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[Versions 3 & 4] Mapping on the Windows app

Note: This article is for an older version.

Navigate to maps


Bird Journal includes three types of maps: locations, sightings and photos. Maps can be found under the heading Maps, near the bottom left of the app, see below:



To view a map click on the image of the map within the main page or click on the map’s heading i.e. Locations, found within the navigation panel.

How to view/find your sighting/location/photo positions

Filters


The filters are available at the top of each map page. Filters let you search through the position pins on the map. Filters give you the option to search by location, date, species, checklist or properties. For example, on the location’s map you can find out where you’ve been birding in Rutland Water by setting the location filter to Rutland Water.

Filter options filter each other, this means that specifying a location will update the other filters to show data relevant to the filtered location.


Locations Filters


The locations map pin-points your locations on a world map. Each pin represents a location with a position set. When you roll over an image using the mouse cursor, an information box pops up showing you details about the location, including: name, entries recorded at that location as well as the sightings recorded.


Sightings


The sightings map displays your sightings that contain map positions i.e. geotags. There are 2 types of red pins displayed on the map, single and multi. The single pin represents a sighting, multi pins means that there are more than one sighting recorded on the same spot. To separate the multi pins zoom into the map, or narrow down the filter

Rolling the mouse over a single pin pops-up an information box showing you details of the sighting you recorded, including: date, location and species. Text that is highlighted in blue and underlined can be clicked on to find out more.

If a sighting has no map position set, however a photo with positioning is assigned to that sighting, Bird Journal will automatically add a pin on the map for that sighting.



Photos

The photos map pin-points the photos you’ve recorded on a world map. Rolling the mouse over a pin pops-up an information box with details of the photo including: date and time it was taken, location and the species name. To view a larger copy of the photo click on the photo itself.


Manage sighting/location/photo GeoTags

Manage location GeoTags


Manage your locations by clicking on the edit location button found on the main menu bar of the app. When the edit locations window pops-up you will see a list of your personal locations.

To add new locations click on the new location button on the top left of the window. Type in a location name in the location box, set the country and country/parent location. The parent location sets the location hierarchy structure. For example, by selecting Rutland Water in the parent location box places the location Hambleton Peninsular under Rutland Water.

Edit an existing location by clicking on a location name in the locations list found in the edit locations window.

To set the position click on the blue link next to the Geo Tag title. In the example below the geo tag has already been set and it shows the grid reference for that location. The geo tag link would normally read ‘click to set..’ if no position information is found. Note: Grid references are used for UK locations only.

To set the position for your locations see Set your positions using the GeoTag selector.


Manage sighting GeoTags


Sightings are assigned to entries, entries are similar to outings. To add new sightings to an new entry click on the new entry button found at the top left of the main menu bar. The new entry window will pop-up, this is where you can enter details of the entry and record your sightings.

To edit sightings navigate to the entry that contains the sighting, at the top right of the entry page there are two links, edit entry and remove entry, click on the edit entry link to edit the sightings within that entry.

A sighting position can be set by selecting a sighting then clicking on the ‘click to set’ link found next to the GeoTag title, see the example below.

To set the position for your sightings see Set your positions using the GeoTag selector.


Manage photo GeoTags


Photos can be assigned to both entries and sightings. The photo manager lets you add or edit existing photos in your journal. 

If your photo contains GeoTag and Time information, the data will automatically be imported into Bird Journal along with your photo. 

To edit a photo’s position, first select the photo you wish to edit, only one photo can be edited at one time. The selected photo will be highlighted in orange, which enables the edit controls at the bottom of the photo manager. To set the photo position click on the ‘click to set..’ link next to the GeoTag title, see the example below.

To set the position for your photos see Set your positions using the GeoTag selector.


Set your positions using the GeoTag selector


The GeoTag selector lets you set the positions of your locations, sightings and photos. The title of the edit geo tag shows the location or sighting your currently editing. Clicking on the map places a red pin on the map which sets the position of the location, sighting or photo.

If you have the latitude and longitude values or OS Grid Ref then use the text boxes at the bottom of the map. To enable the textbox select the radio button next to the textbox title you wish to set. Lat/long and OS Grid Ref (UK only) are automatically set when you drop a red pin to the map.

Change the position of the map view by using the mouse to scroll the map. To scroll the map point the cursor on the map, hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse to change the map view. If your mouse has a wheel then you can control the zoom level using the mouse wheel. Alternatively there are map controls at the top left of the map to control the map view and zoom level.

To delete the position of the red pin shown on the map, clear the lat/long value or OS Grid Ref shown in the textboxes at the bottom of the map.



Find using satellite view

You can also use the satellite view to find your location. The satellite view uses Google Maps from within your internet browser to find locations. To search for locations in satellite view mode click on ‘Find using Satellite View…’.

When you have found your location on Google Maps, right click on the position, this will pop-up a menu box, select ‘What’s here?’. Note: when in the US the ‘What’s here?’ is represented by ‘Find near here’. Clicking on ‘What’s here?’ will show you the coordinates of the Lat/Long values within the search box. Copy the coordinates from Google and paste them into the Lat/Long textbox in the GeoTag selector, a pin will then be dropped on the map according to the coordinates you’ve provided.



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