More is more: data, legends and maps!

For a while now, you have been able to use our mapBuilder tool to create color-coded maps using ZIP Codes, counties and points. We love all the creative ways our users have leveraged mapBuilder! And we also knew we could make some things more flexible for you to map more of your data in the ways that you want. More data columns It used to be that you could only map one data column from your Google sheet: ZIP Code, a data column and a color. Or County, State, a data column and a color. Or latitude, longitude, a data … Read more

A Quick Update about Quicker Maps

Minneapolis area city limits

Remember when randymajors.org map tools took 10 seconds or more to draw, especially more complex tools such as ZIP Codes or especially Section Township Range? Now, based on some exciting technology improvements, most of the maps draw nearly instantly! Check out the following map tools and their much faster drawing speeds as you move around the map: We hope these improvements, together with last year’s improvements to map labels, make your mapping experience that much more productive and enjoyable! Happy New Year and Happy Mapping!

Quick update: Map labels that don’t suck

Improved map labels

Have you tried showing map labels in the past and notice they take sooooo long to draw (especially on very detailed map tools like Section Township Range)? Us too, and we finally found a way to improve it. In fact, labels now draw nearly instantly rather than the 10-20 seconds that it would take labels to finish drawing in the past. And we think they look better now too (old on the left, new on the right):

Two Enhancements: Search by GPS Coordinates (lat, long) and New Blog Home

Find lat long button

The “Find lat long” button flexibly accepts a variety of formats, including: In all cases, once you hit the Enter key, the map will be re-centered on your chosen location and the decimal degrees version of the location will be shown in the “Lat, Long” label found in the light blue bar above the map. I hope you enjoy this new latitude longitude functionality! Also, a new home for the map tool updates and tips The tool updates and tips can now be found on the Blog link on the right side of the menu bar on every page on … Read more

Bring your maps to life with Dynamic Maps!

Live Maps still

A much-requested map feature is now available — Dynamic Maps. By “Dynamic Maps” we mean maps that show you the answer you’re looking for simply by hovering your mouse over the map! Of course, you can still click the map as before and it will drop a blue dot at the location you clicked and display the full information about the location in the blue bar above the map. Pro Tips This feature is very useful if you’re using the Selection Tools or Drawing Tools to select ZIP Codes, counties, etc as it will show you what you’re about to … Read more

By Popular Demand: Improved Map Printing and Screenshots!

New map Print preview window

The ability to print your maps is one of the most requested features we’ve been asked about over the years. For various boring yet tedious technical reasons, printing was not possible or highly inconsistent up until now. Now there is a new “Print” button available to take the pain out of printing your map and taking screenshots. Just click the “Print” button located in the upper right corner of the map on your desktop browser: You will then be presented with a Print preview window where you can print to your connected printer or save to a PDF file: Note … Read more

Quick Tip: Hide the blue dot

Map with a blue dot

This one is easy now. Just click the blue dot, and it will disappear from the map: Click the map again and it will re-appear at the spot you clicked (or the address or place you searched for): So why is the blue dot there to begin with? It lets you know the location that the light blue bar above the map is reporting the information for. In the above example, that’s Merrimack County, New Hampshire. So if you want to get rid of the blue dot before, say, taking a screenshot, now you know how! Sometimes you feel like … Read more

New powerful ways to select features on the map tools!

Radius drawing tools example

Now you can use the Selection Tools button to select map features on any map tool! You can select the map features using any points, lines or shapes that you draw, or select map features by specifying a radius around any shape you draw. The map features that get selected depend on which tool you are using: counties, city limits, civil townships, ZIP Codes, Section Township Range, historical U.S. counties, time zones, area codes or the custom map tools. Here’s how it works: Using the County Lines map tool as an example, click the Selection Tools button on the left … Read more

On the move? Map tools now let you update your location automatically

What is my current elevation

As before, to show your current location while using any of the map tools on this website, you can click the ◉ button in the upper right corner of the map. But now you can keep clicking the ◉ button to set it to automatically update your location on the map in 1, 5 and 10 minute intervals. Bonus: Monthly Contributors also get an option to update every 0.2 minutes (12 seconds). This might be useful when you are: on the road and need to know what jurisdiction you are in (e.g. city, township, county and state) need to know … Read more

ZIP Code Maps of Every U.S. County

ZIP Code Maps by County

In addition to the county maps showing cities and townships announced previously, now you can also view an interactive ZIP Code map of every U.S. County, found in the Reference Maps menu. As an example, here is a ZIP Code map of Auglaize County, Ohio: As shown in the above example, if a ZIP Code area falls completely OR partially within the county, it will get included on the map. If you then want to see all of the ZIP Codes in the surrounding counties and states too, just click anywhere outside the county or search for a new place … Read more

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