Implement Directions via Marker Drop or allow Long/Lat to be edited

[mathetos]

Currently, the only way to do Directions is via the Google Places Autocomplete tool. But if a user wants to do Directions between to points on a map that are NOT businesses they are stuck.

My hope would be that we could make this happen in one of two ways:

1) Use our "Drop a Marker" tool to create a Directions point. This would most likely provide the greatest flexibility since the marker could then be dragged to a new position. 2) Simply allow the long/lat to be edited and the Directions marker updated from the new data.

Here's the customer request that provoked this idea: https://secure.helpscout.net/conversation/359406544/7418/?folderId=672189

[nishitlangaliya]

@mathetos , @DevinWalker ,

I am a little bit confused about the requirement here. Do we need a feature like https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/examples/directions-complex ?

It would be great if there is any reference link or screenshot how we need this feature.

Thanks

[mathetos]

@nishitlangaliya This is more what we're looking for: https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/examples/directions-draggable

Imagine it this way:

1. I'm a business, and a visitor comes to my site, they see my location on a map
2. I want that visitor to be able to click on a button that says "Get Directions"
3. Once they do that, they can drop or drag a marker to their location and the line will be redrawn to my business and our sidepanel directions will be updated with the steps they need to take to get here.

Does that help clarify?

[nishitlangaliya]

@mathetos ,

Thanks for providing details. Yes this helpfull to me. I will let you know if any further questions.

Thanks

[nishitlangaliya]

@DevinWalker as per discussion on call I am holding on this issue and will wait for your feedback and moving to other issues.

Thanks

[kevinwhoffman]

@mathetos We discussed this on the developer call. It did not seem user-friendly to require a visitor to drag and drop a pin to their location in order to get directions, and even more difficult to do so on mobile.

It seems like we should first and foremost allow users to get directions from a known address that they type in, which is currently not possible to my knowledge. The closest we have is this demo which allows the user to search for location.

I suggest we table this drag-and-drop feature in favor of a front-end directions feature with broader application.

[mathetos]

Whether it's drag/drop or typing in a known address, the main point here is allowing visitors to get directions from within the map. If that's possible in one form or another that is what users have requested.