Tutorial 5 : Create a Map using a Text Feed

• Go to the Dashboard and click 'Create New Feed'.

• Enter the feed details including the source URL, then click 'Create Feed'.

• The feed format can be either tab separated values (TSV) or comma separated values (CSV).

• The feed contains the following pre-defined fields : id, name, points, link, category. Additional fields are city, region, postcode, country and brand.

• Use an existing map or create a new map, see Tutorial 4.



• Go to section 1.3 Feeds. Remove the existing feed from the map and add the new feed. Click 'Save' to preview the map.

• To make use of the additional data contained in the text feed we need to perform 3 tasks : (1) Add Extended Data Fields (2) Add Categories (3) Create Template Functions.

Create Extended Data Fields

• Add Extended Data. Go to section 3.1. and click 'Add New Place Field' for each field we wish to add. Add the fields city, region, postcode, country and brand.

• When adding new fields only the 'Field Name' is required. The 'Field Description' and 'Input Control Height' values are only required for internal feeds (which can be edited from within the map).

Create Categories

• To create categories go to section 3.3. Categories.

• When editing a category you can use a My Map Marker or any image in jpg, gif or png format.

• You can edit the other category fields if you need to adjust the image size or anchor position.

• Enter a Highlight Image URL if you want a different marker image to display when the mouse moves over the marker.

Set Display Filters

• Go to section 4.1. Filters to select which filters are displayed next to the map.

• Set Category Filter Enabled to 'Yes, Initially ON'.

• If your map contains multiple feeds you may wish to enable the Feed Filter.

Save Settings

• When all changes have been made click 'Save' and check the map preview. Go to section 1.2. to get code to embed the map on your web page.

Using a Google Spreadsheets as a Text Feed

• First ensure that your spreadsheet is shared, the status should be 'Public on the web'.

• Add &output=&txt to the URL of your spreadsheet.