Comprehensive user contributed help site at http://sites.google.com/site/mapmakeruserhelp/.

Google Map Maker is a Google Maps service that allows you add or edit features, such as roads, businesses, parks, schools and more. Using Google Map Maker tools, you can visually mark locations and add detailed information about these locations. Once you have submitted content, this information may be edited by other users or moderators. At a later time, this content may be published in Google Maps for others to see and use.

Google Map Maker has many of the same features and functionality of Google Maps. Learn more about using Google Maps.

Accessing Google Map Maker

To access Google Map Maker, visit http://mapmaker.google.com. Use your Google login and password to sign in. If you do not have a Google account, sign up today.

Using Google Map Maker

Once you have signed in, Google Map Maker displays in your web browser. The service appears similar to Google Maps, but displays a set of tools that allows you to mark locations and add information. These tools include:

Placemark tool Use the Find tool to locate existing features that others have added to the map. Use this tool before you add a feature.

Placemark tool Use the Browse tool to view all features of a particular type that others have added to the map. Use this tool before you add a feature.

Placemark tool Use the Placemark tool to mark a location such as a business or school.

Line tool Use the Line tool to mark roads, rivers, etc.

Polygon tool Use the Polygon tool to mark regions, such as a park or neighborhood. You can enter similar information as with the Placemark tool, but the Polygon tool enables you to mark an entire area.

You need to zoom to a range of 50m to 1km to be able to use Google Map Maker tools. If you use see these tools, try zooming in. To zoom in, use the zoom slider, mouse scroll wheel or right click > Zoom in. To center a point on the map, right click on the appropriate location and choose Center the map.

About Features

In Google Map Maker, a feature is a place or geographic characteristic. These can include man-made structures (examples: buildings, monuments, or businesses) and natural elements of a landscape (examples: lakes, rivers). Certain features can include other features, such as a park may include a monument.

Each feature has information that you can add or edit. Depending on the kind of feature, this information can include:

Adding Features

Use the Hybrid view while adding/editing map data. This will give you the best view of existing terrain.

You can add line features (roads, railways, rivers, flyovers, underpasses), region features and points of interest. To mark a location and add information, do the following:

  1. Navigate to the appropriate area.
  2. Click the Find Placemark tool or Browse Browse tool tools.
  3. Click an appropriate location. If you are using the Browse tool, choose a type of feature in the left panel. Features appear on the map.
  4. Check to see if there is a feature that matches what you wish to add. If it does, consider editing it.

    This prevents duplicate feature submissions and make Google Maps more useful for everyone.

  5. If there is no such existing feature, click the appropriate Google Map Maker tool (see above).
  6. Draw or mark the location with your feature.
  7. In the info balloon, add the appropriate information and click Save.

Searching for Features

Once you have navigated to the appropriate area, you can search for an existing feature in one of three ways:

Search results appear in the left panel and in the map.

Editing Features

Once you have searched for and found an appropriate feature, you can edit it. To do this:

  1. In the search results, click the appropriate result (feature). The info window appears.
  2. Review the existing information in the info window. If it is incorrect or incomplete, click Edit > Add/edit events (Edit > Edit).
  3. Add or edit information for this feature. To edit additional information, click Add/Edit Details.
  4. To move or adjust the borders of an area, click and drag the points of the area.
  5. When you are finished, click Save.
  6. To undo an edit, click My MapMaker > My Changes. Under the appropriate change, click Undo.

When you edit certain roads, Google Map Maker displays a message that states: This will edit X edits. This is because roads share information with other features, such as intersecting roads. It is OK to proceed with your changes.

Viewing Your Edits

You can view edits you've made at any time. In the left panel, click My MapMaker > My Changes. Click any edit to learn more or view the information under each in the left panel. Note that the status of each changes are one of the following:

Using Neighborhoods

If you are familiar with a particular area, you can assign an area as your neighborhood. A neighborhood is an area with which you are very familiar. You should know this area well enough to add accurate features and moderate the additions of others. Note that no one else can see your neighborhood; it is only visible to you and in this way, it is different that features you add to the map.

To create a neighborhood:

  1. Navigate to an appropriate location.
  2. Zoom in or out to create the appropriate view for your neighborhood.
  3. Click My MapMaker > Neighborhood.
  4. Click Add current viewport as your neighborhood.

You can create multiple neighborhoods for different areas that you know well.

To delete your neighborhood, click Remove. To change the attributes of your neighborhood, click Modify. To refresh (update) the list of neighborhoods, click Refresh neighborhood list.

Moderating Neighborhoods

Once you have created your neighborhood, you can moderate any changes made by other users to this area. To do this, do one of the following:

If there are existing features, you can moderate them by clicking them. You cannot moderate your own changes.

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