User:CKoerner (WMF)/Maps user guide

Maps provide an additional way to discover and learn about a place or an event that is mentioned in an article or page within Wikipedia. Making these maps interactive - where users zoom, pan, and interact with points of interest embedded in the map - can further enrich the way we learn about the world.

Interactive maps simplifies the tools needed to add a map to an article and reduces the need for complex image editing or geographic information system (GIS) tools.

Getting started

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The following code will insert a simple interactive map (like what is seen in this section), with the ability to maximize it by either double-clicking the map or clicking the icon in the right corner. The map can be panned by dragging the map and zoomed by the mouse scroll wheel.

<mapframe text="Downtown [[wikipedia:San Francisco|San Francisco]]" width=250 height=250 zoom=13 longitude=-122.3988 latitude=37.8013 />


Editors using the visual editor can add a map to a page by selecting "Map" from the "Insert" menu.

 

Adding a map with the visual editor gives you options to define its size, position, and add markers, lines, and polygons.

 

Editing maps

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Maps can be edited and extended beyond showing a location to include:

  • Position (longitude and latitude)
  • Size (width and height)
  • Zoom level is a number that represents the size of the area represented within a map
    • zoom level 0 (zero) displays the entire globe
    • zoom level 13 could display a single village or a downtown area of a large city.
  • Text description
  • Alignment
  • Points of interest
  • Lines and polygons

Extending maps

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Maps can be extended with external data and the Graph extension to add in things like:

  • geoshape
  • geomask
  • GeoShapes external data
  • <maplink>
  • Groups

Map examples

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Here are a couple demos of sample maps...

Where does map data come from?

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How can I use these maps?

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...

Where can I play with maps without goofing up an article?

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See also

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More documentation goes here