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The 30-Second Spin – A quick tutorial on building maps in Atlas
Atlas Map of the Day Blog – Tips, tricks and great examples for Atlas users
How do I create a map?
It’s easy. You have three options:
(1)
Click on a point you want to map. An icon will
appear with an info window that allows you to enter information corresponding
to the point.
(2)
Type the name of a town or address you want to map
into the search field at the top of the page, then
click “Map”. An icon and info window will appear in the place you want to map.
(3)
Click the “Bulk Upload” link above the top-right
corner of the map. When the data window appears, use it to upload your csv file. Once your file has been uploaded, a map plotting
your data will appear.
How do I publish my map on my site?
After you save the map, an “Embed”
button will appear at the bottom of the page. Click this button, grab the code
labeled “Embed” and publish it on your site. Note that the Embed function does
not work in Wordpress (see below
for more details).
What if I just want to link to the
map on your site?
That’s fine. Just click “Embed”
and grab the URL labeled “Link”.
How do I save a map I want to come
back to later?
Click the save button at the bottom
of the page. When you’re ready to finish the map, login to Atlas, go to My
Atlas, and click “Edit”.
How do I change the size and
appearance of the map?
Click on the “Edit Map Properties”
link in the upper right corner of the edit map. The window that appears will
allow you to change various map attributes.
Can I add points using coordinates?
Yes, you can do this using the
“Bulk Upload” function. Enter the coordinates in the LOCATION field of your CSV file. (See
the next questions for help using the Bulk Upload function.)
Can I upload many data points at
once?
Yes, you can use our CSV upload
format:
LOCATION,TITLE,BODY
TEXT
The LOCATION field can be any string
that produces a point when entered into Atlas’ location search -- a city name, a
street address, a latitude and longitude (use this format: “LATITUDE,LONGITUDE”), etc.
Note that you can include commas
in any CSV field, but the text in a field that includes commas must be
surrounded by quotation marks. If you use Microsoft Excel to save your CSV
file, don’t add quotes – Excel will add them automatically. If you add quotes
in Excel, the file will have doubled quotes and won’t load properly.
Once you’ve saved your data in the
CSV format, create a new map, go to “Bulk Upload”. Name your map, select your
CSV file, then upload the data.
For more information about
creating maps with the CSV format, check the Map
of the Day Blog.
When I upload my CSV file Atlas thinks for a while, then tells me it
timed out. What do I do?
Atlas can’t
handle CSV files that have more than about 50 lines. If you want to get large
amounts of data onto a map, your best bet is to find a way to sort it into
small groups, and map those separately.
Editing
Info Windows
How do I add information to a point
I’ve plotted?
When you plot a point, a new field
(we call it an “info window”) will appear near your point. You can add anything
you want to the info window.
How do I add an image or a link to
an info window on my map?
Just add click “Add Image” or “Add
Link” above the text box in the info window, then enter the link to the page or
image you want to reference.
Can I add html code to info windows?
Yup. Anything
you want.
How about JavaScript?
No, JavaScript does not work in
the info windows.
How do I add video to an info
window?
Just take the embed code from your
video source and paste it into the Body field. If you’re using Blip.tv, be sure to use the code for MySpace
– the alternative code uses JavaScript, which will not work. Check our Map
of the Day blog for more information.
I added a video to an info window,
but it’s too wide for the space. What do I do?
Click on “Edit Map Properties” in
the upper right corner of the edit screen. When the properties window pops up,
you’ll see an “Info Window Width” field that you can adjust.
I heard Atlas includes Wikipedia
content. How do I use it?
If you search for a major city,
the resulting info window will give you an option to “Add Wikipedia Content.”
Why is Atlas inserting <br>s in my code?
Atlas replaces line breaks entered
in an info window with <br>s. If you don’t want
the <br>s, remove the line breaks before you
enter your text.
Is there a character limit in info
windows?
Yes. Info windows can have a
maximum of 4000 characters.
What does Atlas cost?
Nothing, although please contact
us if you’re publishing a map that you expect to get large amounts of traffic
over a long period of time. In these cases, we may include an ad position
beneath your map.
Most of the maps I create are
located in a specific area. Can I set Atlas to open in my community?
Yes. Here’s how: Open Atlas,
create a map with the size, zoom level and location that you want to set as
your default, open “Edit Map Properties,” then click “Set Default.” If you
logout of Atlas, then log back in, the map will open on your new default. For more information, check the Atlas
Map of the Day blog.
Who’s hosting this?
We are.
We want to add a map to a big story
that should get a lot of traffic. Will you be able to handle it?
Yes. If you expect a map to get
more than 20,000 page views in a day, please contact us. If you expect to
generate significant traffic over time, we may include an ad beneath your map.
Can I map a route from one point to
another?
Not right now.
What about mapping areas – zip
codes, towns, etc?
We don’t support that
functionality at this point.
Can I upload my own icons?
Nope. Sorry.
Why I can’t get Atlas
to work in Wordpress?
Wordpress.com and some other implementations
of Wordpress strip out the code needed to embed most
media in posts. The only exception is code from giants like Google. In some
cases it's possible to embed iframes by turning off
the rich text editor. More information is available on the Wordpress
site here
and here.
Does Atlas work in Drupal?
Yes. If you’re having problems
embedding Atlas maps in your Drupal-based site, you may have to ad Atlas to
your embed filter. There is more information about this on Drupal.org, here and here.
I renamed a map that had user
contributions on it, now I’m missing some of the data. What happened?
This is a bug. If you rename a map
that users have contributed to, some information related to the contributions
may be lost. If this happens to you, please let us know. We can help you get it
back.
I’m having problems using Atlas in
Safari. What’s up?
Safari is blocking most edit popups right now. This is a bug that we’re working on. In
the mean time, you’ll have to use Firefox.
I’d like to publish data that’s not
in the Atlas csv format, can you support it?
Maybe. Send a
note to info@faneuilmedia.com with
an example of the format, and we’ll look into it.
Try searching the Atlas Group (http://groups.google.com/group/fmatlas)
or sending a note to the group (fmatlas@googlegroups.com).
We’ll respond to you via the group
as soon as we can.
Alternatively,
you can reach us directly at info@faneuilmedia.com.
For news about
Atlas updates, tips & tricks, subscribe to the Atlas Map of the Day blog.
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