What the heck is Mapadelic, It's fun, powerful, and useful

Getting and Installing the Modules

For my purposes I have enabled:

Modules - CCK
GMAP Field

Modules - Location
GMap
GMap Location
GMap
GMap Macro Builder
GMap Taxonomy Markers
Location
Location Phone
User Locations
[inline:one.jpg]

SETTINGS:

GMAPFILTER
I enabled the gmapfiler for input fields. My configuration it is located at admin/settings/filters/1
[inline:gmapfilter.jpg]

GMAP
don't panic if you see this...
[inline:warning.jpg]
go get your gmap key... it's free... it's easy, just follow the link on the page. Then put that code in the top textfield of this page. There are a lot of default settings and such on this page, but nothing I need right now.

LOCATION
admin/settings/location
[inline:locationdefault.jpg]
I have already defined a default map in this image... we will walk though that in a later step.

GMAP MACRO
[inline:gmapmacro.jpg]
I didn't realize it until
[inline:gmapmacroed.jpg]
1 Enter an address you want the map to be centered on
2 Clock off of the textfield and it will populate the long/lat; then make your other choices for sixe and such.
3 This is your GMAP CODE that you will use in various locations on the site.

GMAPLOCATION
This is where the GMAP MACRO is placed. Note: a site can have multiple GMAP MACROS that can be used all over the place. In CCK types is where we will see this.
[inline:glocations.jpg]

Configure a Content Type

EDIT CONTENT TYPE:

admin/content/node-type/yournodetypenamewillbehere
Decide on a content type you want location and map to use. Once you are in the edit content type screen you will see an area called... location.

BEFORE
[inline:cckcollect.jpg]

AFTER
[inline:cckcollect-after.jpg]

Under display settings in this menu, the option is to 'hide'... which if you are moving along fast (like I was the first time) you might assume that a check means 'show'... but it clearly says 'hide' and this is a friendly reminder.
[inline:hidefields.jpg]

MANAGE FIELDS CONTENT TYPE

You need to create a field, then configure it.
[inline:cckmanage.jpg]

The trick is in the config settings (at least for me).
GMap Macro - is the code I created earlier.... why is it uneditable. For this site I prefer to use the 'disable macro input' under global settings. This way the map is consistent for everyone using this content type. Because this is a regional site (Northern California), and the users have no primary interest in the location feature (it's just a map for them) it is a good solution in this case.
[inline:cckfieldedit.jpg]

Save the settings...
Create some content...
and hopefully... there it is :)

There are many, many other settings and features that I am not going to cover because the possibilities are too vast. I will however... in a follow up blogthingee, show how I will hide the info I don't want to display to the user.
[inline:hideem.jpg]
The new content type with location information displays some stuff I don't really want on the add/node page. Fortunately, you can use some very simple css to make it go away.