Help on the Place Map tab

The map tab displays the place on an interactive map.

Map Layers

Histopolis adds map layers to the basic mapping capability implemented by Google. To see which map layers are available for a particular place, click on the "Layers" menu located directly above the map. A drop-down menu will appear that lists the layers available for the current map (see illustration at right). Each layer can be independently shown or hidden. The checkbox to the left of each layer name controls whether that layer is shown (checked) or hidden (unchecked).

Appearance on the Map

How a layer appears on the map varies by the type of place. For a state, county, civil township survey township,, or incorporated city, the outline of the place appears and the interior is shaded. For cemeteries, a pushpin appears and if the Histopolis boundary for the cemetery has been defined the boundary will also appear.

Place under Cursor

When you hover the cursor above a place from a layer, its name will appear in the area to the left of the Layer menu. If Histopolis does not identify the name of the place you expect, hide any overlapping layers to avoid confusion.

Place Navigation

If you show the "Area Cemeteries" layer, you can navigate to a specific cemetery shown on the map by double-clicking its pushpin.

Google Maps

Google Maps is the core technology used to implement mapping on Histopolis. The following describes how to use Google Maps including new features implemented in Google Maps Version 3. The exact look of the interface varies by the size of the map window and other variables.

Controls (Left)

The controls shown at the left appear on the top left side of the map window. The typical configuration is shown but other configurations are possible and are discussed below.

Pan Control

The pan control (shown right) allows you change the map area shown within the map window. Click on the right arrow to reposition the the map to reveal area to the right of the current window. Similarly, the left, up and down arrows to view the map window in those directions. In addition to the pan control, you can pan the visible map area by holding down the left mouse button within the map and dragging the map view.

Street View Control

The street view control (shown right) allows you see which streets on the map contain street views and select one of those views. If the street view icon is gray, there are no street views available within the current map view. If the street view icon is orange (as shown at right) the areas with available street views will be highlighted in blue when you click and hold down the cursor on the street view icon. To select a specific street view, drag the street view icon and drop it over the area you which to view in street view. The map will enter street view mode, click on the X close button in the upper right corner to exit street view and return to the original map view.

Zoom Control

The zoom control (shown right) allows you to zoom the map view in and out. Click on at the top of the zoom control to zoom in, showing the center portion of the map in greater detail but showing less geographical area. Click on at the bottom of the zoom control to zoom out, show a larger geographic area but less detail. You can also grab the slider in between the + and - buttons and drag it up or down to rapidly change the zoom setting. Clicking on the line above or below the slider will also change the zoom setting. Double-clicking on the map will also cause the map to zoom in and center the point where you clicked in the center of the map window.

Small Controls

If the map window is small, a reduced set of controls is displayed as shown at left.

45° Control

In some areas, four "45°" views are available in addition to the normal overhead aerial view. These 45° views show the map area as photographed at a 45-degree angle from the north, south, east or west. If 45° map views are available for the area you are viewing, the controls will change to the ones shown at left (only the top portion of the zoom control is shown).

45° imagery is currently available in and around many metropolitan areas. Click here to see a list of the cities where 45° imagery is available.

Pan and Rotate Control

The Pan Control is replaced by the Pan and Rotate Control. The outer ring indicates the orientation of the map showing the direction of North. If the N symbol is at the top of the ring (as shown) north is at the top of the map (the usual orientation) and the aerial image is taken from the south looking north. You can drag the N symbol to the left, right or bottom of the circle to change to one of the other orientations.

Rotate 90° Control

A Rotate 90° control appears under the Street View icon. Clicking the control will rotate the orientation 90°. The Rotate Control will update to indicate the current 45° view orientation.

Map Type Controls (Right)

The Map Type Controls appear on the top right side of the map window (shown at right). Maps can be displayed in either Map (road map) or Satellite (aerial) View. The name of the current map type is bolded. Click on a map type name to change the view.

Satellite Options

Clicking or hovering or "Satellite" will show a drop-down menu (shown right). The 45° checkbox will display only if 45° views are available. Unchecking 45° will show the normal overhead view instead of one of the 45° views (normally checked). The satellite view normally contains labels for map features such as city and street names. Unchecking Labels will remove the labels from the Satellite view (normally checked).

To learn more Google maps, see Help on Google Maps.