Dear Cartographiles,

Our esteemed webswami, John "Aladdin" Chidester, has asked that I do this, so here goes! (You only have two left, John!) :-)
Most of the maps in the Map Room Forum thread " Maps for Mid-Atlantic Lighthouse Hunting " were generated using the Mapquest website:

http://www.mapquest.com

Lesson 1: What NOT to do.

I started out with an atlas (dead tree edition). Finding the town nearest my point of interest and entering it into "Find a Map" on Mapquest (click on "Maps" on the home page), I could then zoom in or out, page up or down, and adjust the map size using Mapquest's interactive features. So far, so good.

When I was satisfied with the maps I had created in Mapquest, I started off by trying to establish links in the Map Room Forum to the URLs that came up with the interactive maps. No dice. It doesn't work.

Next I attempted to capture a static image (non-interactive) of those same maps. I selected the "Printable Maps" option. From the resulting page, I right-clicked on the image, left-clicked on "Properties" and copied the URL. I inserted these as links into my post in the Map Room Forum. They worked from both my desktop and laptop computers, so I was reasonably sure it was not dependent upon my "cookies". Then I started getting reports from people who couldn't open the maps. I tried again myself, and this time couldn't open the links. This leads me to believe that the links expire after a short time, similar to the way secure website links expire after you leave them.

Lesson 2: What worked.

To exercise this next option, you must have (or start) your own web page. Many ISPs make some space available at little or no additional cost to their individual subscribers. I am presently using AOL, and the web page space I use is free of additional cost to me. (I don't recommend that you waste your time visiting my site -- there's nothing there that you haven't seen in these Forums.)

OK. Let's start fresh:

This time around I register ed at the Mapquest site. This allows you to save maps (on Mapquest's server, not yours ¦-) ) and to enter icons at points of personal interest. (Those little camera icons you see at the lighthouse locations on maps in my post can only be done if you are a member.) Membership is free, and all they ask of you are (a) your real name and (b) your e-mail address to register. Members-only features are available for use immediately upon registration.

I started out (again) with an atlas (dead tree edition). Finding the town nearest my point of interest and entering it into "Find a Map" on Mapquest (click on "Maps" at the homepage), I could then zoom in or out, page up or down and adjust the map size using Mapquest's interactive features.

When I was satisfied with the map I had created in Mapquest, I right-clicked on the map image, then left-clicked on "Copy". I then pasted the image into a graphics software program (I used Adobe Photo Deluxe.) I then manually added the yellow text boxes describing the points of interest using the graphics software features and saved the image as a 256-color .GIF file to my hard drive.

Next, I set up a web page for each individual map (follow your web page publishing software instructions for how to do this). At the top of each page I added the logo (in the same manner that I had saved the maps) and linked it to the Mapquest site to comply with the terms of use set by Mapquest.

Finally, I linked my post in the Map Room Forum to my web pages of Mapquest map images. One can learn how to do this elsewhere in this forum .

If you are a member, there is a way to link directly to Mapquest for stored images of interactive maps, but I haven't attempted to do that yet. Only by storing the static images on my own web pages can I keep the yellow lighthouse markers on the maps, and I kinda like those. The tradeoff, of course, is that the interactivity is gone. What do you think? Is the interactivity or the are the markers of more value to you?

Thanks, Job!

-Gerardus Mercator

[This message has been edited by Art (edited 02-02-99).]

Well done, Art! I appreciate the "What NOT to do" as much as the "What to do".

In the Dealer Directory at HarbourLights.com, when you click on the dealer's address, you should be taken to a map at MapQuest.

To create the URL for each dealer, I used a database program and wrote a script to convert the address, city and state to a URL.

For example, http://www.mapquest.com/cgi-bin/ia_free?width=500&height=300&streetaddress=1300+Military&city=Benton&state=AR&level=8&style =2.

The bold face portion shows how the address is used (+ replaces blank spaces). The width and height specify the size of the map (in pixels) the "level" sets the "zoom" range to start from. When you see the map, it has a red star to indicate the location on the map of the dealer. But when you zoom in or out, the red star get's lost.

A number of dealers' maps don't work. This is usually because the 'address' isn't understood by MapQuest -- such as just the name of a mall. We're working to obtain good addresses from all dealers.

You can fiddle with that URL above by highlighting it, copying it and pasting it into the URL address of your browser, modifying the "streetaddress=", "city=", and "state=" to your own address.

Mappers might also be interested in other mapping services at: www.expediamaps.com

Yahoo has a similar service, but I don't know the URL for it.

When you're The Genie, Art, you give out the wishes to others. You can give out as many as you want. When you're a saint, well... you don't NEED wishes...

0 :>)

Thanks for the tip, John.

The only problem with that approach (in this context) is that many of the lighthouses that I've visited do not have a mailing address. Those will be a little harder to map. But for those that do have an address, this will be a great convenience. Thanks again.

-Art