListener(map, 'dragstart', function(){
				$('.posts').hide();
			}); 
		}
	}
}
$(function(){ o.init(); }

The next step is to create an object, where we will retrieve the Twitter user data such as name, description, location and the path to the profile picture. First, we create a function where we will retrieve the value of the ‘input’ fields and we will store it in the array. The next stage is another function where every element of previously created tables is looped. Thus, by using the Twitter API, we can extract the user’s location and using a geocoding service we can convert it to geographic coordinates. At the end, we show the user in the right place on the map and put the name, description and user picture to a blank ‘div’ just called ‘twitter’ 😉

var map, geocoder, marker, ey, my, mouseDown = false;
var o = {
	init: function(){
		this.map.init();
		this.twitter.show();
		this.twitter.click();
	},
	twitter: {
		get: function(){
			var arr = new Array;
			$('.get').find('input').each(function(i){
				var t = $(this), 
					val = t.val();
				arr[i] = val;				
			});
			return arr;
		},
		show: function(){
			var users = o.twitter.get(),
				arr = new Array;
			for (i in users){
				var user = users[i];
				$.getJSON('http://twitter.com/users/show/'+user+'.json?callback=?', function(data) {
					var img = data.profile_image_url, 
						screen_name = data.screen_name;
					geocoder.geocode({ address: data.location }, function(response, status){
						if (status == google.maps.GeocoderStatus.OK) {
							var x = response[0].geometry.location.lat(), 
								y = response[0].geometry.location.lng();
							marker = new google.maps.Marker({
								icon: img,
								map: map,
								title: screen_name,
								position: new google.maps.LatLng(x, y)
							});
							arr.push('<div class="item">');
							arr.push('<p class="img"><a href="#" class="open" rel="'+screen_name+'"><img src="'+img+'" alt="" /></a></p>');
							arr.push('<div class="entry">');
							arr.push('<a href="#" class="open title" rel="'+screen_name+'">'+data.name+'</a>');
							arr.push('<p class="description">'+data.description+'</p>');
							arr.push('<p class="url"><a href="'+data.url+'" target="_blank">'+data.url+'</a></p>');
							arr.push('<p class="count">Followers: '+data.followers_count+', Following: '+data.friends_count+'</p>');
							arr.push('</div>');
							arr.push('</div>');
							var html = arr.join('');
							arr = [];
							$('.twitter').find('.inside').append(html);
							google.maps.event.addListener(marker, 'click', function(){
								o.twitter.open(this.title);
							}); 
						}
					});
				});
			}
		},
		click: function(){
			$('.twitter').find('.open').live('click', function(){
				var t = $(this), rel = t.attr('rel');
				o.twitter.open(rel);
			});
		},
		open: function(user){
			var posts = $('.posts'), arr = new Array;
			$.getJSON('http://twitter.com/status/user_timeline/'+user+'.json?count=5&callback=?', function(data) {
				$.each(data, function(i, post){
					arr.push('<div class="post">');
					arr.push(post.text);
					arr.push('</div>');
				});
				var html = arr.join('');
				posts.html(html).fadeIn();
			});
		}
	},
	map: {
		size: function(){
			var w = $(window).width(),
				h = $(window).height();
			return { width: w, height: h }
		},
		data: {
			zoom: 3,
			center: new google.maps.LatLng(52, 23),
			mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP
		},
		init: function(){
			var size = o.map.size();
			$('#map').css({ width: size.width, height: size.height });
			map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById('map'), o.map.data),
			geocoder = new google.maps.Geocoder();
			google.maps.event.addListener(map, 'dragstart', function(){
				$('.posts').hide();
			}); 
		}
	}
}
$(function(){ o.init(); }

Lastly, we will add a ‘scroll’ object that has a function called ‘init’ which is responsible for scrolling the ‘.twitter’ div vertically.

