Filed under: Internet, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Web services, Google, Microsoft
Improve the UI of Google Maps and MSN Virtual Earth
by Jason Clarke Jul 27th 2005 at 5:14PM
A little-known feature of Firefox is the ability for a user to set a CSS file (Cascading Style Sheet) for a given site, replacing the one the site would otherwise use. Zmarties has created a CSS file for Google Maps and MSN Virtual Earth respectively, making some very impressive improvements to both interfaces.
The improvements to Google Maps include:
- enlarge the map to take up the whole of the browser window
- place the results window in front of the map, in a semi-transparent form, which becomes more solid when the mouse moves over it to use it
- reduce the size of the search form, which is similarly semi-transparent
- remove the logo and banner which were taking up too much space
- remove the text labels that just duplicate icons
- make the banner semi-transparent, as it is in IE
- move the menu up to the top of the banner
- remove the "about" menu item, which adds nothing one you have read it once
- move the scale to the corner of the map, and give it a solid background, so that it can actually be read
- shrink the size of the zoom control slightly, and make it semi-transparent to obscure less of the map
- move the compass rose, so it's not so in the way, and make it semi-transparent (but less so when you actually mouse over it to use it)
- fix the size of the "x" box in the corner of info windows
- increase the font size for permalinks, to make them easier to read and click on
- hide the what and where help text hints
- Stop the search result titles SHOUTING
* Note that in the event that Google or Microsoft change the underlying site substantially, these style sheets may cease to work as advertised. Simply removing them will allow you to see the sites as they were originally intended once again.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tom said 11:27AM on 7-28-2005
Really cool, but the google maps one breaks digg.com's layout, since I go to digg more often I chose to keep it over bigger maps.
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Justin said 1:20PM on 7-28-2005
You can also do this in Safari using the SafariStand plugin.
http://hetima.com/safari/stand-e.html
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