CUNY Academic Commons

I've deactivated google-maps-embed from sites where the [cetsEmbedGmap] shortcode was not found in the post content:

wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=efernandez.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=scottvoth.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=bccparlaitaliano.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=inperpetualbeta.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=livinglab.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=publicspace.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=urbanenvironmentstudies.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=cunyslist.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=lehmanonline.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=hunternurses.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=gcdi.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=andrewgmckinney.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=thesegalcenter.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=feministstudies.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=cunygraduatecentergeography.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=gcees.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=alandaluscuny.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=annesialamb.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=bronxedtech.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=activistwomen.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=iletcsforum.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=testblogtoday.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=tomryan.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=serapeaegypt.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=eshtestcac.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=preludenyc2013.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=cunyfemtech.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=vawshutdownmap.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=teachingimmigration.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=sissiliu.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=jojokarlin.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=gfarrellyroma.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=foodstuff.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=nurayyilmaz.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=omrit.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=axum.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=tarquinia.commons.gc.cuny.edu && 
wp plugin deactivate google-maps-embed --url=segalarchive.commons.gc.cuny.edu

Yeah, anything that requires an API key is probably off the table.

Without signing up for an API key, you can embed Google Maps with the following <iframe> embed codes.

The older, free Google Maps <iframe> embed code used:

<iframe src="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=LOCATION-SEARCH-OR-ADDRESS&output=embed"></iframe>

This still works today and is what the google-maps-embed plugin uses in their shortcode to generate the <iframe> embed. I don't know how long Google will allow this syntax to continue, but it is widely used on the internet. We could easily write our own maps shortcode such as [gmaps location="CUNY Graduate Center"] with this syntax and this should embed the location of the CUNY Graduate Center like the attached screenshot: https://redmine.gc.cuny.edu/attachments/29469

However, the latest, free Google Maps <iframe> embed code uses:

<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=SPECIAL-ENCODED-PARAM"></iframe>

You can generate this embed code yourself from the Google Maps website and using the "Share > Embed a Map" option. See https://blog.hubspot.com/website/how-to-embed-google-map-in-html .

The 'pb' parameter is some special secret sauce that has the longitude and latitude of the address among other things. Some devs have tried to decode this new 'pb' parameter with varying results: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47017387/decoding-the-google-maps-embedded-parameters

I haven't done too much research into this yet, but it looks like it wouldn't be convenient to use this new embed syntax if we were to stick to a "no API key" approach, unless we tell users to copy the <iframe> 'src' attribute manually from the embed code, which could lead to some support issues.

in particular it is occasionally completely broken when it doesn't force HTTPS requests

Since the google-maps-embed plugin isn't updated any more, we can force the Google Maps URL to HTTPS ourselves. This should resolve the main problems with google-maps-embed. I don't think we should convert the older [cetsEmbedGmap] shortcode to the syntax of another Google Maps plugin at this time.