mapMyflickr - FAQ / Help

Yes.

mapMyflickr is the best tool for showing photos on a map from flickr which have been geotagged (that is, the EXIF data contains the GPS location the photo was taken) by downloading a link to browse within Google Earth or in Google Maps.

If you register on mapMyflickr, all advertisements will be removed from the KMLs, when viewed in Google Earth or Google Maps. You'll also gain persistent searches - that is, you'll get easy access to all your saved searches.

It couldn't be simpler - go to our search page and simply enter one of the following pieces of information:

• Flickr username - the name that someone uses in flickr
• Flickr URL - the address of a flickr users webpage
• Flickr ID - the unique identifier for each user within flickr
• Email address - the address a user is registered with on flickr
• Placename/region name - any location around the world

mapMyflickr will then check for that piece of information in flickr, and verify whether there are any relevant geotagged photos uploaded to flickr. After this you can either download a link to view all available pictures in Google Earth, or on Google Maps.

Once you have found some geotagged photos in flickr and entered the username/URL/ID/email/place in mapMyflickr and we have successfully found the geotagged photos, you will see a link to view the photos in Google Maps. Once you have clicked on the link you can browse around Google Maps in the normal way. Using the lefthand menu bar, you will also have radio buttons to select, to view the most interesting photos, or to view by set, or by the current region in view on the viewport.

You must have Google Earth installed.

Enter a flickr username/URL/ID/email/place in mapMyflickr, and once we have successfully found the geotagged photos, you will see a link to view the photos in Google Earth. When you have clicked on the link you will be prompted to download the Google Earth kml file, or to open it.

You can choose to save the file to an appropriate location on your computer, and then open it with Google Earth.

When you open the kml file it will open as a network link in Google Earth, and dynamically update the photos you choose to view, based on your radio button selection.

You can view them by selecting different radio buttons in your "Places" in Google Earth:

• Most Interesting - the current selections' most interesting pictures, selected by flickr's "Interestingness" algorithm.
• Photostream - the current selections' Photostream.
• Current View - the first 50 picture at your current zoom level in Google Earth.
• Photosets - the current selections' photosets.

You can view them by selecting different radio buttons in the left hand menu bar in Google Maps:

• Most Interesting - the current selections' most interesting pictures, selected by flickr's "Interestingness" algorithm.
• Photostream - the current selections' Photostream.
• Current View - the first 50 picture at your current zoom level in Google Earth.
• Photosets - the current selections' photosets.

We use the flickr API in conjunction with Google Maps & Google Earth APIs, in order to extract the relevant photos and display them in various formats. The .KML link you download is a dynamic network link, this means that once you have the kml downloaded, every time you view it in Google Earth it will update with a slight delay.

Each time you click on a link to view user photos, or the current flickr photostream, you will download another kml file. This is a dyamic link, so if you have a favourite, just save it - there's no need to download it again, it will automatically update within Google Earth, sometimes with a slight delay as we look the photos up on flickr.

No. Once the kml is saved in Google Earth, every time you open Google Earth and view the saved file, it will dynamically update the that flickr selections photos.

Yes. If you want to download them again, simply log in to your account, and view your saved searches, you can then download the search for that user again.

• You can only view geotagged pictures - they must have the relevant EXIF data applied, or have been placed in flickr maps. (Watch out - some photo editing software may strip GPS data from images).
• Currently we do not support Collections.
• The "Current View" is limited to 50 images.
• There can be a slight delay, if the images have been recently uploaded.

The places shapes are generated using flickr's Where On Earth (WOE) ID. This in turn generates a shape based around the reverse geo-coded information - this can produce some peculiar shapes occasionally. Take a look at the flickr developer blog to find out more.

You need to register as a user on mapMyflickr. Once you have registered, download the KML & it will no longer time out.

All copyright resides with the original creators.