Marking multiple arbitrary points on Google Maps

This post is a follow up to Markers at arbitrary points on Google Maps I wrote last year. At that time I noticed the following failings:

• Only one marker could be placed
• Descriptions were very limited. For example, one could not add any styling or links

This has now changed with the addition to Google Maps of something called KML which was previously only available on Google Earth. It appears that KML allows one to mark multiple points by:

1. Creating an XML file containing all the points one wishes to describe,
2. Making that file accessible to Google Maps

In order to show this in action I have created the file oaklands.kml. The following things should be noted:

1. The <Point> tag is set out in the following way: longitude,latitude,altitude. This is different to points entered into Google Maps query box which are in the format: latitude,longitude.
2. Tags should not be written with any slashes in.
3. All the <description> tags I’ve seen have their data contained within <![CDATA[ ... ]]>. I suggest you do the same.

Now, all that remains is for me to present an updated Google Maps link for Oaklands Community School.