Do you have to host your data with MapQuest?

Question

From what I've read so far, it seems like the only way for me to map custom data points from my own dataset is to host that data with MapQuest. Am I correct in that or have I just not read deep enough?

And if it's possible, does anyone have a link to more information about how to go about it? Their API documentation is subpar.

Thanks :)

Answer 1

Disclaimer: I work at MapQuest

While the MapQuest Data Manager makes it easy to store custom data with MapQuest so that you can query it through the Search API, you don't have to store data with us in order to show custom points on a map.

Are you trying to do something along the lines of storing data in MySQL or PostgreSQL and then use something like PHP to query your own database, loop through the results, and then show the results on a MapQuest map using the JavaScript API? Unfortunately I don't have any easy/quick examples that show how to do that, but it is possible.

The forums on the Developer Network are also good place to look to see if others have had issues similar to the one that you are facing.

Also, let me know exactly which MapQuest APIs/tools you are using and I will do my best to provide more information depending on what you need.