How to Add Sites and Maps to the Open Green Map

A basic guide created by Rockland Green Map for all OGM Mapmakers.

This document can be downloaded as a PDF using the link at the bottom of the page.

THE QUICK GUIDE:

1. Go to the Open Green Map website (http://www.opengreenmap.org/user) and login
2. On the bottom right click ‘My map’. Then click the map you want to add to, then click ‘Add site’. (see below to Add a new map)
3. Enter information
4. Submit – before you click submit nothing will be saved!

THE VIDEO GUIDE:

HOW TO LOG IN

You need an account with log in username (or email address) and password. An account at the Open Green Map will be automatically created for you if you have an account at GreenMap.org. It will have the same username, email and password. This first account will be the Lead Mapmaker with administrator rights.

If you don’t have an account and want to start a new map, go to the Participate section (http://www.greenmap.org/join) at Green Map System website and register to become a Green Mapmaker.

If you just want to join a team that already exists, ask the Lead Mapmaker on your team to invite you.

MY ACCOUNT

You can manage all your Open Green Maps in the ‘My account’ section located on the right menu.

ADD A GREEN MAP TO THE OPEN GREEN MAP

Only Lead Mapmakers can create a new Green Map. Log in and on the bottom right click ‘Create content’ > ‘Green Map’. Fill in the information in the fields provided. You can edit and change this information later. Required fields are marked with *.

Choose Icons: “Choose which Green Map® Icons can be used on this Green Map. These are the only icons that that will appear on your map and its legend.” You can always go back and add more or take out the ones you did not use. The fewer icons you use, the fewer will be listed in the legend.

Private map: Check this box when your map is under construction or you don’t want the map to be public yet.

Link to your Green Map profile on GreenMap.org: The link you want to put in here, is the link that any user would see if they went to the GreenMap website and clicked on your ‘leaf’ on the map showing all the world’s Green Maps. You can for example add your own website URL in the subtitle field.

Map Zoom Level/Base Map Type: See the description on the page. Try something and come back and change after Submit.

Location: See below for information on how to click on the map to position your map center.

>Click Submit to save your new Green Map!

ADD A GREEN SITE TO A GREEN MAP

To minimize aggravations of lost data, you can collect your Green Site information in another format (text document, database, table, etc.). What is important is to enter at least the required data and then save by clicking SUBMIT on the bottom of the page.

If you want to keep your Green Site information formatted and typed the same way, be sure to note how you did it for the first site. Then it is simple to follow your style for each site you list (see more below under ‘Details’).

Name of site * (* = mandatory)

Provide the name of your Green Site. Sites can have the same name.

Primary Icon *

You have to pick an icon. This icon will be the one showing up on the map, so pick the one most true to your site.

Secondary Icon

Optional. The icon will show up in the infowindow, when someone clicks on the site icon. Max 6 icons allowed.

Note: With 6 icons it may look a little cluttered – it is up to you to judge.

Details *

The information entered here will show up in the second large infowindow (which is shown when the user clicks on the plus sign in the first small infowindow). You can put any text in here: description of the site, opening hours, etc.

Remember that the first 100 words are the most important, so stay out of a too lengthy description, or break up in paragraphs.

This text can be formatted with simple HTML code. Click the link provided: ‘More information for formatting options’. The simplest things are bold, in italics, numbered or bulleted text.

Note: It will look nice if you keep the format consistent for all sites of a certain icon. For example, all detail fields for farmer’s markets have Location, When, Season and contact information listed.

Maps

This is an important step to remember! If your Mapmaking team has more than one Green Map on the OGM, they will be listed here.

Regardless of having one or more maps, you will need to check the box to which map the site should belong (or both or all if applicable).

You also need to decide whether this site should be public yet or not. If your Open Green Map is not yet public, you may as well check ‘Public’ and the site will only be public when the map goes public.

