SCOTTISH MOTORHOME CAMPERVAN ADVENTURES Group Map

We have tidied up the group map so that it will load faster and to reflect the group aim, Wild
Camping (Offsite Parking) in a motorhome in Scotland. Some of the points were on inappropriate
layers, and there were too many layers and points to load in Google Maps. The tidying was done by
downloading the map, sorting the data and uploading it, but an unfortunate result is that we had to
split the offsite parking data as there are over 2,000 placemarks, which exceeds the Google Maps
limit. These have been split roughly in half North and South, as this was easy to do automatically.

To make it easy to track changes, all map related requests and queries should be made as
comments on the Announcement post at top of group. Click on Announcements at top of group if
it isn’t displayed automatically. It may not show on an iPad/iPhone in the Facebook app, but
should in the Facebook website on Safari. Alternatively search the group for “group map” and you
should find the post.

PLEASE NOTE!! Google My Maps is NOT supported on iPad\iPhone so some functionality is NOT
available but you can view the map in Google Maps. Also, some functionality is not available in
the Facebook App , but is on the Facebook website on Safari.

FAQ – Screenshots from Android phone, so may vary depending on device, version and settings:-

Q. How do I load the map?

A. Go to the top of the discussions in the group or select Announcements from the top or side menu,
it may be under More…. :-

Select the announcement and it should appear with the map link at the bottom:-
 SCOTTISH MOTORHOME CAMPERVAN ADVENTURES Group Map

Select the SCOTTISH MOTORHOME CAMPERVAN ADVENTURES

Group Map – Google My Maps text or image and it should load in Google My Maps:-

Note, you can save this link on your device so you don’t have to load Facebook to access it. Select
the 3 dots top right and select from the menu:-
 SCOTTISH MOTORHOME CAMPERVAN ADVENTURES Group Map

If you are using a browser rather than the Facebook app you can save as a favourite, bookmark or
maybe a shortcut on your desktop\home page etc.

Also note the option to Open in Maps, this will give you access to all of the Google Maps features on
your device, like searching for pubs etc. Once you have loaded the group map once you should be
able to access it by just loading the Google Maps app on your device and from the menu selecting
Your Places, Maps and select the map.

Q. What do I do if I see this or get a Cannot Open Map error etc. when I try to load the map in
Safari on an iPad or iPhone

A. this is a problem with the interaction between Facebook and Google Maps. You may be able
to load it by copying and pasting the link straight into Safari
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1nltAm7lcnPFsKNTtBr82BGUacb48QQBs
&ll=57.74948939013443%2C-6.037068617187515&z=5

There should also be an option to open in a new page. Once it is loaded you can select the
save/send to icon at top of web browser, then ‘Add to Home Screen’.
 SCOTTISH MOTORHOME CAMPERVAN ADVENTURES Group Map

Q. What are the Point 123n reference numbers

A. Most places are roadside laybys and we don’t have any details unless group members have
provided them. We did remove the Point and co-ordinate references altogether but then realised
that it is difficult to report updates for a place if there is no reference. Google My Maps by default
allocates Point 123 where 123 is the next unused number for that layer, and we add the n or s suffix
to denote north or south so we don’t have duplicate references in the Offsite Parking North and
South layers

Q. What devices can I load the map on?

A. Any device with an internet connection (WiFi or mobile data, though that may incur charges)
running Windows, Android or iOS. It has been noted that on iOS (Apple devices) it works better in
Safari than the App.

Q. How do I turn layers on/off e.g. Toilets?

A. The map should be saved with the Offsite Parking North and South layers on if whoever edited it
last remembered to save it like that, and the other less used layers off so it loads reasonably quickly
and uncluttered. The map legend is accessible by selecting the SCOTTISH MOTORHOME
CAMPERVAN ADVENTURES Group Map text at the bottom of the screen if viewing in portrait. Check
/ uncheck the layers you want to see but you can’t save it:-

Select the left arrow to the left of SCOTTISH MOTORHOME CAMPERVAN ADVENTURES Group Map
to hide the legend and view the map

The legend should automatically appear if viewing landscape:-

 SCOTTISH MOTORHOME CAMPERVAN ADVENTURES Group Map

Q. Can I search for place names?

A. Yes, use the magnifier search option and enter any word you would normally enter in Google
maps e.g. a pub name, town etc. It will also show place markers from the group map.

