Looking for a World Location Script

are there any open source "name on a map" scripts?

[zigx]

Id like to do something where people can enter their name and location and it shows something like a world map...with a mark for the person's name @ their location...

Kind of like you see in SMALL truck stop resturants when ur traveling...
NE ideas?

[httpwebwitch]

You'd need to start with a large database of place names, along with the longitude and latitude. These are available from certain government sites, and sites that offer mapping resources (you'll probably spend a lot of time sifting through google to find them)

Similar databases are avialable with US ZIP codes and Canadian Postal Codes.

I don't know the availability of similar databases for europe and other continents, but I'm sure you can find lists of major cities worldwide.

Most of the place name indices include only cities and towns, not things like rivers, parks, or very small communities. They will also not be helpful for fine granularity regarding addresses (for example, "555 Main st, anytown USA")

You will need to group the databases by state or province, because there are duplicate place names (Jamestown MA, Jamestown NY, Jamestown FL, etc).

I found some a few years ago, and I will warn you, they are really really huge files (some are >100Mb).

Placement on a world map should be fairly easy if the map has a regular grid projection, and if you are only showing global position. Make sure you clear the copyright for any maps you use, unless you plan to draw your own.

The really good mapping sites have a vector version of the earth's surface (with all its natural and man-made features) at hand for zooming in and out to show increasing granularity of detail. Sometimes you can find entire city maps encapsulated this way as vector graphics like WMF and EPS, and they could be useful if you are going to that level of detail.

good luck!

[Timotheos]

There are a couple of free services for this...
[bravenet.com...]
[guestmap.net...]