How to control your map home and category views?

One of the most powerful features of Mapme is the ability to customize your map views in order to provide the best user experience.  In other words, you can customize how the map looks:

• when a user opens the map
• when a user filters the map by category
• when a user opens a location, check this article

The following map controls are available for the map home and categories:

• Area
• Center
• Zoom level
• Pitch angle (3D effect)
• Rotation angle (bearing)

You can choose from 3 different modes, Autofit, Area, and Center/Zoom.

We have summarized the 3 options available and provided examples so you can find which option is best for for your needs.

You set the center, zoom, 3D effect, and orientation

The display area is different based on the user screen size and resolution

How to customize the map views?

For the map home

• Go to “Map Home”
• Click “Customize the view when the map opens”
• Select the setting of your choice
• Click on the interactive preview and set the view

For the category view

• Go to “Categories”
• Select the category
• Click on “Category view when the map opens”
• Select the setting of your choice
• Click on the interactive preview and set the view

You can customize the category view for maps with single-level categories as well as multilevel categories. However, category view customization is not available for maps with multi-select category filters, the view is automatically set to autofit. 

AutoFit

The map automatically zooms and centers in order to display all the markers. There is no configuration needed.

Center/zoom

You can set:

• Zoom level – Adjust the zoom level with the zoom control or enter a zoom level value. The zoom value ranges from 1 to 22
• Pitch angle – Adjust the pitch angle (3D effect) of the map from 0 to 85 degrees
• Orientation – Change the orientation of the map with the compass tool
• Center – manually adjust the center of the map by moving the map

Keep in mind that with this setting the actual area display will depend on the viewer screen.

AreaFit

Use the bounding box to set the viewing area. The bounding box can be moved or stretched to fit the area you want to display. Once you have set the area borders, you can also adjust the

• 3D effect –  Adjust the pitch of the map from 0 to 60 degrees
• Orientation –  Change the orientation of the map with the compass tool

How to set the view for 3D Globe?

With 3D Globe enabled, your map view determines which side of the globe visitors see first and how large it appears. Choose your view mode based on how widely your locations are spread.

• Autofit: Works well when locations are concentrated in one part of the world—for example, within the same continent. When locations are spread around the globe, the opening view may be unpredictable. In this case, we recommend Area Fit.
• Center/Zoom: Generally not recommended for a full-globe opening view. It uses a fixed center and zoom level, so the globe may appear very differently depending on the size and shape of the screen, particularly between desktop and mobile.
• Area Fit: Recommended for maps with locations around the world. It lets you choose which part of the globe faces visitors and adjust how large the globe appears.

For easier setup, define your Area Fit view while the map is temporarily displayed in 2D:

1. Go to Edit Map Style > Map Options and disable 3D Globe.
2. Open your Map Home view settings and select Area Fit.
3. Position the selection rectangle over the region you want visitors to see first—for example, Africa.
4. Keep the rectangle relatively narrow. It does not need to cover the world’s full width; keep its longitude span below 180° to avoid an unpredictable opening view.
5. Adjust the rectangle’s height to control the globe’s initial size. As a starting point, zoom out to see the full world map and make the rectangle cover roughly two-thirds of the world map’s height.
6. Re-enable 3D Globe and check the opening view in both desktop and mobile previews. Adjust the rectangle as needed so the globe fills the available space comfortably.

You can use the same approach for category views where custom view settings are available.