When you create map with different areas of interest and have many markers in each area, the map interface can get cluttered and difficult to use.
Area markers are a great solution to highlight the different areas as well as provide a clean user interface.
With area markers, you define overview makers which are visible when the map is zoomed out, and details makers which are visible when the map is zoomed in.
As an example, a map highlights different cities and for each city different points of interest such as hotels, restaurants, or museums. In this example, creating area markers is very useful. When the viewers see the map zoomed out, they will see the overview markers for each city. When the viewers click on a city, the map will zoom in to the city level and show the different points of interest in each city (detail markers).
Area markers vs. marker clustering
Mapme provides support for both area markers as well as marker clustering.
So you might wonder what is the difference between area markers and cluster markers and when should you use one or the other.
Area markers
Here’s a look at the pros and cons of area markers
The main benefits of area markers are:
- You can define which markers are overview or detail markers
- Ability to customize the parent and child markers any way you want including using image markers
- Control when parent and child markers are visible or hidden
- Control over the zoom level when clicking on the parent marker
On the other hand, area markers are set manually and can be time-consuming to implement.
We recommend using area markers when you have a clear differentiation between overview and detail markers as well as would like to fully control and customize your markers display.
Cluster markers
The main benefits of cluster markers are:
- You can enable marker clustering on your map automatically
- Configure the settings such as radius, size of the cluster markers, and more
The main drawback of cluster markers is limited customization. Also, you can’t always control which markers are included in the clusters.
We recommend enabling marker clustering when you do not need to differentiate between different levels of markers like overview and detail markers.
How do I create area markers?
Area markers are created using content display rules.
You can customize the area marker like any other marker using the marker editor. We recommend setting the size of the cluster marker to be large enough to be clearly visible on the map.
Overview marker visibility
To start, create a new location with an address in the vicinity where you want the overview marker to display. This can be a country, city, or a more specific location.
- Set “Show the Maker” rule to the “Zoom Range” option
- Set the zoom range to have the marker visible at a high zoom level only for example 0 to 5
Area marker drill down zoom level
In the overview marker location, click on “Edit View” and set the zoom level to include the area you want to display. As a result, when users click on the overview marker, the map will automatically drill down to show the user the detail markers on the map
Hide the detail markers
We recommend hiding the details markers until the user drills down from higher zoom levels.
This will provide a clean transition when the user zooms into the map. To hide the detail markers at higher zoom levels use, you can set the zoom range visibility at the category level. For example, you would set the marker visibility range from 6 to 22.
