Adjusting a MapBlast! map location marker

If you know that the location marker (icon) on a MapBlast! site locator map is not accurately placed, then you can follow the steps laid out below to place it more accurately and to tell us where that place is.

If your Web browser can open two windows at once, then leave this page on one window and use the other to reach the site locator map. Otherwise, you might want to print this page to use while working through the map adjustment process. Before beginning, you might also find it helpful to review the two lists of map controls given on the Map Use Hints page.

Here are the steps you should follow to adjust the location marker:

1. From the GCNA data page for the site in question, use either the "locator map" link or the MapBlast! icon to go to the MapBlast! page based on our settings and location data. (Older site data pages still have a text link, while newer ones will show the icon link.)

2. Use the zoom controls (the vertical balloon panel to the right of the map) to go to the smallest map scale that gives you enough detail to see where the location marker really should be. (Ideally, this would be Zoom Level 1, at the bottom of the panel; but that isn't always the case, especially in areas that are not densely built up.) The easiest way to do this is to begin with the tick mark below the balloon position that marks the current map scale. Use the "Back" and "Forward" buttons of your Web browser to compare adjacent map scales to see which one presents the best detail to fit your knowledge of the location.

3. Below the map is a row of three radio buttons preceded by "Clicking map:". Initially the "Moves Map" button should be selected. Click either of the other settings ("Moves Icon" or "Does Both") as you choose. Now click on the map at the place where you believe the location marker should be placed.

4. If the current location marker is the big red "X", and that is still appropriate for your adjusted placement of the marker (check the icon criteria given on the Map Use Hints page), then skip to the next numbered step below.

   Click on the word CUSTOMIZE above the map, or on the words "Click here to change map size" below the map. Either of these links will add four rows of display options below the map on your screen.

   If your new placement of the location marker is so precise that the map icon should be changed to a signboard, then look for the "Map Icons" row of options below the map. It should have two pull-down menus, the first showing "Icon 1" and the second showing "Red X". Now click-and-drag the second pull-down menu to the item on the list called "Name in Box". When you release the mouse button, the visible icon name changes, but to make the icon on the map change you must click the button labelled "Update". It's to the right of the four rows of Map options.

   You may find that the point of the signboard is not quite where you want it. If so, click on the map to place it accurately. (You do not need to click the Update button again for this.)

5. Once you are satisfied with the way you have adjusted the map, you should send it to us for incorporation into the actual page on the Website so that others can benefit from your knowledge. That's because your adjusted page is a dynamic construct that is visible only to you at the moment. To send it, click on the word "email" near the bottom of the map page. You'll soon see a new MapBlast! page titled "E-mail Map". This page is a form with three spaces. In the first, type "csz_stl@swbell.net" (without the quotation marks); in the second, type your own E-mail address; and in the third, type an explanation of how you know that the adjustment is correct. It would be helpful to include a verbal description of the building location with respect to the streets on the map. (Example: "The church is on the northwest corner.") You don't need to identify the site, as that's already part of the E-mail message which Vicinity Corporation will generate. Below the Message space is a pair of radio buttons--click the one marked "Just send the URL link." Finally, click on the button labelled "Mail it!" below the third form space.

That's all there is to it. Thank you for your help!

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This page was created 1997/06/12 and last revised 2000/10/18.

Please send comments or questions to csz_stl@swbell.net