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&mdash;  Jim Dunning  talk  : 17:16, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

&mdash;  Jim Dunning  →talk  Ξ 02:07, 31 December 2006 (UTC) Ξ

&mdash;  Jim Dunning  talk  : 02:45, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

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Cool NY map-making discovery
I just discovered this here: Template:GBNewYorkState -- This template displays a map of New York State Image:GBNewYorkState.png and places a red dot Image:GBRedDot.png in an appropriate place. Call is of the form


 *  

where Px and Py are numbers which specify the location of the dot. If the longitude Lx and Latitude Ly are known, the pixel positions for the dot can be calculated by


 * Px = (-32.434 × Lx) + 2591.4


 * Py = (-45.363 × Ly) + 2041.8

The latitude and longitude must be in degrees and fractions of a degree, and longitude is a positive number (contrary to convention). For example, Buffalo, NY is at latitude 42 degrees, 54 minutes, 17 seconds. In degrees thats Ly=42+54/60+17/3600=42.9047 degrees. The pixel position Py is then -45.363 x 42.9047 + 2041.8 = 95. Similarly, Px=34 and so, to display the map with a red dot at Buffalo, NY one would use


 *  

Due to distortions and other reasons, these numbers can be off by a noticeable amount, so they should be checked and corrected before saving. PAR 21:07, 27 November 2005 (UTC)
 * I tried this for my hometown of Williamson, NY at 43.231446° -77.186508° (+43° 13' 53.21", -77° 11' 11.43") and it worked beautifully. Kudos to the developer.
 *  

Jim Dunning 16:41, 30 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Creating the map image works beautifully, but using it with the Template:Infobox Towns NY presents some issues (I suspect the same issues apply for all similar Infoboxes). Contacting the creator of the Infobox for NY towns to suggest a mod that permits use of this map image template. Jim Dunning 17:23, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

{| width="100%" style="background-color:#F5FFFA;"
 * class="MainPageBG" style="width: 55%; border:1px solid #FFFFFF; background-color:#F5FFFA; vertical-align:top"|


 * User talk:Russeasby

Map-making
I made a Louisiana map for you - I have also made a Image:North Carolina Locator Map.PNG for User:Dincher in addition to the Pennsylvania and Illinois locator maps you know about (though I might redo the Pennsylvania map so it is cleaner). I plan to do an Ohio locator map next.

Here's how I make the maps - basically they are all from the Census factfinder web site here. I always use the 2000 census data and if I enter "Ohio", I get |b=50|l=en|t=420|zf=0.0|ms=ref_stat_00dec|dw=1.9557697048764706E7|dh=1.4455689123E7|dt=gov.census.aff.domain.map.LSRMapExtent|if=gif|cx=-1159354.4733499996|cy=7122022.5|zl=10|pz=10|bo=313:314:316:317:318:319:323|bl=354:355:356:357:358:393:362|ft=350:349:335:389:388:332:331|fl=381:403:204:380:369:379:368|g=01000US&-redoLog=false&-_lang=en&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=04000US39 this. Next I go to the upper left corner under "Change", click there on "Boundaries and Features" and turn off all labels and all features except the state and county borders (boundaries). Then I get |b=50|l=en|t=420|zf=0.0|ms=ref_stat_00dec|dw=10.50392852716582|dh=6.058983803831548|dt=gov.census.aff.domain.map.EnglishMapExtent|if=gif|cx=-82.66958249999999|cy=40.190285|zl=8|pz=8|bo=313:314|bl=|ft=|fl=|g=04000US39&-redoLog=false&-geo_id=04000US39&-_lang=en this. I copy the map (right click, or control and Print Screen) then paste that into MS Paint or Paint Dot Net and change the colors so they are consistent with the WikiProject Maps guidleines - I started with the Image:US Locator Blank.svg for its colors. I put a one pixel wide black line around the maps and save them in PNG format in Wikimedia Commons (I have an account there too).

What I like about the maps is that they are US Government work and so public domain (and I release my modifications under the GFDL). You can zoom in a lot, add streets and water and township and city borders in. Some other examples I have made starting with these are here: Image:Larrys Creek Watershed Map.PNG (started from county and township borders and creeks in the census map), Image:Fort Wayne Indiana Metro Map.PNG (several counties, left the urban areas pink), and my most ambitious county map Image:Lancaster County, PA.PNG. Hope this helps, ask if you have questions. Ruhrfisch 19:25, 1 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the explanation, I will give it a try this week. One quick thing on the Louisiana map (and maybe I'll give this a try myself), can you modify it so that Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas are shown (both are near New Orleans).  A lot of Parish boundaries meet in both lakes, and its been brought up that maps not showing the lakes are misleading to the sizes of parishes that contain portions of theses lakes.  VerruckteDan 19:36, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I will try - turning off the water bodies (rivers) also turns off the lakes, but I will see what I can do about putting them in. I know where Pinchartrain is, but will have to check on Maurepas. Ruhrfisch 02:09, 2 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Lake Maurepas is directly to the west of Lake Pontchartrain, who can see it on the picture on Pontchartrain's article. Also, if you look at Image:St_Charles_Parish_Louisiana.png, you can see an example of a map showing both lakes.  VerruckteDan 02:12, 2 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I fixed it and added the crescent of islands in Gulf to the east (cut off before - sorry). For some strange reason Maurepas shows up on the Census maps with water bodies turned on, but Ponchartrain only shows at 20 mile across resolution. Thanks for calrifying, I knew about Lake Borgne (from Chalmette / Battle of New Orleans) but not the name of Lake Maurepas. I also made Indiana and Ohio locator maps. Take care, Ruhrfisch 03:41, 2 April 2007 (UTC)