Using Google Maps

As of June 2018 Google Maps requires that you use an API key. For me this means I had to embed it in my LocalSettings.php file so that Wiki Maps would work.

From StackOverflow: "According to the Google Maps Platform technical support, a billing account without any credit card information will be created for each project without billing account. This means that the API calls will still succeed, as long as they fit within the free tier of $200 per month. If your application goes over the 200$ free tier, the billing account will be closed, and API calls will start failing. The only option after that to reopen billing account is entering the credit card information."

I am pretty sure if you try to do this you will find that it does not work. You now have to put in a credit card (or bank account). Period.

Once it's set up you can set the project created to have a credit limit of $0 so that it will not bill you but the card still has to be in there.

There is still OpenStreetMap.

Getting and using an API key

In brief,

1. Get an account. (For myself, I set up a free developer account at https://developer.google.com)
2. Get an API key. Here is a link to Google's notes. Get API key
3. Use the key. This means adding it to the URL used to requests maps from Google; sometimes your plugin (eg Wordpress) has a form, other times you put it in the URL.

In my Google Cloud Platform dashboard, I can see the one I use on this site (which is hosted at bluehost.com BTW), I named my project "WildsongWiki".

After you get the API key set up you need to make sure it has restrictions set on it.

Set "HTTP Referrer" restriction

What it's for

Restrict the key so that only requests coming from your site will be allowed.

This prevents people from inserting YOUR api key into THEIR websites and spending your credits.

How to set it up

1. Goto to your Google Cloud Platform console https://console.cloud.google.com/home/dashboard
2. Goto the "hamburger" and select "APIs and Services" -> Credentials
3. Click the pencil (edit) next to the relevant key
4. Under "Application restrictions" click the radio button HTTP referrers
5. Put in the appropriate URL for your server, in my case it would be http://*.wildsong.biz/* (in this screenshot it's one for Clatsop County)
6. Click "Save"

Set up API restrictions

What it's for

I normally don't set this but you can. The options are to allow controlling what the key can be used for, for example, you can have a separate key used in Android apps.

We're seeing this error in the console for Coast Radio's website

Google Maps JavaScript API error: ApiNotActivatedMapError

so we had to enable the API. That's DIFFERENT than setting up a restriction. See next section.

How to set it up

For this example I set the static maps API and the JavaScript API. That means if this key were used in a Android app, it would not work... but I've already set the HTTP Referrer so it would not work there anyway!

1. Get into the Credentials page, same as HTTP referrer
2. Click on the "API restrictions" tab
3. Pick one or more restrictions from the selector. (The list of APIs changes depending on what you have enabled, see next section.)
4. Click "Save".

Enable APIs

What it's for

There are about 100 APIs available through Google and you only need one (generally speaking) for Google Maps to work. Enable the ones you need. Enable ones you think you might need too. :-) I'd recommend disabling the ones you don't need, for security.

How to do it

This page shows you what APIs are currently enabled.

1. Disable all the ones you don't use by clicking on "disable". As you disable them they disappear from this page.
2. To add more, go to the ENABLE APIS AND SERVICES link at the top of the page.
3. You can type in a filter term like "Maps" and then click on the ones you want to add, for example, "Maps Javascript API".
4. You can select an API that is already enabled and use its Manage button to see stats and active API keys connected to it.

Google links

Get API key Google's notes on getting a key