The MapBlast! service is gone but not forgotten.

August 2005

Usage Hints for the site and area locator maps
based on the MapBlast! service
(obsolete)

Need help? Want advice? Pick a question . . .

• Why do I see a "Welcome" page instead of a map page?
• What's "MapBlast!" ?
• Why are these usage hints important?
• What is all the stuff around the map?
• Why is all that stuff scattered helter-skelter across my screen, and not arranged neatly around the map?
• Why do different site maps have different icons?
• Why are there street addresses at the top of some site maps but not others?
• How can I get a different view of the site surroundings?
• What other map controls are available?
• The locator marker (icon) on the map is in the wrong place; how can I help fix it for future visitors?
• I tinkered with the map controls too much, and now I'm lost. How do I get back to the original version?
• Why isn't the map embedded directly in the site data page?
• Why aren't the multiple maps on area locator pages combined into one?

Just curious? Read all the answers in order . . .

Why do I see a "Welcome" page instead of a map page?

The online dynamic mapping service which we use (see answer to following question) has changed its business model since we first began to use it, and will no longer display dynamic maps to anyone who is not a properly logged-in registered user.

To log in, you must enter your MapBlast registered userid and password in the appropriate fields on a MapBlast window.

To get a free registered MapBlast userid if you don't yet have one, click the "Register now" link in the upper right corner of the MapBlast Welcome page, and follow the instructions which will be presented.

To be properly logged in, you must have "cookies" enabled for the domain "mapblast.com" (or for all domains), so that MapBlast can verify your logged-in status for each map you wish to display.

Once you are a registered user, and have displayed a map, you can click on a "My MapBlast" tab to access a variety of customization options.  The most useful of these map be to set your default map size to make the best use of your monitor's actual screen size.  You'll have to experiment with it to see what works best for you.

What's "MapBlast!" ?

MapBlast! is an online dynamic mapping service which is provided at no cost to the Guild by Vicinity Corporation.

Why are these usage hints important?

The excellent online help which is provided by the MapBlast! service is aimed at the general user and explains all aspects of that service.  This page which you are now reading explains how we use that service.  It also emphasizes what controls are especially useful in this context, and warns about what you should not do while viewing a locator map which we have customized.  In a few instances, it expands on the MapBlast help.

What is all the stuff around the map?

Assuming that all of the MapBlast! parts are neatly laid out on your screen (if they aren't, see the next answer), here is what you will see:

• Above the top left edge of the map is the description we've assigned to the site for mapping purposes.  This will usually include city and state/province where the site is located. (It will usually not be exactly the same as the site identification on its own data page, because that's inconveniently long for this purpose.)  This description might contain the label which appears next to (or in) the icon that marks the site location on the map.
• Below the map are three "radio buttons" which control what happens when you click on the map itself.
• Below the button row is a text line with two Weblinks:
  • The "Icon latitude,longitude" not only shows the geographic location of the icon but also it will link to a dynamically-generated MapBlast! page which supplies further links to points of interest in the local area.  (That page also shows the geographic location converted from decimal degrees.fraction to degrees, minutes and seconds)
  • The words "Click here to change map size" provide a link which does the same thing as clicking the Customize button above the map.  (Then these words switch to "Click here to hide options".)
• To the right of the map is a vertical panel with balloon and tags for Zoom In and Zoom Out.
• (There used to be a handy compass rose for moving stepwise in a desired direction.  Unfortunately it was taken away in the last revision of MapBlast!)

Why is all that stuff scattered helter-skelter across my screen, and not arranged neatly around the map?

Probably you are using an old Web browser (e.g., Spry Mosaic 2.0) which doesn't support more recent additions to the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) that is used to build Web pages.  Without "tables" capability, the map will still be readable, but the MapBlast! controls will fall into such strange places that it may not be obvious how to use them.  (But they do still work.)  If you get a newer Web browser with "tables" capability (e.g., Netscape Navigator 3.0 or newer), then all of the MapBlast! controls associated with the map will be laid out nicely around it.

Generally we avoid using tables, frames or other newer features of HTML in order to present site data in the most readable possible form to the widest possible audience.  MapBlast! is an exception to this principle because it is so useful and because it doesn't reside on our Website.

Why do different site maps have different icons?

The icons which indicate site locations on the maps have been chosen to reflect how accurately we know just where each site is actually located.

• A red "X" with a brush-stroke appearance means that the site location is known only generally, or cannot be pinpointed by the MapBlast! service from its current geographical database.  You should not attempt to zoom in to pinpoint the location, because this icon may be misplaced at closer scales.  But you may be able to zoom in one or two levels without confusion.
• A red cross (+) with a crisp appearance, centered on a street or road, means that MapBlast! could locate the site address precisely, but we don't know on which side of the street or on which corner of the intersection the building sits.  You can safely zoom in to the closest view of the area.
• A signboard with a pointer on the bottom means that we know exactly where the site is located--even more accurately than MapBlast! does.  You can safely zoom in to the closest view of the area.

In the first two cases, the icon will be accompanied by a label which has the same text as the heading on the left just above the map.  In the third case, that text will appear in the signboard icon itself.

