Create or update a map

This task can be undertaken by users with the following roles: OC Map Manager.

Before you start creating or updating maps, make sure that your site is connected with Google Maps.

To start creating maps:

1. From the main menu, go to More > Maps.
2. Select Create map to start creating a new map, or
3. Select a map from the list to start editing it

You will be able to edit map information in 3 tabs: the Overview tab, the Layers tab, and the Settings tab. Once your map has been created, you will be able to add it to any page with a WYSIWYG Editor.

See how it's done

Overview tab

The Overview tab is used to fill in the basic details and structure of the map. Here are the fields you can edit:

Field	Function
Name	The name of the map. This will display in the maps list when editing a map and when inserting a map into a WYSIWYG Editor.
Description	A brief description of the map for internal purposes.
Center of map	Provide the latitude and longitude of a location for the center of your map. To find the latitude and longitude of a location in Google Maps, right-click on the map on that location and select 'What's here?' from the menu. Copy the coordinates from the card that appears. The coordinates that are provided by selecting 'What's here?' will give a more accurate representation of the map point than the first set of coordinates that appear in the right-click menu.
Zoom level	This determines how zoomed in the map is. Use the labels as a guide to get an idea of what your map will look like.
Auto-fit to layers	Check this box to make the map automatically zoom out to the furthest point of its layers. Note: if you have a lot of layers that cover a wide area, we recommend not selecting this option. If your map has a very wide area that's set to auto-fit to layers, it will be extremely zoomed out upon loading.
Map aspect ratio	Use this setting to change the shape of your map on a page: 1:1 creates a large, square map 4:3 creates a large, rectangular map 16:9 creates a rectangular map that is much shorter than it is wide
Location marker	Set what kind of marker to use to indicate the user's location on the map. You have 2 options: Upload marker: use the 'Upload marker' button if you have a custom icon file. If you have a custom icon, make sure it's no smaller than 22 x 22px and no larger than 72 x 72px. Additionally, you can only upload these file types: .jpg, .jpeg, and .png. Build marker: use this option to build a marker using our preset options. We have a drop marker or square marker you can choose from. You can choose the color and size of the marker as well. Your marker will preview next to the selection options.

Once you've finished editing the Overview tab, select Save to open the Layers and Settings tabs.

Layers tab

The Layers tab is used to create or place layers, so you can determine the points of interest for this map and create a legend. The Layers tab will list any layers that are already in place, and you can create new layers or add already created shared layers.

Layers tell your map what content to display, so you must create or add at least one layer to your map for it to display correctly.

You can also add shared layers from the Layers tab by selecting 'Add shared layer' and choosing the shared layer from the list. Shared layers are layers that are created separately from individual maps and can be used on any map. They are a good way of creating a repository of map layers, so you don't have to recreate similar layers for each map.

If you're creating a layer just for this map, you can choose to build it based on pages in your site or import an external layer such as a kml. file from Google Earth or another GIS platform.

Based on your pages

Building a layer based on your pages allows you to create maps specific to your content types or content labels.

You can only create layers based on pages with a location field, such as OC Events or OC Venues.

Here are the fields you can edit:

Field	Function
Layer based on your pages
Name	The name of the layer.
Description	A brief description of the layer for internal purposes.
Content types to include	Select which content types to include on this layer: All: show a map pin for all content types that have built-in location fields Some: choose which content types to display on the map. You can only select from content types that have a built-in location field.
Labels to include	Select which content labels to filter the pages on this layer: All: the layer will source pages with any content label, from pages of a content type that has built-in location fields Some: the layer will source pages with the labels you specify of a content type that has built-in location fields. Check the box for 'Each page must have all labels' to only include pages that have all the labels you've chosen.
Include content from these sites	Select which sites you want to source pages from.
Display features
Legend label	A label used to help filter information on the map. If left blank, the system will use the layer's name in the legend.
Marker	Set what kind of marker to use for this layer. You have 2 options: Upload marker: use the 'Upload marker' button if you have a custom icon file. If you have a custom icon, make sure it's no smaller than 22 x 22px and no larger than 72 x 72px. Additionally, you can only upload these file types: .jpg, .jpeg, and .png. Build marker: use this option to build a marker using our preset options. We have a drop marker or square marker you can choose from. You can choose the color and size of the marker as well. Your marker will preview next to the selection options.

