How to best post my maps?

[Zagan]

The Situation:

1. I have always (like, since I have been 3 years old) liked maps.

2. In the last year since I have joined this marvellous site, I have made and posted dozens of maps in my threads / TLs.

3. Everybody liked my maps (sincerely, no bragging here).

4. Someone suggested to post some / most of my maps in the Official Maps Thread.

5. I believe that is a good idea.


The Questions:

1. How to do it? What is the best approach?

1A. Just post links to the posts from my TLs containing the Maps and the explanation / legend / etc.

1B. Just post links to the Attachments themselves, or to imgur, etc.

1C. Repost the Maps, with explanation / legend / etc.

1D. Repost the Maps, albeit bare.


2. Is it allowed to mention my TLs in the Maps Thread? Is it allowed to post links to the posts containing the Maps / map legend / map discussion? Does this count as unfair advertising or not?

2A. Yes.

2B. No advertising.


3. What to do with clearly absurdly oversized Maps? I mean, 4000 to 10000 pizels width and / or height, some of them tens of megabytes in size. In the TLs, I posted a clickable Thumnail linking to imgur.

3A. Post the full sized maps, disregarding problems with scrolling and slow loading speeds.

3B. The same approach as in my TLs: Post a clickable Thumbnail linking to the full-sized Map on imgur.

3C. Just post a link to the full sized map on imgur.


4. Some of my maps have two variants: With or without a Google Earth overlay (semitransparent layer). What to post?

4A. Just the map with the Google Earth overlay.

4B. Just the plain map.

4C. Both.

4D. The Layered image file usable for those proficient in image editing (paint.net, the gimp, Photoshop, etc)


5. There are lots of Maps. What to post?

5A. Post them all!

5B. Post just the best ones / the very representative ones and let those interested to find the rest in my TLs.


6. How to organize them?

6A. Place all the Maps / Links in a single huge post.

6B. Make a separate post for each Map.


Please, may I have some answers, preferably from knowledgeable folks?

Thank you.

 

[Zagan]

For your information, the attachements are located in this thread in the Test Forum.

My most advanced TL (and containing the best maps) can be found here.

Any ideas?
Thank you.

 

[Zagan]

An example of a map (of a reasonable size):

Really, should I post these kind of maps in the Map Thread?

 

[Tsochar]

An example of a map (of a reasonable size):

Really, should I post these kind of maps in the Map Thread?

This is far, far better than the average beginner map. You should be proud of yourself.

That said, yes, post it to the Map Thread.

The Situation:

The Questions:

1. How to do it? What is the best approach?

1A. Just post links to the posts from my TLs containing the Maps and the explanation / legend / etc.

1B. Just post links to the Attachments themselves, or to imgur, etc.

1C. Repost the Maps, with explanation / legend / etc.

1D. Repost the Maps, albeit bare.

Post the maps themselves, unless they are very large.

Is it allowed to mention my TLs in the Maps Thread? Is it allowed to post links to the posts containing the Maps / map legend / map discussion? Does this count as unfair advertising or not?

2A. Yes.

2B. No advertising.

I see it there all the time and don't mind. You can put your TL in your sig as well.

What to do with clearly absurdly oversized Maps? I mean, 4000 to 10000 pizels width and / or height, some of them tens of megabytes in size. In the TLs, I posted a clickable Thumnail linking to imgur.

Try not to stretch the page (keep it under 1280 pixels wide, but that's not really a rule, just good manners)

4. Some of my maps have two variants: With or without a Google Earth overlay (semitransparent layer). What to post?

4A. Just the map with the Google Earth overlay.

4B. Just the plain map.

4C. Both.

4D. The Layered image file usable for those proficient in image editing (paint.net, the gimp, Photoshop, etc)

Up to you. Personally I think map overlays look a bit amateurish, but that's just me.

The layered image file wouldn't display properly on the board, I think. If you want people to have the raws, put them in a public folder or something

5. There are lots of Maps. What to post?

5A. Post them all!

5B. Post just the best ones / the very representative ones and let those interested to find the rest in my TLs.

