Creating a New Map
On a desktop/laptop, go to www.wildknowledge.co.uk enter your login details and go to WildMap
Select the Create tab to begin a simple 3-step process:
1) Description - complete the basic information about your map:
• Provide a map name (e.g. ‘Springfield Park’)
• Browse to your map. It must be in a .jpg format. Check the size and dimensions of your map jpg – it should be no bigger than ~1MB. The map must be to scale but accurate hand drawn maps might suffice.
• Make sure your map is linked to a WildForm (this is set by default to ‘Personal Interest Point – PIP’)
• If you wish, you can enter some descriptive text (Description) and a Cover Image to represent your WildMap within your web account. You can also include an introductory audio clip (Intro audio). For the purposes of potentially sharing your map with the WildKnowledge community, you can identify which age groups/topic areas the map is intended for
• Save
2) Geo-reference - click geo-reference the map - two windows will appear, the left window shows your map image, the right shows Google Maps.
• Locate the region of interest on the Google Maps window, if you know the name / postcode of the location, this can by typed in the Search bar. You can also toggle between Satellite and Map imagery to help you locate the same region in each window
• Once you have located a common point in both windows (e.g. a crossroads), create a reference point by clicking on your map image on the left. A red marker will appear at that point and another will appear on the Google Maps window
• Drag each red marker to exactly the same location on each map
• Find a second common point on your image and Google Maps and click to create a second (blue) reference point in each window. Drag to the correct positions. Note: the geo-referencing tool works best if you locate markers in opposite corners
• Once you have a close fit the lat/long readings will appear beneath your map in the top left, bottom right fields.
• You can tweak the map by adjusting the markers - you can also hide/reshow the overlay by clicking on the hide option.
• Once you are satisfied that you have geo-referenced your map as accurately as possible, select Save.
3) Designated Interest Points (DIPs) - To create an interest point on the map, click on the link and three new tabs will appear:
• Core Info - allows you to give the DIP a Caption (name), an Icon (click on the green circle and choose from the gallery) and some descriptive text (Description) about the location/object in question. The position field is completed by clicking on the relevant point in the map.
• Media - enables you to attach multimedia information to the DIP such as audio (.wav files) and video clips (.mpg files). You can also link to web pages by typing in the URL and link to more than one image by adding additional images (.jpg files) in the Slides option. Note: if you wish to use your map ‘offline’ (i.e. away from an internet connection) pay attention to the size of the files you are attaching e.g. attaching numerous large (>1MB) videos will require longer download times and enough free memory on your device's hard drive.
• Question – if you wish to set a multi-choice quiz, type in a question and provide a number of answers - tick the correct answer.
Add as many DIPs as required by choosing Save and add. You can also alter the information by selecting Save and edit, in this screen you can change the position of your DIPs by dragging them around. When you are finished, press Save to return to the My Maps page. Here you can view the map in its entirety or share with others.
When you are satisfied the map is finished (you will probably want to test it on your mobile device first), go to the My Maps page, click on the name of the map and choose the Share option. Tick the Publish option at the top of the page. This will enable non-admin users to download the map and upload data from it.