Layers

All the content of your map is organized into layers.  The layers button      displays the layers screen screen, where you go to turn layers on and off, browse the contents of a layer, or change how a layer is configured.

Base Layers
The base layers section lets you choose the type of backdrop for your map.  You can select one of the following:

Auto Select
When this option is selected, the map will display the "Roads" backdrop when you are zoomed out. It will automatically switch to the "Aerial Photography" backdrop when you are zoomed in.

Aerial Photography
The background aerial photography is provided by Google Maps.  Google calls this "satellite" view, but for most populated places in the United States this is high resolution ortho photography taken from aircraft.  

Roads
The Roads view displays roads and other landmarks.

Terrain
This view displays a shaded relief map with some course contour lines.

None
Not a very interesting backdrop but it has its uses.  Use this backdrop if you want to print out just your Map Layers with no background.  Also, the map will automatically change to this backdrop when you want to zoom in closer that the other base layers allow.

Custom Imagery
If you have your own background imagery we might be able to add it to the list of base layers so that you toggle it on in place of the Google imagery that we use by default.  See Custom Imagery for more details.

Map Layers
The map layers section lists all the layers that you have added to your map either by drawing or importing.  You can turn these layers on and off in any combination using the checkboxes.

 Layer is turned off

 Layer is turned on 

 Layer is turned on, but you need to zoom in closer to see it.  See 'Min Zoom' on the settings screen.

Click on the layer name to browse the layer, search the layer, setup the layer, or more.  All of these layers are viewable by all users on your account according to permissions setup for the account.  

Add A New Layer
Click this link to add a new layer to your map.  See the Create New Layer topic for more information.  Any layers you add will be viewable by all users on your account.  Only users setup as managers of a map can add and remove layers from that map.  Another way to create a new layer is to import an existing layer.

Layer Groups
You can create layer groups to organize related layers into a collapsible category.  Doing so allows you to turn on and off all the layers in that group all at once. Click here to learn more about layer groups. 

Layer Order
If you are the map manager you can change the order of your layers by dragging and dropping them in the list.  The layers are drawn in the order listed so if you want a certain layer to not be covered up by other layers on the map, then move that layer further down in the list.