var map, geocoder, marker, ey, my, mouseDown = false;
var o = {
	init: function(){
		this.map.init();
		this.twitter.show();
		this.twitter.click();
	},
	twitter: {
		get: function(){
			var arr = new Array;
			$('.get').find('input').each(function(i){
				var t = $(this), 
					val = t.val();
				arr[i] = val;				
			});
			return arr;
		},
		show: function(){
			var users = o.twitter.get(), // retrieve all users which are stored in html
				arr = new Array;
			for (i in users){
				var user = users[i];
				$.getJSON('http://twitter.com/users/show/'+user+'.json?callback=?', function(data) {
					var img = data.profile_image_url, 
						screen_name = data.screen_name;
					geocoder.geocode({ address: data.location }, function(response, status){
						if (status == google.maps.GeocoderStatus.OK) {
							var x = response[0].geometry.location.lat(), 
								y = response[0].geometry.location.lng();
							marker = new google.maps.Marker({
								icon: img,
								map: map,
								title: screen_name,
								position: new google.maps.LatLng(x, y)
							});
							arr.push('<div class="item">');
							arr.push('<p class="img"><a href="#" class="open" rel="'+screen_name+'"><img src="'+img+'" alt="" /></a></p>');
							arr.push('<div class="entry">');
							arr.push('<a href="#" class="open title" rel="'+screen_name+'">'+data.name+'</a>');
							arr.push('<p class="description">'+data.description+'</p>');
							arr.push('<p class="url"><a href="'+data.url+'" target="_blank">'+data.url+'</a></p>');
							arr.push('<p class="count">Followers: '+data.followers_count+', Following: '+data.friends_count+'</p>');
							arr.push('</div>');
							arr.push('</div>');
							var html = arr.join('');
							arr = [];
							$('.twitter').find('.inside').append(html);
							google.maps.event.addListener(marker, 'click', function(){
								o.twitter.open(this.title);
							}); 
						}
					});
				});
			}
		},
		click: function(){
			$('.twitter').find('.open').live('click', function(){
				var t = $(this), rel = t.attr('rel');
				o.twitter.open(rel);
			});
		},
		open: function(user){
			var posts = $('.posts'), arr = new Array;
			$.getJSON('http://twitter.com/status/user_timeline/'+user+'.json?count=5&callback=?', function(data) {
				$.each(data, function(i, post){
					arr.push('<div class="post">');
					arr.push(post.text);
					arr.push('</div>');
				});
				var html = arr.join('');
				posts.html(html).fadeIn();
			});
		}
	},
	map: {
		size: function(){
			var w = $(window).width(),
				h = $(window).height();
			return { width: w, height: h }
		},
		data: {
			zoom: 3,
			center: new google.maps.LatLng(52, 23),
			mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP
		},
		init: function(){
			var size = o.map.size();
			$('#map').css({ width: size.width, height: size.height });
			map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById('map'), o.map.data),
			geocoder = new google.maps.Geocoder();
			google.maps.event.addListener(map, 'dragstart', function(){
				$('.posts').hide();
			}); 
		}
	},
	scroll: {
		mouse: function(e){
			var y = e.pageY; 
			return y;
		},
		check: function(y){
			var all = $('.twitter').height(),
				inside = $('.twitter').find('.inside').height();
			if (y  0) {
				y = 0;
			}
			return y;
		},
		update: function(e){
			var y = o.scroll.mouse(e),
				movey = y-my,
				top = ey+movey;
				check = o.scroll.check(top);
			$('.twitter').find('.inside').css({ top: check+'px' });
		},
		init: function(){
			$('.twitter').find('.inside').bind({
				mousedown: function(e){
					e.preventDefault();
					mouseDown = true;
					var mouse = o.scroll.mouse(e);
						my = mouse;
					var element = $(this).position();
						ey = element.top;
					o.scroll.update(e);
				},
				mousemove: function(e){
					if (mouseDown)
						o.scroll.update(e);
					return false;
				},
				mouseup: function(){
					if (mouseDown)
						mouseDown = false;
					return false;
				},
				mouseleave: function(){
					if (mouseDown)
						mouseDown = false;
					return false;
				}
			});
		}
	}
}
$(function(){ o.init(); }

The CSS

First, we will embed our reset.css that will reset all the basic styles, and we’ll define some main properties:

@import url("reset.css");

html, body {
	margin:0;
	padding:0;
}

body {
	font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
	font-size:12px;
	color:#333;
	line-height:18px;
}

a {
	text-decoration:none;
	color:#fff;
}

Next, we will define the styles for the map, Twitter posts and descriptions.