Define "lots." I'd avoid posting more than a dozen or so, but again, that's just me. Post whichever ones you feel the best about. Context is always appreciated, so whichever ones you feel dedicated enough to do a writeup on I say post. If you have more than 20 and you want to post all of them, then I would recommend starting a new thread.

6. How to organize them?

6A. Place all the Maps / Links in a single huge post.

6B. Make a separate post for each Map.

This one is more logistics than anything else. The board software only supports one attachment per post, so you'd have to host them elsewhere. Imgur is fine for all but the highest-res images, I've found.

 

[Zagan]

1. This is far, far better than the average beginner map. You should be proud of yourself.

2. The layered image file wouldn't display properly on the board, I think. If you want people to have the raws, put them in a public folder or something

3. Define "lots."

4. This one is more logistics than anything else. The board software only supports one attachment per post, so you'd have to host them elsewhere. Imgur is fine for all but the highest-res images, I've found.

1. Thank you. I am drawing maps since 1977.

2. I can attach (and did) a layered file as ZIP file. It was downloaded a few dozen times by various members.

3. Well over 100.

4. The maps are already attached here in the Test Forum. So, it is really simple to show as many as I want on a single post.
The question was not how to do it (I am very computer savvy) but whether I should do it.

 

[Upvoteanthology]

That said, yes, post it to the Map Thread.

I agree. That map is legit better than anything I made, even a couple years ago. I'm looking at you, map from October 2014. If you're looking for other ways to make maps, you could always take a look at my tutorial, but you seem to have it pretty down.

Try not to stretch the page (keep it under 1280 pixels wide, but that's not really a rule, just good manners)

Also true. Just post a thumbnail, then maybe a link above the thumbnail. If it's not pointed out, people might not know there's a full version.

Up to you. Personally I think map overlays look a bit amateurish, but that's just me.

They can, from time to time. If it's hard to get the point across without the overlay, I say keep it. It's a lot harder to make a map look good without an overlay, since it involves tracting EVERYTHING.

Define "lots." I'd avoid posting more than a dozen or so, but again, that's just me. Post whichever ones you feel the best about. Context is always appreciated, so whichever ones you feel dedicated enough to do a writeup on I say post. If you have more than 20 and you want to post all of them, then I would recommend starting a new thread.

I'm sure people would be fine with making your own thread to dump your maps, like mine or ToixStory's. If you don't want to do that, just post the maps on the map thread incrimentally, maybe twice a day.

1. Thank you. I am drawing maps since 1977.

That's so cool! I've been drawing maps since like... 2006, and I only started on the computer a couple years later.

3. Well over 100.

Make your own thread and post them all at once! That'll give me at least a day's worth of enjoyment, and I'm sure a lot of other people could do with more good maps in their lives.

4. The maps are already attached here in the Test Forum. So, it is really simple to show as many as I want on a single post.
The question was not how to do it (I am very computer savvy) but whether I should do it.

I repeat my sentiment that a thread for your maps would be super neat.

 

[Gwrtheyrn Annwn]

I would also like to say that your maps would be a welcome addition to the map thread, info and all.

 

[Zagan]

Done. Thanks

All your replies have been read and duly taken into consideration.
Thank you all.

I have made up my mind.
I will:
1. Post a carefully thought selection of my maps in the Maps Thread, with some explanation and links to the appropriate posts in my TLs.
2. Make a separate thread for all / most of my maps, as well with some explanation and links.
3. Use the full sized maps if normal in size and thumbnails plus external links for the clearly oversized ones. The fact that a full resolution map is available will be stresses to be obvious to anyone.
4. I will post the multilayered maps where appropriate and useful only.
5. Maybe I will post a few interesting original files (*.pdn / paint.net graphic files - freeware) alongside some instructions for their use.
6. I will not post large amounts of text for the context of the map, but let the reader decide: if needed, the full story / TL will be always only a link away.

All this will take time while I am also busy updating my TL.
I will probably start posting maps sometime this weekend.

See you.

 

[Merth]

hi does anyone know how to make a post on this sie i want to pos some maps but i dont know how