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About
WorldMap
WorldMap is an experimental
platform designed for viewing and interpreting maps collaboratively. Today maps come from many sources and
exist in many forms, from paper atlases to digital satellite images to census
data files. WorldMap aims to pull
these and other hard-to-find maps together and put them in the hands of
researchers.
WorldMap combines the
spatial modeling capabilities of a Geographic Information System (GIS) with
current web technologies, and is made available as Open Source
software. Use the hosted version
of WorldMap at http://worldmap.harvard.edu or download and install the application on your own server. WorldMap stands on the shoulders of
other Open Source projects including AfricaMap, GeoNode, OpenLayers, PostGIS,
and GEOS. WorldMap is licensed
under Version 3 of the GNU General Public License (GPL).
What is a Map?
In the context of WorldMap,
a "Map" is an interactive mapping application which contains data layers. You can create your own Map from
scratch or remix your own materials with someone else"s Map to derive a new
Map. Maps you create can be kept
private, made accessible to a few, or made public.
What are Layers?
In WorldMap you can add
geographic data Layers to your Map, control how your Layers are organized and
represented in your Map, and control who can see your Map and the Layers inside
it. The Layers you add to your Map
can be uploaded from your hard drive or they can be layers already loaded to
WorldMap.
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WorldMap
Help
Register and Sign in
If you don"t have an account
and want save changes you make, create an account by clicking "Sign in" at top
right of the main page, then click "Register".
You will be prompted for a
Username, Email Address, and Password, and asked if you are affiliated with Harvard. If you are Harvard affiliated, you will
be asked to login using your Harvard ID.
Whether or not you are Harvard affiliated you will have full access to
the system. A confirmation email
will be sent to your email account once you have registered. To activate your account, open the
email and click on the activation link.
Now you can sign in to WorldMap.
Browsing a Map
WorldMap allows people to
create Maps and share them with one another. To see the Maps others have created, select from "Browse
Maps" pulldown menu at the top of the main WorldMap page at http://worldmap.harvard.edu/alpha,.
Choose a Map from the
pulldown menu, or to see all available Maps, choose "More Maps". You will see a list of Maps with the
most recent at the top. Type a
keyword to search Maps. To select
a Map, click on the map Title. To
view the profile of the author and contact information, click Contact name.
Clicking the Title will open
the Map and you will be free to browse it, but to make any changes to a Map you
will need to sign in.
Accessing Metadata for
Layer
Layers may have metadata
(information about them) available which describe them in detail. Before accessing the metadata page you
must save your Map.
Access the metadata page by
right clicking (CTRL-click on a Mac) on the Layer and selecting "Layer
Properties"
In the Properties box,
select the "About" tab.
Click on the "Metadata" link
at the bottom. On the next page
you will have access to detailed information about the Layer including, (part
way down the right side), a section titled "Manage Layer".
Click "Update the
description of this data" to open the metadata form for the Layer.
Downloading a Layer
Layers you see in a Map may
be downloaded in several data formats.
Before accessing the download page you must save your Map.
Access the download page by
right clicking (CTRL-click on a Mac) on the Layer and selecting "Layer
Properties"
In the Properties box,
select the "About" tab.
Click on the "Metadata" link
at the bottom. Here you have
access to much information about the Layer including options for downloading at
the top right as well as many other Layer related controls. Click on the format that you would like
to download.
Create a New Map
To create a new map, click "Create
New Map" at the top of the page.
If you are not signed in, you will be prompted to sign in.
If you are signed in a new
map will be created for you and you will be presented with a blank Map form in
which you can provide title, URL, abstract, keywords, and description.
Title The title becomes the name of the Map and displays at the top of your
Map and as the title in Map search.
URL The URL defines what comes after http://worldmap.harvard.edu/maps/. The URL must have no spaces and use only letters,
numbers underscores, and dashes.
Abstract The abstract is a place to briefly describe your
Map. Words uses here will be
searchable in Map search.
Keywords
Keywords are used in Map search. Separate keywords by a space. In addition Keywords are used to define
the query for Picasa and YouTube.
Introduction Allows you to provide a detailed description of your
map. You have can control
formatting and provide hyperlinks.
Words used in the description are searchable in Map search.
Make any changes to the form
and click "Save".
Saving Changes to a Map
as a Copy
If you have permission to
edit the Map you are viewing and you are signed in, you can make changes and
save them. Click the "Save" link
located at the top left.
If you don"t have edit
access to the map and want to be able to save changes, you can save a copy of
the map and edit the copy. Before
you can save a copy, you need to sign in.
If you don"t have an account, click Sign in at the top of the page, then
click Register and create an account.
After making any changes to
the form, click "Save as Copy" at the bottom.
Setting Permissions for
Your Map
In WorldMap you can control
who can access either your Map or the individual Layers within your Map. Click the "Advanced" button on the main
Map page, top right. You will need to save your Map before you can enter the
Advanced page.
The Advanced page contains
forms for changing the title of the Map, adding an Abstract, controlling
permissions to the Map, duplicating a Map, and deleting a Map.
Use this page to set general
and specific permissions:
Read Only permissions
allow users to view your Map but not make changes.
Read/Write permissions
allow users to add and remove layers from your Map but not add users or change
permissions.
Administrative permissions
allow users to control all aspect of a Map including permissions.
