A quick start guide to the use of the map
What is it for?
- Resources, eg distribution hubs, food banks, projects supporting local communities
- Links to neighbourhood mutual aid groups on the BCS spreadsheet
- Zone outlines, eg. catchment / delivery zones for services
What is it not for?
- Individuals offering or requesting support (use the BCS spreadsheet)
- Random commercial services eg. supermarkets - unless necessary for identifying sources of scarce supplies
NB: small changes (eg adding locations, and other additions unlikely to cause problems) can be made on the live map; for big / ambitious / risky changes, test them first on the testing version, then replicate on the live version afterwards: TESTING - Cooperation Birmingham - uMap
How to add locations
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Click the edit pencil in the top right or most of this below won’t work
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Click the layers button (looks like stacked coins) on the LHS to see if the location you plan to add would fit into one of the categories:
At the time of writing we have ‘layers’ for other supplies, mutual aid contacts, healthcare and food. If your location doesn’t fit in these categories, skip to the step 4 of the guide to see how to add new layers, and then come back to step 2.
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You can either search an address/postcode (it works okay I guess but not perfectly) or find the location by just scrolling around the map.
2.a. Location search: click the magnifying glass
and enter an address. If it works, click the wee pencil and go to step 3:
2.b. Scroll to the correct location, right click, click ‘Draw a marker’, then click to place the marker:
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Edit the new marker in the sidebar. Set the layer to the appropriate category - this will set the icon and colour to match the other locations in that category. Change the name to something sensible, and add any more details (eg a URL to the description):
Click ‘Save’ in the top right to commit your changes, and you’re done - that’s it.
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(Bonus step) If your location really doesn’t fit in any of the categories, make a new one! This will make styling consistent for all future locations added in this category, Click the stacked coins on the RHS, then click ‘add a layer’:
4.a. Give it a descriptive name
4.b. Click ‘Shape properties’ and then define the colour as something that stands out. Define the icon symbol as something appropriate. No need to change the other settings.
