Google Street View V3 Lacks function with MediaWiki!

[Thing One]

So here's the thing this is like the 10th time I've had to post this sort of query so bear with me if my tone is harsh - but I'm frustrated at being given the runaround.

Issue Summary:

1. Google had black boxed Street View a couple days back. Even their own street view page was black boxed - where the coliseum stood..there was a black box. All MediaWiki wiki webpages that had Street View embedded in them also went black as a result of whatever was going on in Google.

2. Google fixed the black box on their own pages. No fix was done so that MediaWikis would also be back up and running Street View.

3. MediaWikis have to make use of a Widget Extension in order to run widgets that embed features like Google Street View. This widget Extension is working perfectly fine with other widgets that offer integration with facebook, twitter, etc. Even the Google Maps widget works. The Google Street View widget has been working faithfully and beautifully since 2008! 

4. I got in contact with the dev of the widget and he looks over the API documentation only to discover that Google broke backwards compatibility with v2 so he is forced to upgrade to v3 and that provides no true street view embedding in media wiki articles. Look at the link here http://www.mediawikiwidgets.org/Google_Street_View. It's navigation and functionality is lacking in several features. We can no longer go to full screen, we can't navigate with the circles on the ground, we can't zoom like we could before, we can't see pictures, etc.

5. At the same time I was trying to get a hold of the dev of the widget I was also contacting Google in their proper help forums and in their report a problem query. This is the only response I got from them:

Hello,

Our records show that you recently reported an image within Google Maps Street View. We have taken your requested action and you should notice the changes to the Street View imagery within the next 24 hours.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and appreciate your patience while we worked to resolve this.

If you don’t see the changes after 24 hours, your browser's cache may be causing the issue. Please clear your browser's cache and re-check the image. For instructions on how to clear your browser’s cache, please see the link below.

http://maps.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=16539&hl=en-US 

Regards,
The Google Maps Team

Reference ID:sv2-Time-2011/08/22-21:49:51.750-Pano-07gbqMWIg_HId5m7W94qHg

Well it's been way past 24hrs and to suggest that it may well be a cache issue really is troublesome since it's happening to everyone who uses MediaWiki and Street View. Need I remind Google that MediaWiki is THE single most popular wiki software out there? Breaking compatibility with their API basically wrecks a whole class of website. I don't consider the issue fixed since we don't have the features and functionality as we did before. I'd like a bloody response to know what we have to do to get back what we had as the dev for the widget worked with the API in good faith according to standards set forth by Google only to have the tool broken. To me it's like why should anyone bother working with Google Maps API if at any time it can be broken by the Google Maps Team?

Here is both the V2 and V3 versions of the code for reference:

BEGIN V2 VERSION WHICH HAS WORKED SINCE 2008 UNTIL NOW:

</noinclude><includeonly><!--{counter assign="panoDivID" name="panoDivID"}--><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/jsapi?key=<!--{$key|escape:'urlpathinfo'}-->"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
google.load("maps", "2.x");
google.setOnLoadCallback(function()
{
var myPano = new GStreetviewPanorama(document.getElementById("pano<!--{$panoDivID|escape:'html'}-->"),
{
latlng: new GLatLng('<!--{$lat|escape:'quotes'}-->', '<!--{$lng|escape:'quotes'}-->'),
pov: {
yaw:Number('<!--{$yaw|escape:'quotes'|default:0}-->'),
pitch:Number('<!--{$pitch|escape:'quotes'|default:0}-->'),
zoom:Number('<!--{$zoom|escape:'quotes'|default:0}-->')
}
});
});
</script>
<div id="pano<!--{$panoDivID|escape:'html'}-->" style="width: <!--{$width|escape:'html'|default:'420'}-->px; height: <!--{$height|escape:'html'|default:350}-->px"></div>
</includeonly>

END V2 VERSION

BEGIN V3 VERSION WHICH YIELDS BARELY ANY STREET VIEW FUNCTIONALITY:

<noinclude>__NOTOC__

This widget allows you to add '''[http://maps.google.com/help/maps/streetview/ Google Street View]''' widget to your wiki page.

Created by [http://www.mediawikiwidgets.org/User:Sergey_Chernyshev Sergey Chernyshev]

== Using this widget ==

For information on how to use this widget, see [http://www.mediawikiwidgets.org/Google_Street_View widget description page on MediaWikiWidgets.org].

== Copy to your site ==

To use this widget on your site, just install [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Widgets MediaWiki Widgets extension] and copy [{{fullurl:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|action=edit}} full source code] of this page to your wiki as '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''' article.

