javascript - Showing many markers in Google Maps

Question

I have this map and want to display a whole bunch of markers. But I need to find a way of showing this in an orderly fashion, and well... something cool would be nice. Good thing is that Google Maps has many cool features. But I am new to its use and most likely not aware of cool options to organize markers and content. I just stumbled upon one neat way, which I will post below.

But in order to learn about solutions that others have found / created, my question is: what are cool ways of showing a large group of markers?

Answer 1

Here is the documentation for MarkerClusterer for Google Maps V3

checkout examples MarkerClusterer for Google Maps V3 Sample Codes

It can group your markers in a way it's easier to view.

Here is an example of using MarkerClusterer JSFiddle Demo.

var map = null;
var markerArray = []; //create a global array to store markers
var myPoints = [[43.65654, -79.90138, 'ABC'],[43.91892, -78.89231, 'DEF'],[43.82589, -79.10040, 'GHA']];  //create global array to store points

function initialize() {
    var myOptions = {
        zoom: 8,
        center: new google.maps.LatLng(43.907787, -79.359741),
        mapTypeControl: true,
        mapTypeControlOptions: {
            style: google.maps.MapTypeControlStyle.DROPDOWN_MENU
        },
        navigationControl: true,
        mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP
    }
    map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById("map_canvas"), myOptions);

    var mcOptions = {
        gridSize: 50,
        maxZoom: 15
    };
    var mc = new MarkerClusterer(map, [], mcOptions);

    google.maps.event.addListener(map, 'click', function() {
        infowindow.close();
    });

    // Add markers to the map
    // Set up markers based on the number of elements within the myPoints array
    for(var i=0; i<myPoints.length; i++){
         createMarker(new google.maps.LatLng(myPoints[i][0], myPoints[i][1]), myPoints[i][2]);
    }

    mc.addMarkers(markerArray , true);
}

var infowindow = new google.maps.InfoWindow({
    size: new google.maps.Size(150, 50)
});

function createMarker(latlng, html) {
    var contentString = html;
    var marker = new google.maps.Marker({
        position: latlng,
        map: map,
        icon: 'http://www.kjftw.com/sandbox/gmap/images/icons/numeric/red10.png',
        zIndex: Math.round(latlng.lat() * -100000) << 5
    });

    marker.setAnimation(google.maps.Animation.BOUNCE);

    google.maps.event.addListener(marker, 'click', function() {
        infowindow.setContent(contentString);
        infowindow.open(map, marker);
    });

    markerArray.push(marker); //push local var marker into global array
}

window.onload = initialize;

Screenshot of what it looks like grouped: