Let's break down the main features and tools of the HistoryGeo Viewer:
- Main Viewer Options
- Tabs
- Navigation and Annotation Tools
- Previous Views Control
- Map Contents Sidebar
- Map Info Bar
Here are the key features of this region:
HistoryGeo Logo:
It's not there just to look pretty. If you click on it, it will take you to the main U.S. Counties index map that shows up when you first launch the Viewer.
"View Map List" Button:
This will open the Map Chooser. From there you can pick which maps to look at.
"Marker Options" Button:
This button opens up the "Marker Visibility Options" window. It allows you to pick which Custom Markers you want to see by default when loading maps.
Name of the Current User:
So you know who is logged in...in this case, someone named Melanie Daniels.
"Close Viewer" Button:
It does what it says. If you're using the Viewer in a pop-up window, the pop-up will close, but if you're using the Viewer in your primary browser window, then clicking this button will take you to the HistoryGeo home page.
Each of these tabs provides additional tools or information.
Let's take a look at each of them.
The "Map Viewer" tab:
The primary tab, and where you'll spend most of your time.
The "Search" Tab:
There are several ways that you can search for maps to look at within the Viewer. If you know a surname that you're interested in, you can find maps with landowners of that name. If you know the name of a town or cemetery, you can search for maps named for or containing those places.
(Click here to learn everything you would ever want to know about the Search Tab)
The "Snapshots" Tab:
Where you go to find your saved Snapshots. Once selected, you can go to a Snapshot by double-clicking on it, or click the "Go To This View" button.
(Click here for more information about viewing Snapshots)
The "Migrations" Tab:
This is where you go to create, edit, or play migrations. To view existing migrations, select them from the list of "Your Migrations," and drag them over to the "Migration Playlist." When you click "Play Migrations," the Map Viewer tab will automatically open and launch the Migration Player.
The "About" Tab:
This tab shows what version of the HistoryGeo Viewer you are using and provides contact information for us and for our parent company.
The pan and zoom buttons are used to move around in the map, and clicking the "Home" button will zoom and pan the map until the whole thing fits to the available space in the Viewer window.
(Click here to learn more about zooming, panning, and general map navigation)
The "Create Snapshot" button allows you to save exactly what you're looking at in the Viewer so that you can always come back to that spot.
(Click here for more details concerning the creation of Snapshots)
After pressing the "Create Custom Marker" button, click a spot on a map to place a Custom Marker there. This is how you annotate maps with additional information.
The last 50 times a map is left stationary in the Viewer (i.e. You haven't zoomed or panned the map for moment), your current position and zoom level within the map are temporarily saved.
The back and forward buttons of the Previous Views Control serve as a sort of Undo/Redo system for map navigation. If you were zoomed in on a particular spot in one map before opening up and looking around another, you should be able to click the back button a few times to get back to your original spot in the first one.
If you have opened a map that contains labelled material, then you
should see the Map Contents sidebar at the right edge of the Viewer:
Once clicked, it will expand to show the labelled contents of the map:
Click here for more information about the Map Contents Sidebar
The Map Info Bar gives you some basic information about what map you are looking at. It will, most typically give you the project and map name:
If it's from our one of our Family Maps or Texas Land Survey projects, you may see some radio buttons below the main Info Bar:
These allow you to quickly change between the different maps available for a given township within the project as well as to what we call the Big Picture maps of a given Family Maps or Texas Land Survey project (Maps A-E).
The "i" button at the top right of the Family Maps example above is way to get more information about a given map. When clicked it will bring up a Map Info pop-up window that explains more about the geographic location and legal description of the township:
