Mapmaker Tips and Terminology

For new users, knowing some of the terms and reading tips will help immensely, even if you don’t fully understand them at first.

Tips:

  1. Watch for instructions in the mapmaking form itself.  We try to make life easy.
  2. Depending on the size of your screen, you may not see the entire map unless you scroll down the page.  Adjust as needed so you can see the entire map.
  3. To see how clicking on the map places a marker and automatically recenters the map, do this simple exercise.  While the map is zoomed all the way out, click within 100 miles of Miami, Fl, (you’ll see a marker for the first time) then click within 100 miles of the Golden Gate Bridge (still one marker but it’s in a new location), then click within 100 miles of the Statue of Liberty.  The marker will move and you will see the map recenter itself  each time you click.
  4. Zoom in halfway so you can see more detail.  Zoom controls look almost like a railroad track in the upper left corner of the map and there are three ways to change the zoom level.
    • Click the + sign at the top or the – sign at the bottom.
    • Click on the rectangular zoom indicator that is somewhere on the track.  While holding the mouse button, drag it up or down.
    • Click on the track above or below the indicator and the zoom level will move there.
  5. Take a small leap of faith and click the highlighted text link “Save Lat/Lon” at the upper left (The text is visible as soon as you place a marker but not before).  On the next screen, there is a link “Clear all and start over”.  We will use that to clear the latitude, longitude, and zoom level brought over from the first screen.
  6. Note the fields for zip code, title, and description.  These are all required fields because we need the information to present a user-friendly, printable map to anyone who is looking for this location.
    • A zip code is required so we can create a list of nearby maps and minimize duplication.
  7. If your map is designed to help publicize an event, include the date and times for your event and any contact person(s) you want.  Links to other websites are allowed as long as they are related to the event or you, our new volunteer mapmaker.
  8. One of our company’s goals is to collect and share good community information.  With the proviso that your mapmaking MUST be family-friendly, child-safe, and provide community value,  you may use our mapmaking within your business or nonprofit activities at no cost to you or the taxpayers.

Terminology:

  • POI: Point of interest
  • Latitude: The distance north or south from the Equator, measured in degrees.
  • Longitude: The distance east or west from Greenwich, England, also measured in degrees.  Positive longitude values are east of Greenwich, negative values are west.  The maximum value is 180.
  • Shortcut URL: Our database assigns a unique number to your map data and, from this, a unique URL is created.  It takes the form of the letter “m” for map, the unique ID number,  then “.local4all.com”.  When giving someone the shortcut URL over the phone, it’s important they understand:
    • The shortcut URL is meant to be typed into a browser’s address bar, not a Google search, Yahoo search, etc.  Your map is a distinct web page and there is no need to search for it using Google or another search engine.
    • Two dots are required, bracketing the domain name “local4all”.  If either is missing, the user will get a “Page Not Found” error message or end up on the Local4All home page.
    • Examples:  m12.local4all.com, m18.local4all.com
    • If including the shortcut URL in an event’s details page, etc., it’s a very user-friendly practice to create a clickable link.  Most Local4All forms have a link-making tool.  The trigger looks almost like a horizontal figure eight but is really three chain links end to end.
    • If including the shortcut URL in a printed document, you can precede it with “www.” or “http://” to indicate it is a web page.  FYI, the “www” is not required but the shortcut URL is set up to work both ways.