.twitter {
	position:fixed;
	left:0;
	bottom:0;
	background:#000;
	background:rgba(0, 0, 0, .7);
	width:100%;
	height:180px;
	color:#fff;
	overflow:hidden;
}

.twitter .inside {
	position:absolute;
	top:0;
	left:0;
	cursor:n-resize;
}

.twitter .item {
	float:left;
	width:280px;
	padding:20px;
}

.twitter .item .img {
	float:left;
	width:48px;
}

.twitter .img img {
	-moz-box-shadow:0 0 5px #000;
	-webkit-box-shadow:0 0 5px #000;
	box-shadow:0 0 5px #000;
}

.twitter .item .entry {
	float:right;
	width:215px;
	height:140px;
	color:#eee;
	font-size:11px;
	position:relative;
}

.twitter .item .count {
	position:absolute;
	left:0;
	bottom:-10px;
	font-size:10px;
	text-transform:uppercase;
}

.twitter .item .title {
	font-size:13px;
	font-weight:bold;
	color:#fff;
}

.twitter .item .url a {
	text-decoration:underline;
}

.twitter .item p {
	margin-bottom:5px;
}

.posts {
	display:none;
	position:absolute;
	left:50%;
	margin-left:-310px;
	width:580px;
	bottom:180px;
	background:#fff;
	color:#fff;
	background:#000;
	background:rgba(0, 0, 0, .7);
	padding:20px;
}

.posts .post {
	float:left;
	clear:both;
	width:100%;
	margin-bottom:20px;
	font-size:12px;
	font-weight:bold;
}

Conclusion

In today’s tutorial you learned how to use a geocoding service and how to use the Twitter API. An important fact to remember is that Google has imposed some limits to its geocoding service. Maximum number of requests in one day from a single IP address is 2500. Also, Twitter will rate limit the IP address from which the request was made.

Stay tuned for the next tutorial!

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Comments are closed.

josh July 7, 2011 at 01:06

The tutorial is excellent, but I have some doubts, it would be possible to publish them here or you recommend any tutorial, I’m new to programming
josh July 7, 2011 at 01:18

i have a many problems for charged of tweet perfil , is normal ?
josh July 7, 2011 at 01:26

this is the url test of my site: http://200.58.112.49/~ib000381/index_.php
josh July 15, 2011 at 04:50

hi first of all thanks for the code, i have a problem the app en mi website only show 11 people, 11 people, somebody knows why, this is my url: http://200.58.112.49/~ib000381/, accept suggestions
josh July 15, 2011 at 05:56

i found some things, the problem of show more of 12 twett profiles its only whit firefox, but IE 8 i dont have problems,
josh July 15, 2011 at 05:57

Another problem is that if I update the website often ceases to show me profiles, suggestions??
Motorush August 9, 2011 at 00:11

Excellent. Thank you for posting example. Two requests:

1. Possible you add hashtag support? (searching on hashtag instead of user accounts).

2. Auto-refresh every 20-30 seconds?
Matt September 4, 2011 at 00:20

This is incredible! Thanks so much!
One question- how do I incorporate zindex. I am building a map for local food trucks, many of them set up close to each other and the problem is that only 1 twitter icon shows up on the map. The rest of the food trucks img icons that are in same location on map are are all hidden below the first img icon. PLEASE HELP. Ive been working on this for 36 hours straight, I’m a noob and its kicking my butt. Thanks a million!
Beben Koben September 27, 2011 at 12:53

haduh…this is awesome…
thank’s a lot \m/
Mark October 8, 2011 at 20:14

Great tutorial. I just used it to build http://canditweet.com to track the 2012 Presidential Election.
Thanks,
Mark
Jose November 15, 2011 at 21:13

Nice script! how i can add hashtag instead of user accounts?
Rick November 29, 2011 at 04:04

definitely a great script, but i also want to know how to add the hashtag instead
alex December 15, 2011 at 19:46

how would you center the map on the location of a single twitter post?
marc December 22, 2011 at 18:57

thanks for the item, wonderful.
i hide your twitter accounts on the map but how can show my followers?
can you tell us?
thanks a lot.

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The Markup

The JavaScript

The CSS

Conclusion

Marcin Dziewulski

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