Have you been wanting to make a Google Map using quick and easy steps that will give you a map in just minutes? Aardvark will help you do just that. It is a free program with many features such as linkable map points that let you include graphics and text with the ability to save and edit your map later. You can even add the map to a webpage, email it to friends to identify a place to meet, or map hotels and tourist attractions for a family vacation or wedding to name just a few possibilities.
Be sure to read the brief intro first. It outlines the three steps you will follow to make your map and explains how to use the "help" function (a "help" button is on the top right corner of every page.) It also tells you about a very important feature - "Use the buttons at the top of the pages to go to a previous step, not the browser back button!"
Step One
sets up the map and allows you to plot your own markers. Be sure to click on each of the three ways to view a map then use the one you prefer to create and publish your map. Remember, it can always be viewed the other two ways after it is created and published.
Step Two
allows you to add Aardvark’s content which includes UK landmarks, hotels and B&B’s as well as hotels in the U.S. and Europe. You may skip this step entirely if the content is not relevant to your map.
Step Three
saves the map and provides you with the unique Map Code (an I.D. number for your map, a Web Site Link, an E-mailable Link, a BBcode for Forums, and an iFrame Embed Code. Use the Embed Code in the Universal Builder where you want to place your map.
Warning: BE SURE TO GO TO THE MAP VIEW YOU WANT BEFORE SAVING, otherwise your map will initially open at the last marker you placed. Also, after saving, be sure to click the box at the bottom of the page that will have the code e-mailed to you. The links and codes you can use will appear in your e-mail. We also recommend writing down Map ID Code at the bottom of the page eventhough it will emailed to you. The ID code will be needed to get back into your map if you want to edit.
Submitted by Charlotte McGovern, cmcgovern@aol.com, Oakland, CA.
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