Starting a Profile

Before you can contribute to the map or communicate with other participants, you’ll need to create a profile. Click Create a Profile in the upper right hand corner of your screen then enter a profile ID, email address and password (be selective when choosing your profile ID, as it cannot be changed). Now you’re ready to begin!

Adding a Marker

HabitatMap is a wiki-map. This means that every marker you add to the map becomes part of the “HabitatMap” and is open to edits and additions from fellow participants.

To avoid duplicating markers you should first search for the marker you plan to add (for details on how to search for markers, see the Exploring the Maps section). If you find the marker you planned to add already exists, click on the marker then click “edit marker” to contribute additional information.

To add a marker, navigate to the Maps page, click “add a marker”, fill in all the fields, and click “submit” (you can add photos and insert YouTube videos by clicking the icons at the top of the “Owner/Occupant” and “Location Details” fields). This will add a marker to the “HabitatMap”.

If you want to add this marker to a map you’ve already created, check-off these maps before hitting “submit”. If you already added a marker to the “HabitatMap” and would like to go back and add the marker to one of your maps, click on the marker and then click “add/remove marker from my maps”. The marker will now be included in both the “HabitatMap” as well as any additional maps you selected to include it in.

It is important to understand the difference between the “HabitatMap” and your own maps. The “HabitatMap” is a universal map that includes every marker that has ever been added by any participant. When you add a marker, it automatically becomes part of the “HabitatMap” but it does not automatically become part of one of your maps. In order to add a marker to one of your maps you must assign it to your map using one of the above mentioned operations. Note that a marker can belong to more than one map, you can add markers that you did not create to your own maps, and you can also add markers to other participant’s maps by adding their maps to your shared maps.

Creating Maps

You can create a map one of three ways. From your Profile page click “My Maps” then click “Create New Map”. From the Maps page, search for the relevant markers or maps and click “Save this Map” or click "Create Your Own Map". (For details on how to search for markers and maps, see the Exploring the Maps section).

Drawing Map Lines & Shapes

To draw map lines and shapes, navigate to your Profile page, click “My Maps”, click on the map title (this will navigate you to the Maps page and display the selected map), then hover your mouse cursor over the map title (located in the upper right hand corner of the screen), click “draw map lines/shapes”, and follow the directions at the top of the window.

Exploring the Maps

Starting Point

The first time you visit the Maps page you will be looking at the “HabitatMap”. The “HabitatMap” includes every marker that has ever been added by any participant and it is centered over the United States. As you zoom in and out and pan, additional markers will come into view. The Maps page remembers your last location so when you navigate away from the Maps page and return, you will return to your last map view. If you prefer to start at the same location every time you visit the maps page, navigate to your profile page, click “edit profile” and follow the directions for establishing a starting point.

Searching for Markers and Maps

On the Maps page you can either search for markers or maps (maps are aggregations of markers that have been grouped together by participants and assigned a description and tags). When you initially land on the Maps page the markers search panel is visible in the upper left hand corner of the screen. To access the maps search panel, click the green tab reading “Maps".

Search for markers or maps by typing in keywords and using the location based search options. The distance based search will search within one, five, ten or twenty miles of an address, intersection, or zip code. Alternatively, you can check “limit my search to the current map view” to perform a location based search that only returns markers within your current map view. For the maps search, this option will return any map that has at least one marker located within the current map view. You will notice that as you enter your search, the number of matches is registered at the bottom of the search panel. This allows you to add additional keyword search terms or constrict your search area to achieve a more focused result. After you have finished entering your search criteria, click “Submit” to display the results or click on a relevant tag word in the “Current Search Tag Cloud” to simultaneously narrow and submit your search.

After submitting a markers search, the relevant markers will be displayed on the map and listed on the “Marker Key”, located on the right side of the page.

After submitting a maps search, the relevant maps will be displayed on the “Map Key” located on the right hand side of the page. Hover over the map title with your mouse cursor to get a description of that map. Click on a map to display its associated markers, lines, and shapes. Check off multiple maps to view them simultaneously.

Sharing Markers and Maps

To share a marker, click on the marker, then click “Share Marker”. If you want to share a map, navigate to the map or maps you want to share and click “Share this Map”. Want to add markers, lines, and shapes to other participants’ maps? Navigate to the Maps page, search for the map, hover your mouse cursor over the map title and click “Save to Shared Maps”.

Add a Map or Maps to Your Website or Blog

Want to get the word out to a wider audience? Embed a HabitatMap on your website or blog by navigating to the map or maps you want to embed and clicking “Add to your site”.

Start a Discussion

Starting a discussion creates awareness and ultimately sparks change in your community. If you want to start a discussion or ask a question in the forums, simply navigate to the Forums page, click on the forum title that best matches your intended topic of conversation and click “Post New Topic”.

Stay Engaged

Keep up to date with what’s happening in the HabitatMap community by subscribing to markers and topics and signing up to receive “Action Alerts” from participants. To subscribe to a marker, click on the marker, click “Subscribe to Marker”, select how frequently you want to receive updates and then click “Submit”. You will now receive updates whenever the marker is edited. To subscribe to a forum topic, navigate to the topic you are interested in, click “Subscribe, select how frequently you want to receive updates and then click “Submit”. You will now receive updates whenever a new reply is posted. To subscribe to a participant’s “Action Alerts”, navigate to their profile page and click “Subscribe”. You will now receive an “Action Alert” message from that participant whenever they have urgent news to share with their network.