New Feature: Custom Markers!

It's taken several weeks to get right, but the single most requested feature is finally ready to be revealed: custom markers! It's taken a lot of trial and error, but I think we've come up with something both easy to use and powerful - the default markers are just an automatically included custom set now, for example.

To help you get started, let's walk through an example of how it can be used. To get started, the first thing you need to do make sure you're logged in - otherwise, you can't create or edit any markers. Once you're logged in, open the Marker sets window from the Controls menu in the top right corner of the map.

In the Marker sets window, you can share, show, hide, or remove sets from you map. If you're allowed to, this is also where you edit them. It will also show you all of the sets you've created and let you easily add them to your map. What we're interested in right now is creating a set, though. To do that, just click the Create set header to expand that box, and it'll show you the form that will create the new set.

The create set form is super simple. The name field is just what the set will be called in the set list and in password prompts. The password is optional, and if it's left blank, it won't be required. If you do set a password, it'll ask people for it when they try to add it. If they're logged in, they won't have to enter it again unless it changes, but logged out users will have to enter it each time they try to load it. Finally, the access options let you specify whether other people can edit your map or not, or if they're prevented from seeing it at all.

Once the set is created, it'll show up in Current sets section, and you can click the edit button to start adding your markers. To add a marker, click the New marker button, and then click on the map where you want to create it. Once it's created, setting the name will change what text shows up when you mouse over the marker. The type determines which icon it shows. Finally, the building field sets what thumbnail image is shown when the marker is selected, as well as what loot information is shown, if any exists. Once you've finished making those changes to each marker, click the Save button. Then, when you're done with editing all of the markers, click Save markers. You can then click Finish editing to go back to the normal map.

With all of that done, you now have a map with your own markers on it! To share it with your friends, you can click the Share button in the Marker sets windows, and it'll give you a URL that will load the set for them when they go to it. If you set a password, make sure to give it to them too, because it will ask them for it when they click your Share link.

Hopefully all of this makes some sense to everyone, and more importantly, I hope you'll all enjoy finally being able to share your own maps with friends. There's more stuff planned for this soon; once finished, you'll be able to create paths as well. I've still got a long list of new features and improvements to work on, and I'm looking forward to rolling out more of these updates soon.