Help RSS Feed - Tasman District Council

FAQ

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 11:51:06 +1200

Frequently Asked Questions

This page answers frequently asked questions. If you need further assistance, please email Top of the South Maps.

For known issues with the main application please see our issues section

Q: What is Top of the South Maps?

A: Top of the South Maps is a collaboration between Nelson City and Tasman District Councils. It aims to provide comprehensive access to Council data. Top of the South Maps was originally launched in December 2010, and last upgraded in October 2017.

Q: What is new?

A: The October 2017 upgrade provides improved functionality and additional data. New features in this release include:

Mobile device users (tablets and phones) now have access to url: http://www.topofthesouthmaps.co.nz;
Historic aerial photography from 1940s and 1980s now available;
Draw Tool added;
Coordinates Tool added;
My Location available on mobile devices;
Ability to add your own layers to the display - for example, drag and drop gpx files;
Variety of sharing options increased;
Removal of reliance on Adobe Flash software.

If you'd like to see other changes or additional datasets on Top of the South Maps in future, please let us know.

Q: Why not use Google Maps?

A: We have adopted the navigation and search style of Google Maps to ensure the site is easy to use, but improved on Google Maps by providing information about your Council assets and activities.

Having our own system also means, in time, we will be able to use Top of the South Maps to quickly respond to civil defence emergencies.

Q: What data is available?

A: Five key sets of data are available – property, services, recreation, planning and hazards. The data includes property boundaries, water, wastewater and stormwater features, pipes and drains, rubbish and recycling collection days and bus routes. Recreation information includes national parks, reserves, places of cultural interest, walking and cycling tracks and dog exercise areas, Planning includes links to resource management information, while hazards include Tsunami evacuation zones.

Q: How can I use Top of the South Maps data?

A: Start by searching for a property or a keyword, query features using the info tool and measure distance or area.

Get help with individual tools

Q: What about the maps?

A: You can create maps to print or save in multiple formats, paper sizes and orientations. Layers can be turned on and off, and you can use the legend to identify features on the map. Maps can be shared by generating a web link, or creating an embedded map for your own website.

Q: Why isn't the Info tool working?

A: If the info tool isn’t working, try zooming into the map. The Info tool changes at different scales and on different layers. For example, the National Parks and Council Reserves are initially part of the background. When you zoom in to 1:17,500 or closer, the Info tool will give results for these two layers.

Q: How do I download data?

A: Data is available for download in a range of formats including webservices. Please Read the download help for futher details about map webservices.

Q: I printed a map, but the PDF didn’t appear. What happened?

A: Maps are printed by first creating a file eg. a PDF or JPG. The print tool displays a pop-up window. If your browser does not allow pop-up windows, you will need to right click the error message at the top of your screen and select ‘Always allow pop-ups from this site’. Create the map again, and you should see the PDF in a pop-up window. You will only need to allow pop-ups once.

Q: My Web Map Service (WMS) connection no longer contains Aerials, How do I get them back?

A: As at the November 2013 upgrade, we had to split out the base maps from the main Web Map Service, Check out the download section for new URLs for all of the Base Maps.

Q: When will more data be available?

A: Please do take a moment to send us your feedback and tell us what you would like to see added to the site.

Q: Are there any known issues with Top of the South Maps?

A: For known issues with the main application please see our issues section

Tools

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 11:50:35 +1200

Tools

This page lists Top of the South Maps tools and gives brief instructions of how to use them.

For known issues with the main application please see our issues section

Quick links

Navigation Shortcuts

You can use the following shortcuts while the pan tool is active

Zoom in - Shift + Left Click (drag)
Zoom out - Shift + Ctrl + Left Click (drag)
Pan to – Shift + Double Left Click
Zoom in a level – Double Left Click
Zoom out a level – Ctrl + Double Left Click

Zoom

Click on the + to Zoom in
Click the - to Zoom out
Alternatively, use the shortcut: Shift + Left Click (drag)

Reset

Click on the house button to reset map to the default extent

My Location

On a Mobile Device with GPS turned on, Click this button to add a blue dot to your map, showing your location
Note:
- if used on a desktop, the location defaults to a best guess location based on your IP address. This may be outside NZ if you're on a "cloud" based server, and may just show a grey screen.

Info Tool

Click on a feature on the map to view information about the feature. Many features have links to other websites
If you click on a property, the results will default to Property Boundaries
- Click the down arrow to choose other items

Search

Enter an address or keyword in the search box
Select a feature from the list and the map will zoom to the selected item
You can also search for place names, roads, rivers, reserves, places of interest, mountain bike tracks, walking tracks, National Parks and people interred in Council Cemeteries

Change Basemap

Click on the above button to get selection of Basemaps (backgrounds) to choose from

Click on an image to change the Basemap
The topography map shows at small scales, and zooming in will turn on the contours

Add Layers

Click the above button to get a selection of more Layers that can be added to your map, including your own layers
Click ADD next to one of the layers to add it to the map
Click DETAILS to open a new page with more details about the layer

Click Type to limit the type of layer included in the list

Click Relevance to sort the layers in the list according to the categories

Click File to drag and drop a file, or browse to a variety of file types
- A Shapefile (.zip, ZIP archive containing all shapefile files)
- A CSV file (.csv, with address or latitude, longitude and comma, semi-colon or tab delimited)
- A GPX file (.gpx, GPS Exchange Format)
- A GeoJSON file (.geo.json or .geojson)
- A maximum of 1000 features is allowed

Legend

Shows symbols used for each layer when it is visible on the map
- Layer needs to be turned on
- Layers are scale dependent

Layer List

List of groups containing individual Layers that can be turned on and off, also includes legends
- Tick or untick the box to turn default Layers in the group on or off
- Additional Layers may be available, which are not automatically drawn on the map, such as dog exercise areas - these can be turned on.
- Layers are set to appear at specific scales depending on their content. Layer names will be grey if the map is not at the appropriate scale to show the layer. Zoom in or out to change scale, name will turn to black when features are visible.

