Please read this entire file before installing and using this mod. Back up your YaBB files before installing any mod.
On the Admin Center>>Forum Preferences and Settings Page are three new controls for the Travel Map mod. The first holds the names and filenames of the Travel Map data files. These files contain information pertaining to the maps to be used for the travel map. Leave the blank empty and click the Save button. The default data file (United States=TravelMap_USA.txt) will be automatically inserted in the blank next time you go to the Settings Page. Enter travel maps in this manner:
United States=TravelMap_USA.txt;South America=TravelMap_SA.txt;Africa=TravelMap_Africa;Europe=TravelMap_Europe.txt
Note that the region that appears first in this list becomes the default region that is shown when users first go to a Travel Map page.
The next setting shows/hides the state names that pop up as the states colorize in sequence. Enter 1 to show state names, 0 to hide.
The next settings are timers that control the delay, in seconds, between colorizing each state specified. The first is the Travel Map Edit Page Timer. This timer is used on the page where members edit their travel maps. The second is the Travel Map Display Page Timer. This timer is used on the Travel Map page that all members may view.
The regional maps will be assigned the names provided in the Admin Center as described above. For example if you want the Europe map to be titled Europa you would enter Europa=TravelMap_Europe.txt .
The state names that flash on the Travel Map Page and tooltip names that pop-up on the Travel Map Edit Page are found in the travel map data files. For each state/country/province there is a line similar to:
Germany,Germany,234,345
To show Deutschland instead of Germany you would change the line to read:
Germany,Deutschland,234,345
leaving the first entry as it is since it is a filename for the image file for Germany.
Members may edit their travel maps by following the "Edit your Travel Map" link found at the top of the Edit Profile Page. The Edit Travel Map Page consists of a map showing the current status of the member's travels (blank upon first use) with input boxes for each state. Specify the order of travel by entering numbers in the boxes with 1 being the first state visited. The boxes should be left blank for states that have not been visited. Clicking the Submit button will save the changes and reload the page so members may inspect their work. If maps for more than one region are available, clicking the links at the top of the map will open maps of other regions. Note that any changes you made on the current map will be lost if you don't Submit your changes prior to switching maps.
If you forget to enter a state or get one out of order you can use fractional numbers to insert a state into the order. For example let's say you took a trip from California to Arkansas. The order was California >> Arizona >> New Mexico >> Texas >> Oklahoma >> Arkansas. In entering the states you forgot to enter Arizona. Simply enter 1.5 for Arizona and click the submit button. Now Arizona will appear as the second state, just after California. If you enter a state that you don't want to appear, just delete the number for the state and click the Submit button. The remaining states will be re-ordered without the deleted state.
The total number of states visited will be updated when the Submit button is clicked.
Members may view other members' travel maps by clicking on Travel Map in the main menu and selecting a member name from the list below the map or by following the Travel Map for Member_name link on the View Profile page for a member. Clicking on a region name at the top of the map switchs to the map for that region.
Creating new maps for use with this mod requires several steps.
The first step is to create a set of maps for the region of interest. The maps should be in gif format. A background image of the region is needed plus a separate map image for each sub-region you wish to define (state, province, county, etc.). The sub-region maps should be gif files with transparent backgrounds. The sub-region maps should have the same scale and dimension as the background map so that when the sub-region maps are overlain on the background the features match up exactly. View the image files that are provided with this mod if this point isn't clear.
The next step is to create a data file for the map. Use the TravelMap_USA.txt as a guide. It contains an explanation for each item needed. The information needed includes the file names for all the files specified in step one, the onscreen name of each sub-region, the dimensions of the background image, and the x and y coordinates for where to place the input boxes for each sub-region on the map. Also, if any text labels are needed for the input boxes then the x and y coordinates would be needed for those as well. Positioning input boxes and labels is a trial and error process requiring some patience. It works best to have an image viewer/editor open alongside the data file so you can read the coordinates off the image and enter them into the data file. The coordinate system uses for positioning has an origin in the upper left corner of the image with x values increasing left to right and y values increasing top to bottom.
Once you have completed the data file, upload it to your YaBB Variables directory in ASCII mode. Upload your gif files in binary mode to your YaBB Images/travelmap directory.
On your Admin Center>>Forum Preferences and Settings Page edit the Travel Map data file field to add the name of your newly created region and data file. The format is:
Region1=mapfile1.txt;Region2=mapfile2.txt...
Click on the Travel Map menu item and see if the map loaded correctly. If so, go to your Profile Page and click the Edit your Travel Map link. Verify that the input boxes and labels are in proper position. If not, edit the data file, tweaking the positions, upload the file again and refresh the Edit Travel Map Page to view the changes. Again, this is a trial and error process that may require multiple iterations.
This mod does not work with Netscape 4.x.
This version contains several maps of various regions. If you are interested in producing a version of this mod for your region I can certainly assist but you would need to create the maps to be used. If you do use this mod to create travel maps for other regions I ask that the maps be released to the YaBB community so that others may benefit.
Author: Ironwing
Website: http://www.mineralarts.com/cgi/yabbsp1/YaBB.pl