What's New in MapsAlive V4¶
MapsAlive V4 is the fourth major release of MapsAlive. MapsAlive V1 was first released in 2006.
Enhancements¶
MapsAlive V4 has many new features and enhancements. Some of the most notable are:
- Tours are responsive
- The menu bar has been replaced with improved navigation features
- The directory is now on the navigation panel
- Map zooming is continuous (not just zoomed in or out)
- You can embed any tour into a web page with just two lines of HTML
- You can embed multiple tours on the same web page
- Tours have mobile app-like behavior on small mobile devices
- There is a new kind of tour called a Flex Map
- The Tour Builder has a one-click icon bar to:
- Go to the map editor
- Add a new hotspot
- Edit the current hotspot
- The instructions feature has been replaced with a more effective Help feature
- The API has new methods and properties
- Live Data is more powerful and easier to use
- Documentation is all online in this user guide
Because V4 tours are responsive, fixed popups are not supported except in V3 Compatibility Mode.
Changes in V4¶
| Feature | V4 | V3 |
|---|---|---|
| HTTPS | Entire site | Only login and buy pages |
| Zoomable maps | Full zoom range | Only zoomed in or out |
| Responsive tours | Yes | No |
| Adding maps to web pages | 2 lines of HTML | Multiple lines, worse for multi-page tours |
| Multiple tours on the same page | Yes | No |
| Map Editor enhancements | Yes | --- |
| Hidden markers | Marker style | 50% transparent |
| Max tour size | 4096x4096 | 2880x2880 |
| Max map image size | 4096x4096 | 2880x2880 |
| Nudge markers using arrow keys | New feature | Not supported |
| Ctrl-click hotspot thumbnails | New feature | Not supported |
| Tours can run w/out web server | Not supported | Supported |
| maClient.path | Not used | Required |
| Custom JS include script file | Not supported | Supported |
page arg in query string |
New feature | Not supported |
| Unbranded tour | via page1_.htm | via index_.htm |
| Multi-page tour | In one page | In separate pages |
| Play sounds | MapsAlive.Media | Sound Manager |
| Live Data | MapsAlive.LiveData | livedata.js |
| Tour Layouts | Some layouts removed | #1-39 supported |
| Auto Layout | Removed | Supported |
| Splitters | Shown in % | Shown in px |
| Tour width and height | Requires exact | Supported max |
| Fixed popups | Not supported | Supported |
| Directory preview with LiveData | Not supported | Supported |
| Flash macro | Not supported | Supported |
| Iframe macro | Deprecated | Supported |
| Tour macro | Deprecated | Supported |
| Flash dependency | None | Used by the map editor |