Thread: Online mapping tools

Hi all, I thought I would start a new post for the benefit of AULRO members on online mapping tools. I happen to work for the worlds largest GIS company Esri, so I get to see plenty of amazing mapping technology, which is a good thing if you like maps.

But I want to draw particular attention to some really terrific free online tools they have been releasing for personal users. These would be of great benefit to anyone wanting to push up their own content such as track notes.

The link to go to is www.arcgis.com

Under here, users can search for content (at this stage mostly US content), make maps, and save and share your maps (to save maps you have to create a free account and sign in). There are a dozen base maps to choose from including from Esri, Microsoft Bing, and Open Street Map. Your content can be private, public or shared amongst a closed group.

Maps you make can be published with a few clicks to create a website using some pre-designed templates, embedded in an existing website, and there are similar tools for those of you who are into social media. Because the site is built using Javascript, it will work on any device that has a browser including iPads.

Oh... and you can do some really cool stuff like drag and drop GPX and CSV files right onto the map (thought you may need to use a modern browser like Chrome or Firefox).

The great thing about this is that is makes great mapping technology accessible and easy to use by anyone.

I would encourage anyone to take a look.

Thanks for the thread and linked information.
I'll definately be taking a good thorough look at it when time permits.