Advanced Details

Optional but very useful. The information you enter here (for web address, email, and telephone) will show up under the site name in the second infowindow, above the tabs and details.

Web Address – http:// etc.
E-mail – Make sure you enter a valid email address and that it is appropriate to share this online. An info@sitename.org is generally better than personal.name@site.org.
Telephone – Same thing here, a general switchboard number is better than a personal one if possible. If a personal number is the only choice, make sure you check with the person. They may get a lot of calls.

Optional to check any of the following boxes:
Children welcome –
Accessible –
Appointment needed – This box could substitute a redundant secondary phone icon.
Accessible by public transport – This information will show on the bottom left of the expanded infowindow, with icons to represent each feature:
Directions – The directions you type in here will show up under the Connections tab
Free Entry or Entry costs – This is really helpful to our users. Remember, however, that a field like this might have to be updated every year, even if it was free the year before!

Videos and photos

Images and links to videos will really make your site information a little extra. No image or video data is stored on the OGM; the photos and videos are embedded into the OGM from other websites.

Image

About www.Flickr.com It is really easy to use Flickr.com to add pictures to each site. And if you do have copyrighted or don’t want to share all your images, just add them to flickr and make them private/non-public.

How it works: You need an account (free) with Flickr (just go to www.flickr.com and sign up). Then upload your images to Flickr. You can add a group, for example your-green-map, and this can be public or hidden so only you and your mapmaking friends can see them. You can also, and should add a description and tag (key words) to the images so you easily can distinguish them from similar pictures. When you want to add a picture here, you just go to flickr, log in, navigate to your image and copy the URL (the www.etc) from your browser window. Then paste this URL in the ‘Image:’ field on the OGM Submit Green Site page. The image will show up in the second info window on your site.

Other similar photo sharing sites are www.Imageshack.com, www.Photobucket.com, etc. although not all of these are currently supported on the Open Green Map.

Image caption or credit
Caption: This is a short descriptive text of your image. Maybe place, season taken or other information could be used. Example: “The main gate at Phillipsburg Manor in fall colors”.
Credit: If you didn’t take the picture, it is very important to get the permission to use the image. Then, it is equally important to get the credit right. The credit is to inform the user who took the image and if it is copyrighted or not. Many professional photographers, who are willing to share their image, will also provide you with the correct caption if you ask. The © symbol can be found in MS Word for example (sometimes just by typing ( c ) without the spaces) and copied into your image credit.

Video

The video works the same way as the images (see above): Find the video you want on YouTube or Google Video, and copy the URL (www.youtube.com/watch?v=etc.)

Video caption or credit
Same as Image caption or credit (see above).

Location *

The most important part of your Green Site is of course where it is. There are three ways of adding the location:

Option 1. Type in the street address, city, state, and/or country and when you submit the site it will automatically find the location for you.
Note: You should check this after you submit the site to make sure the site is in the right place. Google is great, but not without glitches, especially outside of North America and Europe.
Note: The address you type here will also show up in the information about the site will show up in the infowindow (under the site name, above the tabs and details).

Option 2. Latitude and longitude: Usually you do not need to enter the latitude and longitude. Google will try and calculate these for you based on the address.

Option 3. Set the location by using the Google Map: If there is no address for the site, or Google calculates the wrong location, you can use the map to set the location. Here is how: Use either Map, Satellite, or Hybrid in the Map settings (upper right corner) and click in the general location of your Green Site (without zooming in) and the map will position the marker and zoom in one step. Then continue to click at the right location to get closer and closer and eventually in the correct spot (the platform will zoom in for every click you make and increase the map details).

Note: It is important to zoom in all the way in to make sure the green site will be in the right spot. If you are zoomed out just a little, a fraction of an inch off can make your site end up on the wrong street or on the wrong house.

SAVE AND ADD THE SITE TO YOUR GREEN MAP *

The last step but one of the most important – Don’t forget!

Save your Green Site and add it to your Green Map by clicking SUBMIT.