Helpful Hints For Using the Mapmaker Utility

Editing the .xml file

Open the countymap.xml file using a simple text editor. For Windows users, use WordPad or NotePad. Do not use a full blown word processor such as Word Perfect or Microsoft Word as they often will add extraneous code that will corrupt the file.

Troubleshooting

Problem Solution
My county is at rootsweb, my map was working but now has suddenly it has stopped working Your URL has changed from rootsweb.com to rootsweb.ancestry.com You need to change your API key. The new API key is: ABQIAAAA-SWhGFiONsbF4TqwF2sWyxSSEzl1krK0TNN0S516W9-zHeT7-RQ7TDdLK6M-K8I-Gr_C_Xk9fcnXow

See below for instuctions on how to replace the API key.
My county is not at rootsweb and the MapMaker does not work when I uploaded the three files
  • You need to sign up for an API key. Go to http://code.google.com/apis/maps/index.html and click on the "Sign Up" link.
  • Open the file countymap.html with a text editor. Find the word "key" just under the title line. The rootsweb key is:
    ABQIAAAAh2cCTTmAE6T4OXjecIFe5BQMxb4e6BwgeSB7cBu9SbVQSak6ARTgAPoctbx36BXXgbYZONZls0B1LQ
    Replace that key with the key you got from Google Maps.
  • Be sure you leave the " quote at the end of the key. I didn't and it took me several hours to find the error <Grin>
    • Map not centered
  • Position cursor over map
  • Left click and drag map until the map is located where you want
  • Click on what you think is the center of the map and write down the latitude & longitude
  • Edit the .xml file
  • Look for a line that something like says <county name="Your County Name" ctrLat="33.614619" ctrLng="-89.239197" zoom="7" />
  • Replace the ctrLat and ctrLng numbers with the numbers you wrote down; remember all longitudes in the U. S. are negative numbers
  • Save the .xml file and upload it
  • Hit your browser's "Refresh" button and check your work
    • Map is too big to fit into the map window or it is too small
  • See above solution and change the zoom number
  • Zoom works opposite to what you think it should: if you click the "+" on the map to zoom in, make the zoom number in the xml file smaller.
    • I want to add a feature that was not in the GNIS database Many small cemeteries are shown on the topographical maps as a small dashed rectangle with a cross in the middle of it with no identification.
  • Go to Topozone and navigate to the location of the feature you want to add. Since they use the GNIS database, you will not be able to search by name. You will need to know the nearest town, or have some other information about the location.
  • Move your cursor until it is right over the feature and click once. This moves the little red "+" to the feature and gives you the latitude and longitude of the feature at the top of the map. Be sure the coordinate format shown to the left of the map says "DD.DDDD"
  • Edit the xml file
  • A typical entry for a marker will look like this:
      <point lat="33.6470632" lng="-89.3078479" type="Cemetery">
      <pointTitle>Augustus Cemetery</pointTitle>
      <pointDesc></pointDesc>
      <pointLink>http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/il/edgar/cemeteries/augustus.txt</pointLink>
      <pointImage src="cross.gif" />
      </point>
  • The easiest way is to copy one entire entry from <point> all the way to </point> and paste it into your list of features. Then edit the information for your new map marker
    • I want to add links to my files about a feature You can add one URL in between <pointLink> and </pointLink>
    If you have several files, create a page with all the links on it and use the URL of that page
    I want to add a comment about this feature Any text placed between <pointDesc> and </pointDesc> will appear in the balloon on the map Example:
    <pointDesc>This is where John Smith is buried</pointDesc>
    I want to add a small image or icon to a balloon Add a link to your image file between the quotes in <pointImage src="" /> For example:
    <pointImage src="cross.gif" />