Q. Can I display satellite view?

A. Yes, at the bottom of the legend is a dark square, selecting it will toggle between satellite and
map view. This can be useful to get a better idea of a location:

Q. Can I use all the usual Google Map options?

A. Yes, but you must select the ->]Open in Maps option from the menus accessed from the 3 dots:-
 SCOTTISH MOTORHOME CAMPERVAN ADVENTURES Group Map

Q. Can I use Google Street view?

A. Yes, depending on device and settings. On an android phone select and hold a point on a road,
and if a street view has been captured for that point, it will display an image with the circular arrow
icon:-

Select the image to enter street view:-

This can be useful to see what an offsite parking place really looks like and the approach to it for
when you’re driving. This can possibly be better done on a computer if pre-planning. Note - It may
appear in a legend with grey bar at the bottom, depending on device.
 SCOTTISH MOTORHOME CAMPERVAN ADVENTURES Group Map

Q. Can I get the co-ordinates of a point?

A. Not an actual placemark but if you zoom in close and pick close to a marker the co-ordinates will
be displayed. If you want to copy them you should be able to select them and copy.

Q. Can I use the group map offline?

A. Yes, but not as easily as you may suspect. If you want to view the map when you have no internet
access, or do not want to use your mobile data allowance, there are a number of options which
require downloading the entire map, individual layers of the map or sat nav files, depending on
which software you will use, described below. To download the map, or layers select the 3 dots from
the legend top right, then the Download KML option from the menu:-

After selection you will see the Download options:-

Note that Entire Map is the default option on the drop-down list, select it to choose a layer.
 SCOTTISH MOTORHOME CAMPERVAN ADVENTURES Group Map

Do NOT tick the top Keep data up to date… option, as it states it is for online use only and will just
download it for single temporary use.

If you select the lower Export to KML. option it will download a KML, rather than KMZ file. A KMZ is
a zipped (compressed) KML file but also maintains all of the placemark image icon data so is
preferable. Tick the lower option if the software you use does not support KMZ.

PLEASE NOTE – As Google My Maps is not supported on iPad\iPhone you cannot download the map
so you must do this on a computer and copy\email it and save on your iPhone\iPad.

Sat nav files – A zip (compressed) file containing Points of Interest (POIs) in popular sat nav formats
is updated regularly and is in the group Files. It will be named SMWC SatNav Files dd-mm-yyyy.ziq
e.g. SMWC SatNav Files 28-02-2018.ziq. This has been renamed to have a .ziq extension as Facebook
does not allow the upload of zip files, so it has to be renamed when downloaded to have a .zip
extension before you can open it and select the files you want. This is not necessarily available on all
devices so it may best be done on a computer and then copied to the device or emailed. One of the
benefits of these files is that there is a combined offsite parking POIs, rather than North and South.
Except the KML files, the files have had all of the special characters removed\replaced, like the ó in
Mhór (Gaelic), £, and line breaks which appear as <br>. How you get them on your device will
depend on the device and software, and most sat nav software will not display the lengthy
descriptions on some places.

When you download files using your device it may automatically open it in the software you have for
viewing it, give you a choice if you have more than one option, or you may need to browse to the
downloaded file on your device and select them to load them. On an android device this can be done
from Settings, Storage, Explore, then navigate to Downloads.

Note that the zip file contains a folder with the icons from the group map as 22x22 pixel PNG files.
These work with TomTom and Copilot but may have to be resized or converted to another format or
you may have to download \ create your own or use ones built into your sat nav software.

Q. What software can I use for offline use?

A. The above section described how to download the files you can download. This section describes
the software that can be used to view them:-

Google Maps - Allows you to download areas of map background for offline use but ironically not
your own maps like our group map, which is a real shame.

Google Earth – Allows you to download background satellite imagery, but this can take a lot of
space, but will load a KMZ or KML file. This can be useful, particularly on a computer, for pre-
planning when online.

Maps.me - Is free sat nav software with full offline sat nav capability and will load KMZ or KML files.
If the whole map is downloaded maps.me cannot turn individual layers on/off, but if each layer is
downloaded, or just the ones you want, you can load them and turn them on/off individually.
Unfortunately, you can’t change the marker icon image or colours in maps.me for a whole layer BUT
 SCOTTISH MOTORHOME CAMPERVAN ADVENTURES Group Map

KML files are included in the sat nav files with a combined offsite parking layer and are generated
with different colour placemarker icons. NOTE - Some file managers like Samsung file
manager can't read .kml or .kmz files, but you can use other file managers, for
example, Total Commander.

Tom Tom – The sat nav files include OV2 files, which are used by Tom Tom, Copilot and other sat nav
systems. These may not support the display of long names and descriptions so may get truncated.

Garmin – The sat nav files include GPI files, which are Garmin POI files.

Others – The sat nav files include CSV files, which should be usable in other software, like Autoroute.

To make it easy to track changes, all map related requests and queries should be made as
comments on the pinned announcement post.