</noinclude><includeonly><!--{counter assign="panoDivID" name="panoDivID"}--><!--{if $panoDivID eq 1}--><script type="text/javascript" src="http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?sensor=false"></script><!--{/if}-->

<div id="pano<!--{$panoDivID|escape:'html'}-->" style="width: <!--{$width|escape:'html'|default:'420'}-->px; height: <!--{$height|escape:'html'|default:350}-->px"></div>

<script type="text/javascript">

(new google.maps.StreetViewPanorama(document.getElementById("pano<!--{$panoDivID|escape:'html'}-->"),

{

position: new google.maps.LatLng(Number('<!--{$lat|escape:'quotes'}-->'), Number('<!--{$lng|escape:'quotes'}-->')),

pov: {

heading:Number('<!--{$yaw|escape:'quotes'|default:0}-->'),

pitch:Number('<!--{$pitch|escape:'quotes'|default:0}-->'),

zoom:Number('<!--{$zoom|escape:'quotes'|default:0}-->')

}

})).setVisible(true);

</script>

</includeonly>

END V3 VERSION

I'd really appreciate an answer at this point as to how to resolve this issue and get back true Street View embedding in our wikis! It's not much to ask for one of your thousands of employees to issue some sort of response. This making people run around in circles just to deal with you and your features is completely unacceptable.

[Chris Broadfoot]

Hi,

We've fixed the bug and it should be live soon. Note: this bug only surfaced in the 2.x version.

To avoid problems like this in the future, load "2" or "2.s" (stable). I would highly recommend 2.s for any production site (like Wikipedia). See the "API Updates" section for more information:

http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/javascript/v2/basics.html#API_Updates

Quote:

"Most users of the API will want to use the current "Version 2" API by passing the v=2 parameter within that URL. You may instead obtain the latest release (including the latest features) by passing v=2.x instead. However, be aware that the latest release may not be as reliable as the v=2 release and we do not recommend using this version for production sites. We update the Google Maps API often (sometimes every week), at which point features within the v=2.x release are migrated into the v=2 release unless problems are discovered."

Also, for future reference, the correct user group to post V2 queries is:

http://groups.google.com/group/google-maps-api

Thanks,

Chris

--

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[Thing One]

Thank you so much for getting back to me, Chris! I'll forward this link to the dev.

[Expatmike]

Chris

Since the changes, much of the functionality which was previously available with Street View images in a wiki has been lost. Right-clicking on the image no longer brings up a menu including zoom in and out, there is no facility to 'jump' up a street by positioning the elliptical cursor at the point you want. Now the only way of moving is, very slow movement using the two large arrows, and the arrows and street names remain on screen all the time. Is it possible to revert to the version which we were using three days ago before all our images went black? If so, how? If not, why not?

Regards

Mike

[Rossko]

> Since the changes, much of the functionality which was previously available
> with Street View images in a wiki has been lost. Right-clicking on the image
> no longer brings up a menu including zoom in and out, there is no facility
> to 'jump' up a street by positioning the elliptical cursor at the point you
> want. Now the only way of moving is, very slow movement using the two large
> arrows, and the arrows and street names remain on screen all the time.

Sounds like something to do with the context the streetview is placed
in your webpage, so an example would help.
Reading the earlier text, suggests this is what you see using v3 API
So..

> Is it
> possible to revert to the version which we were using three days ago before
> all our images went black? If so, how? If not, why not?

Revert to v2 with the fix as Chris described

[Thing One]

I haven't heard from the dev of the wiki widget yet....so just to clarify the instructions (I'm a wiki admin and not a dev working with the API so I don't speak all things code well)....

We should revert back to the V2 code as posted in this example and take out our V3 version from our wikis? Then when the fix goes live, we'll automatically see the black boxes go bye bye?

Is that correct?

[Rossko]

> Is that correct?

I have little idea. Can't see what you are doing, it's based entirely
on what you said, don't know what your priorities or resources are,
etc etc.

You used to use v2.x and got black box. Google will (perhaps have, by
now) roll out a fix for that.
But using v2.x on live sites has always been dumb.
An immediate fix is to use v2, the recommended old version.

Long term, it would be smart to move to v3.
But you are having problems with v3 streetview. Unlike v2 it is not
based on Flash technology and the webpage context (valid HTML, CSS
etc) are important. Plus of course there is new code to learn.
Perhaps it would be wise to rework your application at more liesure,
and if you need help with that, ask with real examples of your
problems.

But these are your decisions.

[Thing One]

I'm not the coder on this. I don't code. Well I hunt and peck basic html and stuff like that.

Anyhow...I switched the x to a s in the V2 version of the code and no more black box and now we have our regular functionality. yay. 

Mike, if you're watching this thread just post the v2 version you had before (in your Widget:Google Street View article) and where this line is....

 google.load("maps", "2.x");

switch it to

google.load("maps", "2.s");

while we wait to see what the widget dev does with the code.