How to Create Personalized Maps With Google Maps
The Google Maps feature My Maps provides the ability to add your own placemarks and annotations to create your own personalized map. Annotations can contain HTML, so you can give descriptions of the locations, add photos and embed videos. You can also add shapes to highlight an area and add lines that can be used to show routes using the snap-to-roads feature. Once created, the map can be shared with selected friends or can be made public and searchable.
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Instructions
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Create a Custom Map
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Go to Google Maps and click on the "My Maps" link in the top left next to the "Get Directions" link.
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Click on the "Create New Map" link.
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Give your map a title so you can find it later, then give it a description. This is also where you decide whether your map should be public and searchable or not. You can change any of this information at any time.
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Add a placemark to the map by clicking on the "Placemark" button, then clicking on the map location you want to mark. When you add a placemark, Google Maps shows a balloon where you can name the placemark and give it a description. By default, the description is plain text, but by clicking on "Rich Text," you can add formatted text and add pictures, and by clicking on "Edit HTML," you can embed links to online videos.
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Add a line to the map by clicking on the "Drawing" button and selecting either "Draw A Line" or "Draw A Line Along Roads." Click where you want to start the line, then add any points you want in the middle, and finally double-click to end your line. You can move, add or delete points later if you don't like the way it looks. You can also add a title and description to the line.
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Add a free-form shape to the map by clicking on the "Drawing" button and selecting "Draw A Shape." Click to set the points for the shape and double-click for the last point. You can use a shape to highlight an area rather than a specific location. You can also add a title and description to a shape.
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Tips & Warnings
You can make your map Unlisted while you are creating it, then make it public when you are finished.
You can use "Draw A Line Along Roads" to show multiple street routes on a single map.
Click on the "Done" button when you are finished adding items to your map. You can go back and change anything on the map at any time.