NOTE: Map permissions will override
Layer permissions. For example if Map
X does not give Read/Write permissions to John Doe, it will not be possible to
give John Doe Read/Write permission to a Layer in Map X.
Adding an Existing Layer
to a Map
To add a Layer which is
already in WorldMap to your Map, click "Add Layers" at top left. A box will appear with a list of
available data layers. Click on a
layer to select it, then click "Add Layers" at the bottom.
The selected layer will
appear in the Map Layers tree on the left. The new layer is loaded to the Map and placed in a category
folder named "General" if the layer has not been given a category in the
metadata. If the Layer has been
given a category, it will be placed within a folder with that category name in
the tree. When finished adding
layers, click "Done" and the "Available Layers" dialog box will close. You can change the name of any category
by right clicking on it and selecting "Rename Category". You can also use this tool to "Remove
Category".
In this example "WorldMap" is selected as the source of the data layers you are
selecting from. Other servers can
also be selected from this pulldown.
Uploading a Data Layer to
a Map
You can upload a data layer
directly from your hard drive to WorldMap by clicking "Upload your own data".
Two kinds of data are
currently supported for upload: Shapefiles and GeoTIFFs. Shapefiles are a common vector-based
GIS format and GeoTIFF is a common raster based GIS format.
Shape Files are composed of
multiple files which have the same prefix but a different suffix. If you are
uploading a Shape File you must individually select the .shp, .dbf, .shx, and
(optionally) .prj portions of the file.
Once your file is uploaded
you will be presented with a form which lets you describe the data and set
permissions controlling who can access the Layer.
Editing Metadata for Your
Layer
(to be completed)
Setting Permissions for
Your Layer
Layer level permissions work
in much the same way as Map level permissions. (Before changing Layer permissions you must save your Map.)
Access Layer level
permissions by right clicking (CTRL-click on a Mac) the Layer and selecting "Layer
Properties"
In the Properties box,
select the "About" tab.
Click on the "Metadata" link
at the bottom. Here you have
access to much information about the Layer including options for downloading, a
list of other Maps in WorldMap which use this Layer, Styles available for the
Layer, Link to "Update the description of this data" and to "Upload a new
version of this data", and permission controls.
At the bottom right is
permission controls.
User these controls to set
general and specific permissions:
Read Only permissions
allow users to view your Map but not make changes.
Read/Write permissions
allow users to add and remove layers from your Map but not add users or change
permissions.
Administrative permissions
allow users to control all aspect of a Map including permissions.
Map permissions override
Layer permissions. For example if Map
X does not give Read/Write permissions to John Doe, it will not be possible to
give John Doe Read/Write permission to a Layer in Map X.
Reordering and Removing
Layers
In the Layer tree at the
left of the Map a Layer that is higher than another will display on top of it
in the map view. You can change
the order of layers within a category or move a layer between categories by
dragging them.
To remove a layer, right
click on it and select "Remove Layer".
Layer Opacity
(Transparency) Control
To control the opacity or a
layer, right click (CTRL-click on a Mac) on the layer and select "Layer
Properties".
A Properties box will appear
with an opacity slider bar. Slide
the bar to set the desired transparency level.
Layer Styles Control
To change the way a layer is
displayed, modify the style by right clicking (CTRL-click on a Mac) on the
layer and selecting "Edit Styles".
(Styles can only be set for
vector layers which are stored on WorldMap servers. Styles for WorldMap raster layers as well as vector or
raster layers residing on other servers cannot currently be modified.)
A Properties box with the
Styles tab selected appears displaying the current style and tools for changing
the style. Select a rule and
modify, add, remove, or duplicate a rule.
A rule is composed of a
combination of settings defined under the Basic, Label, and Advanced tabs. Basic settings allow you to change the
color of the point, line, or area features in your layer. (A given layers must be of either
point, line, or area type.) You
can change the fill color and opacity as well as the stroke color, width, and
opacity. "Stroke" refers to the
linear aspect of the feature. For
example, for an area type layer, the line aspect forms the outline of the
area. Point type features do not
include the stroke option.
The Label tab brings up
settings which allow you to choose the database field you will use to label
your Layer, as well as the type, size, and style of the font of the label. You can also change the halo around the
label (label highlight) in terms of its size, color, and opacity.
The Advanced tab of the
style rule tool allows you to define the scale range at which your layer will
display. Select the "Limit by
Scale" option and set your criteria.
It is also possible to set a
rule which uses a field in the database to control when to display the
style. Select "Limit by condition"
then choose a field, and set a condition.
You can combine conditions to control when your style is displayed. Add a new condition by clicking "add
condition" and remove a condition by clicking the red circle . Add a new group of conditions by
clicking "add group".
Linking, Embedding
Click the "link" button to
open the link tool. Copy the URL
to use in an email. Copy the embed
link to add the map to a web page.
Embedding a Map
Any map from WorldMap can be
embedded for use in another site or blog. To embed a map:
1. Select the from the
list of maps on the community or map page and then hit the 'export map' button.
2. Choose your desired
height and width for the widget in the wizard.
3. Copy the HTML
snippet provided in the wizard to any HTML page or iFrame-supporting blog post.
This will put an interactive
widget showing you map in your web page or blog post.
Printing
Click the "Print" button to
open the printing tool.