Map building tool

How to create your map

There are four simple stages to creating your customised map on your website. Note that you must be logged in in order to create or modify your maps.

1. Create your new map
2. Place locations on the map and add descriptive text and links
3. Preview your map and make any adjustments
4. When satisfied, install the map on your website

Create your map

Displaying the correct area: from the menu on the left hand side choose the New map option. You are presented with a new map, scaled to include the entire Earth. Use the arrow controls on the map to pan around, and the + and - controls to zoom in or zoom out. You can also pan around the map by clicking and drag the mouse on the map.

Adjust the map until you are satisfied with the zoom level and the area of land that your map will display.

How your map appears on your web page: you can choose whether or not to superimpose the map controls on top of the map, by selecting or de-selecting the Show Map Control tick box. You can also change the size of the map as it will be displayed on your website by adjusting the Map Width and/or Map Height.

Saving your map: specify a name for your new map and then be sure to click Save this Map to save a copy of your new map.

Adding locations to your map

You'll want to add one or more locations to your map. Select My Maps from the left-hand menu, and then scroll down to the map where you wish to add locations. To the right of your map in the Control Panel, click on Add new location which takes you to the Locations screen.

Marking the location: you can select your new location in one of two ways:

• Click and drag the red marker until the X mark below the marker is over your location. You can use the zoom and pan controls to accurately locate the position.
• Alternatively, if you know an address, postcode or zipcode, enter that information into the Lookup text box just above the map. If the address can be found, then the red marker will be automatically placed there.

Marker style: optionally, you can change the appearance of the marker as it will appear on your map by choosing one of the marker images displayed below the map.

Describing your location

Adding additional information about the location: If you wish to have your markers clickable, with a popup showing additional text, then complete the Location information text boxes to the right.

Saving your location: once happy with your location data, click Save this location.

Editing existing locations

Hiding a location: you can choose to temporarily hide a location so that it no longer appears on your map. Display a list of your maps by selecting My Maps from the left-hand menu. Scroll down to the required map and then click on List locations. Find the location that you wish to hide and click on Hide. To re-enable this location, click the Show link.

Popup information window layout

Changing the appearance of the popup information windows: you can change the colour and font size of the text that apepars in the popup information windows. Display a list of your maps by selecting My Maps from the left-hand menu. Scroll down to the required map and then click on Info Windows. Here you can adjust the font-face, the font size, and colour for the title, description and hyperlink fields of the information window.

Preview your map

To preview how your completed map will appear on your website, on the left-hand menu, choose My Maps. This will display a list of all your maps. Scroll down to the required map and then click on Preview map in the Control Panel.

Adjusting your map

Changing the area displayed on your map: if you wish to adjust the zoom factor or the area dispayed on your map, them, choose Change mapped area from the Control Panel. This will allow you to edit the map's scale or range. You can adjust the type of map shown - whether a standard map, a satellite image or a hybrid display of the two. Here you can also add or remove the map control bar, and change the size of the map as it appears on your website.

Hiding your map: you can choose to temporarily hide an entire map, so that only a placeholder will appear on your web page. Display a list of your maps by selecting My Maps from the left-hand menu. Scroll down to the required map and then click on Hide this map in the Control Panel. Once hidden, your map will no longer be displayed on your website, and a placeholder message will appear in its place. To re-enable your map, click the Activate this map link in the Control Panel.

Deleting your map: if you no longer have need of a particular map, you can permanently delete it and all its associated locations. Display a list of your maps by selecting My Maps from the left-hand menu. Scroll down to the required map and then click on Delete this map in the Control Panel.

Installing your map on your website

To display your newly created map on your website, copy the code available on your map's Source Code page into your web page. From the Control Panel, click on View source code to the right of your map. Copy the code displayed in blue into your web page.

© 2008 A Qaltic Software project