How to Use the Wanted List Pages
1. Show a list of your state.
2. Select all entries . (Use the checkbox on the list’s header.)
3. “Touch to map all checked entries” to open the map.
4. On the map’s Route Order list, touch the Blank All button.
5. At the top of the map, change the Pushpin Click to “Add to Route” mode.
6. Zoom in to the area on the map you are interested in.
7. Touch each pushpin you want in drive order.
8. Click the Save button at the bottom of the Route Order list.
The markers you selected will now show at the top of the list numbered in route order.
9. Select “Show only entries numbered in red” and then touch Show List. Only the markers you selected on the map will be shown.
10. At the bottom of your list, “touch to calculate driving time between numbered markers”.
11. Optionally provide your trip’s start and end location and click Calculate.
12. Your driving tour is ready. Print it out and hit the road!
You can remove markers from your tour by returning to the map page (steps 2 and 3) and blanking out individual Route Order numbers; then click Save.
Another way to build a driving tour.
A. Show the list for the first county.
B. Follow steps 2 through 8 in the Driving Tour Step-by-Step, but don’t worry about the drive route order yet. Just select the stops you are interested in.
C. Type in the name of the next county AND check the “also show my numbered markers” checkbox before you click the Show List button.
The list will show markers you selected from the previous county along with those in the new county.
D. “Touch to map all checked entries” to open the map.
Map will show the stops you have already selected (pushpins with dots) and markers in this new county (pushpins without dots).
E. IMPORTANT: This time don’t use the Blank All button.
F. Select “Add to Route” and touch each pushpin you want to add and click Save. Don’t worry about drive route order yet.
G. Repeat steps C through E for each additional county. Always glance at the “also show my numbered markers” checkbox to make sure it is still checked or you’ll break the chain.
When you select and save the pushpins for the last county, you will have your final multi-county list. Now it’s time to put them in drive route order.
H. “Touch to map all checked entries” to open the map.
I. Click the Blank All button
J. One by one, select all the markers in route order.
K. Examine the Route Order list to make sure you did not miss one, then Save.
L. Follow steps 9 through 12 on the Driving Tour Step-by-Step to calculate driving time. Print it and hit the road!
HMdb.ORG’S WANTED LISTS
HMdb.org’s editors research and receive information on historical markers that have not yet been cataloged in the Historical Marker Database. They also add want lists to markers we already have for things like additional photographs wanted and missing information. This feature lets them list them in one place so marker hunters like yourself can try to find them, photograph them, and add them to the database.
If you know of any historical markers not in the database that would qualify for inclusion, let an editor know and give him or her as much information as you can about its title, topic, and location.
And, after you set out to find them and are not successful, update our Wanted Lists with the results of your search. Perhaps you heard from someone that it was really somewhere else and you could not get to it on this trip. If you use the ⓘ Info icon to a note to its Markers Wanted entry, the next marker hunter would appreciate it.
DO NOT use the wanted marker’s Info icon to announce that you will be going out to hunt it, or that you have it and will be uploading it to the database later. This is not useful to other marker hunters. The first person to actually enter the marker into the database itself will be credited for its find.
DO use the Info icon to say you have added the marker to the database. Editors will appreciate that so they can zero in on entries that need to be removed.
FOR EDITORS: HOW TO ADD MARKERS-WANTED
(You add Editor Want List entries on the existing marker’s own page, at the bottom. This is how to add new markers wanted.)
Editors will see additional controls on the Wanted List page. Use the “Add a Wanted Marker” link to add a new entry. Use the “Edit” link to change the information on a previously entered marker. You can also use the Edit form to remove a wanted marker from the list.
1. Wanted Markers cannot be entered anonymously. Your name and town will be shown on the entry.
2. When adding a marker, show your confidence in the information you are adding by entering a number from 1 to 100 to represent your confidence that the marker it really out there somewhere, and another number from 1 to 100 to represent your confidence in the location you have entered.
3. After adding a new marker, click on the yellow pushpin to make the marker mapable.
4. It may take a few extra seconds for this map to open. Google Maps is looking up its likely location based on the street address you entered when you added the marker. A yellow pushpin will show where Google thinks it may be. Sometimes it is spot-on, and other times it is somewhere across the state.
5. Use the location information you have and your marker-hunting experience to determine the marker’s likely location and click on the map. A blue pushpin will appear. Click somewhere else to move it there.
6. You also have the opportunity to fine-tune the written information you previously entered on the Location Data form that is superimposed on the map.
7. When you are satisfied with the location you chose, click on the Submit button at the top of the page. The marker entry will now show a blue pushpin to designate that it is mappable.
8. You can always return to the map page to adjust its map coordinates by clicking on a new location to move the blue pushpin.
9. Don’t forget to click Check to make sure the marker is not already in the database. If it is, remove the wanted marker entry using the Edit button.
After you create a driving list, consider turning it into a PDF file and emailing it to yourself, so you’ll have it on your mobile phone.
Your desktop computer should be capable of creating a PDF file from a browser page. Try printing the browser page but change what printer it prints on. Try the universal shortcut: Hold down the Ctrl or Cmd key and press P. One of the printer choices should be “print to PDF.”
On your mobile phone the blue direction icons on the PDF will be live and will link to your map app to give you turn-by-turn directions to each marker. And if you lose signal, you’ll still be able to open and read the PDF file.