I'm trying it now! YAY! We can improve your map naming "help text" as we have a very specific format we recommend, example: 2014-07-27-new-jersey-newark-green-garden-visible

YYYY-MM-DD-GeneralPlaceName-DetailedPlaceName-GroupName-TypeOfImagery

While scrolling up and down in the sidebar, the Create Map button got lost off the bottom of my screen for some reason. I'm sure this is just a tiny detail! But seems like the Create Map button didn't actually create a map...? Nothing changed after i hit the button:

I know I should put these in as Github issues, but here are my notes on first use, before I head out to lunch:

I logged in before creating a map but it still says 'by Anonymous'

any way to go back to place search through Google Maps API when creating a map? currently ou really need lat lon to start a map.

It won't accept degrees, minutes, seconds format for lat/long, only decimal 30.287087, -97.732172 30°17'13.5"N 97°43'55.8"W

I couldn't change the location of the map after saving the wrong coordinates--- map recenters to the wrong place, even when I enter new ones and hit save.

I accidentally hit the 'delete' key and my map became toast-- at least in my edit window. I went back to the home screen. It was gone. Made a new one.

can't see "create map" button unless my browser window is full screen (13" screen)

could start at a lower zoom level where most mapknitter maps start.

any way to have a re-center the map around starting location button? if I scrolll around I can lose my place and its hard to get back. (if i hit 'enter') in the lat/lon box I get re-centered, so the feature is there.

upload doesn't have description of what buttons do, no upload in progress message, uploads failed 2/3 of the time.

I can't figure out how to place images at all.

annotations

no "close" function on a line is confusing-- can't click the first point to turn it into a polygon.

pointer needs a new logo. I love the feature though.

There is no way to tie text to either the map scale or the pointer. We need both.

no way to change the color of annotations.

'edit' and 'trashcan' appear twice in my screen, can't find a functional difference.

Annotations are not saved-- they disappear when I leave a map.

Hi all - thanks for the feedback.

I have added most of the bugs your reported to my todo list on GitHub. I'm working hard on integrating annotations right now, so it may be a few days before I can get to anything on that list - but I'll get there eventually.

@liz - I want to push back against what you said about map titles. In the long term, I would love to see MapKnitter use more human-friendly map titles (i.e. "My First Map of Utah" instead of "2014-03-05-my-first-map-of-utah"). Most of the information in the title format you described above is already stored in the MapKnitter database (i.e. date_created timestamp, detailed and general location) - so if we encourage people to write human-readable titles, MapKnitter could generate map slugs in the format you recommend.

What is the rationale behind the format you described? Is it to make maps more easily searchable?

interesting @justinmanley . I often make maps of the same site over time, and I like the titles to be crystal clear. Sometimes i search by date and placename. Sometimes i am looking for all maps that are in a larger geography, like, for instance all maps in New Jersey, and so it helps if that is captured in a searchable field as well. Date is critical, and the date the images are taken is rarely the same as the date the map was made. People commonly cause themselves future problems with inaccurate/lazy naming. In terms of visible vs infrared imagery, perhaps we add a checkbox for this?

I am interested in what you are saying about having basic information that stored in the database be more visible.

Ahh. I see what you mean about the date the images were taken being different from the date the map was made.

I think that for the time being, it will be best to stick with the format you described above (I already have more than enough on my plate) - but I think that nice-looking map titles should go on the list of long-term nice-to-have features for MapKnitter.

Making these nice-looking map titles work in the long-run won't just involve a format change. In order for MapKnitter to be useful, this change will need to come along with a transition to a "supermap" default viewing mode, as well as a built-in interface for searching maps by location and time, as we've discussed in my "Interface Refactoring" research note.

Re: visible / infrared imagery - yes, I'll add a checkbox.

hey @justinmanley , thanks for making mapknitter so much more awesome! These ideas are really cool. Everyone's looking forward to them.