Map controls
Map controls are the buttons and panels that sit on the map for the people viewing it - zoom buttons, a legend, a layer list, a search box. Open Map controls from the ribbon, switch on the ones you want, and they appear immediately. Controls you leave off never reach your viewers, so a published map can be as plain or as rich as you choose.
The example above has a layer list (top left), zoom and compass (top right), a legend (bottom right) and a scale bar (bottom left).
The controls
| Control | What viewers get |
|---|---|
| Zoom and compass | Zoom in and out, and reset the map to north-up. |
| Tilt | Tilt the map into 3D and back. |
| Scale bar | A distance scale for the current zoom, in metric, imperial or nautical units. |
| Basemap | Switch between the basemaps you offered - see Basemaps. It only appears when more than one basemap is configured. |
| Globe view | Switch between a flat (Mercator) map and a 3D globe. |
| Zoom level | A read-out of the current zoom, to two decimal places. |
| My location | Zoom to the viewer's own position (the browser asks for permission first), optionally following them as they move. |
| Search | Find places and postcodes. |
| Legend | Explains each layer's colors, ramps and icons. |
| Layers | A list of the map's layers that viewers can switch on and off. |
| Measure | Click points to measure a distance along a path - see Selection & analysis. |
| Travel time | Click the map to see how far you can travel in a time or distance limit. |
| Selection tools | Single select, lasso, circle radius and drive-time selection in one control. |
| Visibility probe | Click a point to see what can be seen from there, using the 3D terrain. |
| Time slider | Play the map through time - see Time slider. |
| Bookmark navigation | Tabs or a side menu over your bookmarks and tours - see Bookmarks. |
Arranging controls
Each control sits in a corner of the map. Under Arrangement you choose the corner for each control and the order they stack in, so the map's chrome stays out of the way of your data and your charts and visuals.
Legend
The legend is built from your layers' styling - you do not draw it. A gradient becomes a ramp with its minimum and maximum, class breaks become a list of classes, categories become swatches, a bivariate layer gets its 3 x 3 key, and icon and line layers show samples.
- Choose which layers appear from each layer's own settings, where you can also give the entry a title.
- Show legends sets where it appears: a standalone panel, inside the layer control (each layer's legend expands under its row), or both.
- Start collapsed keeps it folded away until a viewer opens it - useful in a small embedded frame.
Layers
The Layers control lists the map's layers so anyone viewing the map can switch them on or off for their session - nothing is saved, and the next viewer sees the map as you published it.
- Turn off Allow switching layers on and off to show a read-only list instead.
- Include environment effects adds rows for effects such as hillshade, traffic and trees, so viewers can switch those off too.
- Untick List this layer in the Layers control in a layer's settings to keep it out of the list - handy for label or outline layers that only support another layer.
Search
The Search control lets viewers find places and postcodes and fly to them, with an optional pin on the picked result. Searches are matched on the device: the search text never leaves the browser, so it is safe to use on maps of sensitive data.
Bookmark navigation
Turn your bookmarks and tours into the map's own navigation: tabs along the top or bottom, or a menu on the left or right. Tick the pages readers can open, set their order, and optionally number them or show each bookmark's description on hover. This is how you turn one map into a multi-page story - the bookmarks example shows it in action.
Next steps
- Selection & analysis - what the selection, measure and travel-time tools do.
- Themes - style the controls to match your charts and cards.
- Publishing & sharing - the controls you choose here are the ones your published map carries.