Cumbria Branch

Sighting Submission Map Help

The submission form includes an interactive map which can be used to find grid references for the geographic location of sightings.

The map includes a marker which can be located by a number of different means and the Grid Reference input field is automatically updated with the current OS location of the marker. The marker can be dragged with the mouse to a new location. In addition, geographic information such as place name, postcode or longitude and latitude can be entered in the Address input box and Google will attempt to match this to a position when the Find Location button is pressed. If this process is successful, then the position of the marker will be updated accordingly. The resolution of the grid reference can be chosen by selecting values from the Grid ref. precision drop-down menu. If the submission page is being accessed by a wireless device such as a laptop, tablet or smartphone, clicking the Current button on the map may provide an accurate means to locate the marker according to the current geographic location of the device. Hovering the mouse cursor over items that respond to input provides a comment on the resulting behaviour.

The current region displayed by the map can be changed by dragging the display map in different directions. The size of the region displayed can be modified by clicking the plus and minus buttons in the top left of the map. The map can be switched between normal and satellite display modes by clicking the buttons in the top right of the map, the satellite view may be especially helpful to fine-tune the location within a site by reference to topographical details remembered by the recorder.

The current zoom level of the map will be updated to a finer level at the end of drag sequence on the location marker if the previous zoom level of the map is relatively coarse. Subsequently clicking with the left mouse button on the marker will produce a yet finer level of zoom. Clicking with the right mouse button will decrease the level of zoom. These behaviours can be combined with further dragging to quickly and easily locate a sighting accurately without the manual use of the plus and minus zooming buttons. The left and right clicking features can be used on the map itself, not just the marker.

The marker position can be reset to the current centre of the map by clicking the Drop button on the map. In addition, the map can be restored to its default settings by clicking the Reset button on the map.

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