Alright, Ines has finally agreed to come back and post on RSS Pieces (we all recall the Great Trackback Debacle of 2008).  And this time, she is giving up the goods on how she creates those fabulous Maps on her category pages!  I get asked how she does them about 20 times every week... and the worst part is... I had no idea until now!  So, without further ado...

See a map in action: Miami Beach Neighborhood Map

How to make Ines' famous Miamism Maps

So Mary likes my neighborhood maps and I have gotten bombarded by calls and e-mails asking me how to make them.  I don't know whether to thank Mary for the compliment or have her treat me to mojitos the next time she visits Miami.  (hmmm....not a bad idea)

So a tutorial was in place - it really is pretty simple and I don't mind at all if you contact me if you still have questions.  Here are the step-by-step instructions:

Go to Google Maps at http://maps.google.com/ and if you don't already have a Google account, create one.

For this tutorial's sake, I will use Sunset Islands, Florida as an example, but it will help you to have a map of the areas you farm with the exact neighborhood boundaries.

Type in an address or city name in the search box next to Google maps and press "search maps".  Zoom in and pan the map so it sits exactly where you want it once the map is created.

1. Click on "my maps" tab on the left hand side

2. Click on "create new map" right under it.

3. Give your map a title and description keep in mind your keywords

4. Keep the privacy settings as "public" you want your maps to be "searchable"

5.  To create the shaded region, select the "draw a shape" tool on the upper left corner of the map and click to start drawing a shape. 

6. You will be able to delineate any boundary, point by point - finish by clicking the point where you started.

7. After you are done creating a shaded region, you will be able to edit the shape style by clicking anywhere on the shaded region and then selecting the square on the upper right corner of the bubble containing new title and description.

You will be able to change the line color, line width, line opacity, fill color and fill opacity - make sure you click "OK" when you are done - select colors that are consistent with your blog colors.

8.  Once you click OK - you will be able to modify the title and description of the neighborhood you just created - you can use html and get creative with the information you include.  You can even include image URL's from your own blog by selecting the rich text option.  Click OK again.

9.  Make sure you click "done" when you have finished the boundary and description (you will be able to go back to your maps to edit them as needed).

Now its time to edit the actual map image to be included within the static areas of your blog categories (Im sure Mary will tell you how to do that).

You will see a "link to this page" on the upper right hand corner of the Google map make sure you DO NOT USE that embed link in your blog its better to create a pdf image and then link to your Google maps.

You can use any editing software to pimp your map I use a web based program called Picnik.com. Once the map is created, I do a screen shop of the map; I turn it into a .pdf file, and then upload it to picknic.com. Once uploaded, I crop it, resize it, give it a drop shadow, label it and save it to my hard drive. This is what my Sunset Islands Map would look like before inserting to Miamism.

Once you insert the map to your blog (blog settings - categories) you can then select the image and "insert/edit link" to include the actual Google map link.  If you are really ambitious, you can add place marks on the Google map with all your listings and places of interest within your neighborhoods or communities, so when people click on your map, they will find a treasure of information.

So there you have it - step-by-step instructions that should answer all your questions.  If you have any questions please e-mail me at ines@idontcare.com  (just kidding....e-mail me if you need help).

Related Posts