Why are there street addresses at the top of some site maps but not others?

We only show street addresses (or street intersections) on a site map when MapBlast! was able to use that information to place the locator icon.  So you won't see it on any maps where the icon is a red "X" (see above), and you will see it on only some of the rest.

How can I get a different view of the site surroundings?

MapBlast! has a lot of options to customize the map to meet your particular needs without losing the benefits of our customization.

• The most important MapBlast! control is the vertical "balloon" panel, which enable you to zoom in and out.  Each tick on the side of the panel represents a map scale; the position of the balloon in the panel indicates where the current map falls in the range of possible scales.  Click at the next tick above the balloon to get a map which covers a larger area in less detail, or the next one below it for a smaller area in more detail.  Regardless of which zoom level you choose, the resulting map will be exactly the same size on your screen.
• If the radio button row below the map is set to "Moves map" then you can click anywhere on the map to move the map center without dislocating the icon.  This can bring additional areas into view without changing the scale (i.e., zooming) and without losing sight of the icon.  This is sometimes helpful to see whether useful street names will appear.

What other map controls are available?

MapBlast! has additional options to customize the map, but at the risk of losing the information we have provided in the initial display.

• The radio buttons for "Moves Icon" or "Moves Both" should not be used unless you are ready to forget what we know about the bell tower location.  (But see the answer to the next question.)
• The compass rose to the right of the zoom button panel lets you jump to the adjacent area of the same size in one of the four cardinal directions or the four intermediate directions.  There's no overlap with your starting map, so you will lose sight of the icon we have placed.  If you find a good use for this, let us know.  (Perhaps you could print/cut/paste to create a larger map at the same scale.)

The location marker (icon) on the map is in the wrong place; how can I help fix it for future visitors?

If you really do know more than we do about where the marker should be, please help:

• Short answer: Use the map controls to adjust the location of the marker to your satisfaction; then "Email" the result to us by clicking on "email" near the bottom of the map page.
• Long answer: Follow a step-by-step adjustment guide.

I tinkered with the map controls too much, and now I'm lost.  How do I get back to the original version?

Use the "Back" feature of your Web browser to back up one screen at a time.  (This may be a menu selection or a toolbar button.)  Or use its "History" feature to jump directly to the site data page or the initial map.  The second alternative is quicker, but then you might be unable to use "Back" to work your way further up your history tree, depending on how your browser handles its history function.

Why isn't the map embedded directly in the site data page?

We could have done that--MapBlast! makes such an operation possible.  However, we chose not to do so for the following reasons:

• Most importantly, this enables the institutional name and/or address to stay with the map when you tailor it for your own use (see above).  When a map is embedded directly in a page, no user-supplied information is part of the map, because it's expected to be part of the context of the page around the map.  Thus when you browse an embedded map, its context is left behind.
• Embedding the map in the page would increase the time it takes to download the page for everyone, including those who have no interest in the map.  Providing a link makes the map readily available to those who want it without penalizing those who don't.
• Embedding the map in the page would pressure you to accept our choice of scale, etc.  Presenting the map controls on the first map you see makes it more obvious that you can dynamically adjust the map to meet your needs.
• Conversion of colored graphics to gray scale (for printing) is handled differently on various machines and by various printer drivers, usually with less than optimum results.  One of the MapBlast! controls prepares the map image for printing, probably better than your system could do it, in color or greyscale or black ∧ white.  (And without advertisements!)
• By allowing Vicinity Corporation's advertising material to be made visible to our visitors, not only do we express our appreciation to Vicinity for providing this service at no cost to the Guild, but also we make it easier for you to take advantage of Vicinity's free or commercial mapping services if they fit the Web page you are building or the application you are developing.

Why aren't the multiple maps on area locator pages combined into one?

If you use Vicinity Corporation's online mapping services through some other Website (e.g., Blockbuster), you will find that Vicinity does indeed have the capability to place many icons on one map.  However, that placement is done by Vicinity Corporation for a fee, using a database supplied or maintained by Vicinity's customer (e.g., Blockbuster).

For understandable commercial reasons, Vicinity Corporation does not support such complex functions in its free MapBlast! service.  It does allow placement of up to four icons on one map, and we utilize that capability to make each site locator map serve as an area locator when there are other towers in the general area of the one being located.

The Guild, being a small non-profit organization, cannot afford to purchase the full-scale commercial service.  Therefore, in the relatively few areas where a concentration of sites makes an area locator advisable, we have adopted the multi-map expedient.  When there are more than four sites in an area, such as a metropolis, they are subdivided by type (carillons, chimes, rings) into compatible groups of not more than four sites.  Each group is then displayed on one of a set of identical maps, to make it possible to relate them to each other easily.  (By the time all of the North American chime pages are installed, even this expedient will not suffice in a few areas.)

If this does not satisfy your needs, we would be happy to accept a large enough donation to the Guild to enable us to use Vicinity's commercial services.  We could certainly put it to good use.

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This page was created 1997/02/07 and last substantively revised 2002/09/03, shortly before the demise of MapBlast; the last editorial revision since then was on 2015/01/08.

Please send comments or questions to csz_stl@swbell.net