Top level options
- To turn all Layers on or off at the top level, hold down CTRL key, then click in the box.
- Alternatively, use the dropdown for more options

Group level options
- Click the triangle to expand a single group to see the individual Layers

To turn all Layers on or off within a group, hold down CTRL key, then click in the box.
Click the ellipses for more options
- Zoom to – zooms to all Layers in the group
- Transparency – change the transparency of the group
- Move Up or Down – move the whole group up or down the list
- Description – opens a new page describing what the group contains

Individual Layer option
- Click triangle to see symbols
- Click the ellipses for more options
  - Enable Pop-up – does not currently do anything
  - Description – opens a new page with more details about the layer

Measure

To measure Distance
- Click on the Distance tool
- Click a start and end point on the map to generate a line. You can click multiple times. Double click to finish drawing the line and calculate the length
- The length of the line will display on the map in metres and will also appear on your printed map

To measure an Area
- Click on the Area tool
- Click a start point and continue to click on the map to draw an area
- Double click to finish drawing the area
- The area will display on the map in metres squared, and will also appear on your printed map

Print

Enable Popups on your browser
Fill in the map title
Select the Layout
- A4 Landscape
- A4 Portrait
- A3 Landscape
- A3 Portrait
Select output format - either PDF, JPG or PNG
Advanced options

Select the Quality
- We recommend low quality as the high quality option takes longer to create
Choose a Map scale/extent option if you don’t want the default
Layout metadata
- Author and Copyright do not display on the map
The legend is only available for PDFs
- Untick the Include legend box if you don’t want to include a map legend on the PDF

Click on Print
- A PDF, JPG or PNG will be created. Click on it to open the file, then print or save as required.

More Tools

Click to show more tools: Results Panel, Share, Data Download, Coordinates, Google Streetview and Draw Tools.

More Tools > Results panel

Shows results from the Info Tool, or Search results
If multiple items are selected on map, use dropdown arrow to select from list

If multiple items in one Layer are selected, click on Bold heading to get more detail

Click on Summary button to go back to list

Click on Magnifying Glass to zoom to item

Click on x to clear all results.

More Tools > Share

Click appropriate icon to share site

More Tools > Data Download

Check out our Data Download page for instructions

More Tools > Coordinates

Coordinates shows x and y locations on the map, in your chosen Projection/Coordinate System.

Click Identify and then click on the map to show labelled Coordinates in NZTM. You can also select the coordinates inside the text field and copy paste them to another program

Click Stop to Stop labelling the map

Use the dropdown arrow to select NZMG (New Zealand Map Grid) or Longitude/Latitude options.

To zoom to a specific location, type coordinates into the x and y boxes, then click Locate
- Map will zoom to location, and label map with coordinates

More Tools > Google Streetview

Enable Popups on your browser
Follow instructions in the panel
- Drag the Google® Street View man onto the street you want to see a panorama for. You can also drag the street view man around on the map once he has been placed.
- Note – the window showing Google® Street View may be behind your main window

More Tools > Draw

Select button for which type of thing you want to draw
- Point
- Line
- Shape

Select options for
- Colour
- Style
- Width
Click on map to add item
To edit it > Right click for options

For Text, select A

Type text in box, then click on the map to place it

More Tools > Links

Click to show Help, Contact Us, Metadata, Nelson City Council and Tasman District Council links

Tips and Tricks

Tue, 03 Oct 2017 09:26:50 +1300

Tips and Tricks

This page lists some handy tips and tricks for Top of the South Maps.

For known issues with the main application please see our issues section

1. Click Change Basemap button to get a selection of Basemaps (backgrounds) to choose from.

Click on an image to change the Basemap. The Topo map shows at small scales, zooming in will turn on the contours

2. Click Add Layers button to add Historic Aerial Photographs and Contours to the map.

3. Enable Popups on all browsers for Streetview and Printing to work.

4. Show more Info Tool Results by clicking Dropdown Arrow in Results Panel.

5. By default, the Info Tool is active, so you can click on a feature on the map and get results back about the feature.

Some other tools (for example Measure and Draw) turn the Info Tool off. To use the Info Tool again, just click the Info Tool button to turn it on.

6. Use the Draw Tool to add graphics to the map. To edit the graphics, Right click on the graphic to get editing options.

7. To Zoom In, hold down SHIFT on the keyboard and use mouse to Left Click and drag a window over the area you want to zoom to. To Zoom Out, hold down CTRL + SHIFT.

8. For Mobile > If My Location doesn’t the work first time

Turn on GPS\Location in settings on your phone first and Reload the app, then re-select the My Location button

Known Issues

Tue, 03 Oct 2017 10:33:15 +1300

Known Issues

This page lists some known issues for Top of the South Maps

1. Zoom In - When you use the double click method to zoom into the map, the Results Panel may also show up, with no results found.

2. Printing – When you select the A4 Portrait Layout with the Include legend option, the legend does not display completely or correctly.

3. Draw Tool – When you select a line, the Elevation Tool appears, however does not work correctly.