MAPS ARE COOL! So we should have a map interface. For that, we need a way of creating a clickable space on a web map. This seems like a long list of steps (and it is), but they all take like 5 seconds each.
- Go to Google Maps.
- Click on “Saved” on the left nav.
- Click on “Maps”.
- Click “Create Map” at the bottom of the window pane.
- Search for your building name or otherwise make sure the space you are researching is in your browser window. Close the pop-up if you get one.
- You can see the map layer you are creating is titled “Untitled Layer”. That’s not helpful. Change that to the name of your building/space, and make sure it matches your essay EXACTLY, like
mesa-vista-hall.
- Edit your map title to be the name of your building. You can use spaces if you want! This is helpful for later retrieval and editing, but isn’t tied to anything like the layer title.
- Click the little arrow to the left of “Base Map” at the bottom.
- Choose the top middle box for the Satellite view and see if that’s easier than the map view for your building.
- Find a zoom level that allows you to see your place all at once, but as zoomed in as possible.
- Click the “Draw a Line” icon under the search bar (it looks like a broken triangle).
- Click “Add line or shape”
- Trace out your place that you want to appear on our map. You are making a polygon, so make sure that your starting and ending points are the same (the curson turns into a pointy finger).
- If you need to adjust a point, click the hand icon and drag whatever point you want to move.
- Click the 3-dot menu icon next to your MAP TITLE.
- Click “Export to KML/KMZ”.
- DO NOT EXPORT entire map; export just the name of your layer
- Check the “Export to KML…” box (the bottom of the two).
- Click the Download button and save to somewhere convenient.
- Upload the KML file (from your Downloads directory or wherever it ended up) to your assets/kml folder in your campus-history GitHub repository.
- Wait a few minutes, and see if your polygon shows up on your map page of YOUR campus history site. If not, double check your file made it into the
kml folder and that the filename (minus the .kml extension) matches your essay EXACTLY.