How to Hotlink to Your Favorite Maps (such as counties within a state)
This may help others who often want to quickly see a map of (for example) county boundaries within a state.
You could certainly use this process to create hotlinks to almost anything, but this is what I've done to catalog maps that I often want to see, and I wanted something quicker than finding them on my hard drive (even though I'm pretty fast at that).
FWIW, I had asked LeisterPro to Wish-List a way to hotlink a map to a Places entry for any given state name, but their response was understandably tepid at best, so I figured this out instead.
1. Using Google, I searched for the map I like best, went to its website and copied its URL to my Clipboard.
2. I created a Source type called Maps, then I created a new Source of that new Maps type.
3. In the new Source, I added the field URL, then typed in the state name and inserted the URL. It became a hotlink and will jump me to my favorite map of that state's counties. Bingo!
To make it so I can actually use this quickly, I moved my new Maps Source to the #1 position in the Sources list panel:
4. Checking my Source #1, I created a new Source of its same type (e.g., Book, Census or whatever). In one of the blank fields of the new Source, I typed "temp" (since something has to be filled in to actually create the new Source and make it stick).
5. I made a mental note of the number of the new Source.
6. Went to Source #1, right-clicked and chose Merge Source #1 With Another Source. When that window opened, I entered the number of the new Source I'd just made. This merged my Source #1 information into the new Source number. Clicked on the merged Source and deleted the field with "temporary" in it. Deleted any empty fields. Now, what used to be my Source #1 is much further down the list.
7. This left me with no Source #1. Since I knew Reunion would make my next new Source be #1, I created that new Source #1, of the type Maps.
8. Went back to the Maps source I had created at the start of this process (step #2 above). Right-clicked, chose Merge Source #x With Another Source and filled in the box to merge it with Source #1.
9. Voila! My Maps Source is now at the top of the Sources list. I will add other favorite online state maps as needed and drag to alphabetize them as I go.
This website has very nice free maps in both color and black-and-white, as PDFs and PNG files. For my hotlinks, I copied the URL of the PNG version of the state maps. https://suncatcherstudio.com/patterns/usa-county-maps/
You could certainly use this process to create hotlinks to almost anything, but this is what I've done to catalog maps that I often want to see, and I wanted something quicker than finding them on my hard drive (even though I'm pretty fast at that).
FWIW, I had asked LeisterPro to Wish-List a way to hotlink a map to a Places entry for any given state name, but their response was understandably tepid at best, so I figured this out instead.
1. Using Google, I searched for the map I like best, went to its website and copied its URL to my Clipboard.
2. I created a Source type called Maps, then I created a new Source of that new Maps type.
3. In the new Source, I added the field URL, then typed in the state name and inserted the URL. It became a hotlink and will jump me to my favorite map of that state's counties. Bingo!
To make it so I can actually use this quickly, I moved my new Maps Source to the #1 position in the Sources list panel:
4. Checking my Source #1, I created a new Source of its same type (e.g., Book, Census or whatever). In one of the blank fields of the new Source, I typed "temp" (since something has to be filled in to actually create the new Source and make it stick).
5. I made a mental note of the number of the new Source.
6. Went to Source #1, right-clicked and chose Merge Source #1 With Another Source. When that window opened, I entered the number of the new Source I'd just made. This merged my Source #1 information into the new Source number. Clicked on the merged Source and deleted the field with "temporary" in it. Deleted any empty fields. Now, what used to be my Source #1 is much further down the list.
7. This left me with no Source #1. Since I knew Reunion would make my next new Source be #1, I created that new Source #1, of the type Maps.
8. Went back to the Maps source I had created at the start of this process (step #2 above). Right-clicked, chose Merge Source #x With Another Source and filled in the box to merge it with Source #1.
9. Voila! My Maps Source is now at the top of the Sources list. I will add other favorite online state maps as needed and drag to alphabetize them as I go.
This website has very nice free maps in both color and black-and-white, as PDFs and PNG files. For my hotlinks, I copied the URL of the PNG version of the state maps. https://suncatcherstudio.com/patterns/usa-county-maps/