Thread: Google Maps Get Directions Glitch

Google Maps Get Directions Glitch

Hi,

I'm not sure that this is exactly a Vantage Bug, but there is a problem with the Get Directions feature of the Google Maps widget (the single listing widget)...

It only happens under specific circumstances, and it so happens that those circumstances will particularly affect UK users.

Here's the problem:

1) If you select a listing, and then use the get direction field using a location that exists in more than one place in the world, Google doesn't know which location you mean. I presume behind the scenes it is sending a response code that explains this, but from the front end perspective, it appears that the get directions button is totally unresponsive.

Here are some examples:

Birmingham, UK or Birmingham, Alabama?
Boston, UK or Boston, Mass.?
Lincoln, UK or Lincoln, Nebraska?

All of these are large towns or cities in the United Kingdom that also have a namesake in the US. Get Directions with these place names does not work in Vantage. I have checked my region biasing in Vantage > Settings and it is set to UK. I have also tried it with region biasing set to GB, but the problem remains.

I know that this is the problem because I have tested it extensively. If I change the location for the Get Directions from 'Boston' to 'Boston, Lincolnshire' (i.e. including the county/state or country), the Google Maps directions function works perfectly. Also, if I choose a little village (that doesn't have a major US namesake), it works perfectly without needing the extra qualifier.

So, I think that the Vantage bug is this: Google must be returning a response code to indicate that the 'from location' is not specific enough, but Vantage appears not to be doing anything with that information - leaving the web user wondering why nothing is happening! It seems some more processing of status codes returned from the Google Maps API is needed.

Hope that makes sense! And looking forward to hearing Apptheme's thoughts on this, and whether anything can be done about it!



Thanks,

red20