Once you've finished editing the layer, select Add to map and Save.

Import layer (kml. or kmz.)

You can use kml. or kmz. files to upload external layers. Here are the fields you can edit:

Field	Function
Layer based on kml. or kmz.
Name	The name of the layer
Description	A brief description of the layer for internal purposes
Kml file	Select the kml. or kmz. file you want to use. Either enter the URL link into the 'Enter URL' field or use the 'Upload' button to upload the file from your computer.
Display features
Legend label	A label used to help filter information on the map. If left blank, the system will use the layer's name in the legend. This label will only apply to the legend, it will not affect any markers in the kml. file.
Marker	Set what kind of marker to use for this layer. You have 2 options: Upload marker: use the 'Upload marker' button if you have a custom icon file. If you have a custom icon, make sure it's no smaller than 22 x 22px and no larger than 72 x 72px. Additionally, you can only upload these file types: .jpg, .jpeg, and .png. Build marker: use this option to build a marker using our presets. We have a drop marker or square marker you can choose from, and you can choose which color and size it has as well Your marker will preview next to the selection options.

Once you've finished editing the layer, select Add to map and then Save.

The marker for the map pin is the icon in the code of the .kml file. This icon's file is stored in the mapping system from which the kml. file is extracted. As the icon file is stored in the mapping system and not in the OpenCities Files library, a default blue Google Maps pin will display on the map to indicate all locations in the kml. file.

If you want to customize this marker, upload the custom icon to the Files library and modify the kml. file to point at the uploaded marker in OpenCities. For help with this, consult with your internal GIS team.

Then, upload an Icon to show as the marker in the map's legend by choosing Upload marker. Please use an icon that is no smaller than 22x22 px and no larger than 72x72 px. If you don’t have a marker to upload, choose Build marker and build your own.

Your layers will be shown with the most recently created layer at the top of your layers list. This represents the order of the layers in the map legend and options, so reorder your layers list if you want to change this.

Shared layers are indicated by the '(Shared)' label after the layer name. Click the eye icon to make a layer invisible to users. Click and drag the arrow icon to change a layer's position.

Edit or delete a layer by clicking the gear icon.

When you’re editing a layer, you can copy it to another map by selecting the map from the dropdown and pressing Copy. 

Settings tab

In the Settings tab, you can finalize the presentation of the map. Here are the fields you can edit:

Field	Function
Show address filter	Add a search function to your map so users can search for their addresses. If you select yes, you will be given a choice of the Address source: OpenCities: only searches for addresses that have been imported into the OpenCities system. If you are using this map for the My Area module, and you have imported addresses, then select OpenCities.  Google Places: sources addresses from Google Maps and presents them in a predictive search list.
Show map options	Add the option for users to filter bases on the layers of your map. If your map only has one layer, the filters will not be shown.
Show results list	Add a list of the points of interest which are indicated by your map layers. This is displayed alongside your map and will only show results from layers based on pages, not kml. layers.
Show legend	Add a legend to indicate what the map is showing.
Shows results on initial page load	Automatically show layers on the map when it loads for the first time.
Show Google's points of interest	Include points of interest commonly seen on Google Maps, such as landmarks or parks which are not included in your layers.

Once you've finished editing these settings, Save and Preview your map. If you're happy with your map, you can start adding it to pages.

Add your map to a page

After you have created a map, you can add it to any page with a WYSIWYG Editor. To do this:

1. Find the page you want to edit, and select Update if it has been published.
2. Open the WYSIWYG Editor of the page, and place your cursor where you want to add the map.
3. In the WYSIWYG Toolbar, select the Insert Maps icon.
   
4. Select the map you want from the dropdown menu to insert the map. It will display as a small green widget.
5. Select Save Content and Close to close the WYSIWYG Editor, and Save and Preview the page.
6. Publish the page when you've finished.

Troubleshooting tips

• If your map isn't working, check that you've set up Google Maps APIs, then refresh the map. If you're still having problems, lodge a support ticket with us.
• If pages are hidden from search, they will not appear on a map layer.
• If there are no content types with location fields specified on a layer, they will not appear on the map.
• The OC Event content type will not appear on a map if the date has passed.

What else?

• Learn more about the Maps module
• Set up Google Maps APIs
• Create or update a shared layer
• Create an OC Location page
• Manage the location settings