| Add Points | Can I add a new point to your map? |
Soon you'll see an Add Point button that lets you create a new point. You can create points that are private and only for your custom maps, or public for all HappyMappy.com visitors. To learn when this feature is online, sign up for our occasional newsletter. New public points appear after we approve them, unless you create your account as an authorized Map Editor who can publish changes immediately. Visitor bureaus, chambers of commerce, governments, industry organizations, and webmasters or experts specializing in any subject can become authorized. For more see Map Editors. |
| Add Points | What kinds of points can be added to your map? |
There is no charge to be listed on HappyMappy.com but we do have guidelines for what points we will and won't include.
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Category |
Guidelines for getting on our map |
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Attractions or activity providers |
To be on our map, you must have a physical location we can map, not a PO Box. For guides, tours, performers, etc. the location is where you meet or perform for your customers. |
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Events |
Short term events (less than 2 weeks) and minor events are not mapped now, unless they are very famous tourism attractions (Mardi Gras, Rose Bowl Parade, etc.) However, an upcoming feature will later allow any point to have a calendar showing dates/times for events for multiple organizations! We presently map performing organizations (theater and music groups) at the locations where they perform most often. |
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Shopping and retailers |
We only map unusual or famous retailers of special interest to visitors. Examples of what we may include: a shop making candles the way Colonial pioneers did; a beach shop letting visitors see how salt water taffy is made; a shop featuring all locally made products by Vermont artisans; a shopping district known for its historic charm and architecture; a very large shopping mall. These are included in our Things To Do category as tag "Shopping". |
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Visitor Info |
We welcome visitor bureaus, chambers of commerce, governments, tourism industry associations and newspapers and media offering tourism info and event calendars on their websites. We'd like to let you use our maps on your site for free, and let you add/update points on our map, so email info @ happymappy.com . We generally don't include other commercial tourism websites. |
| Transportation |
Airports, airlines, charter aircraft, rental cars, bus and shuttle service, railroads, ferries, and mass transit stations are some of the points we include in this category. |
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Lodging |
We are presently adding every lodging point in the USA to our maps. (In the past, we only included those located within an attraction, resort, or lodging offering entertainment or recreation activities open to all. These are shown in both our Things To Do and Lodging categories.) |
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Dining |
We welcome dining establishments to add their points, but will wait to publish them until we have a large number in an area. We immediately map dining points if they are of special interest to visitors. Examples of restaurants we may include are: famous; scenic; in an historic building; offering entertainment; within an attraction; within a resort; the only dining in remote tourism areas. Some are tourism attractions themselves and appear in both our Things To Do and Dining categories. | |
| Create Trips/Maps | Can I save a map of some points to use on my own website? |
We will encourage anyone to use our free maps on your own site, showing only the points you wish to map. To learn when this feature is online, sign up for our occasional newsletter. You can collect any of our points into your custom map, add your own points, then publish your map on your own website. Examples: Your website is "Bird Watching in North Dakota" and you include an interactive map showing the best places to go birding in your state. Your interest is "The Civil War in Virginia" and you publish a map of all related points on your website. |
| Create Trips/Maps | Can I save points into my own map showing my planned trip? |
Our developers are working on adding this feature. You can collect any points you like from our map into your own Trip/Map, then save your map to view later, or email it to your friends. You can even add your own points or notes to the map. Free. To learn when this feature is online, sign up for our occasional newsletter. |
| Create Trips/Maps | If I save a map I make, will everyone see it? | Once we enable saving maps, you may save a map as public visible to all HappyMappy.com visitors, or private and visible only on your website or to friends you email. |
| Edit Points | How do I get info about a map point updated? |
Click on any point to open its Details Window, then click Report Problems to tell us what info about a point to change.
Our developers are creating our online editor so you can edit points yourself. If you are the owner or employee for a point, or an authorized representative like a visitor bureau or government, you can create your account as a Map Editor who can actually change all the info and location for a point and have your changes immediately published. Only authorized users can immediately change points they manage, but anyone can submit suggested changes that are subject to our later review. You can change the point's name, address, map location, website, phones, description, and tags. If you'd like to read more about this, click Be A Map Editor. |
| List of Points | What points are shown at left in the List of Points? | The list displays all the points that are currently showing on the map. If you highlight a name in the list, it will light up the point on the map. If you click the name in the list, it will open the Detail Window for the point. |
| Map Providers & Satellite Photos | How do I view satellite or aerial photos instead of maps? |
Click Satellite to switch from map to photo view with no labels, or Hybrid to see street labels atop the photo view. Seeing photos makes it easy to judge a neighborhood, beach, golf course, hotel, etc. |
| Map Providers & Satellite Photos | Which map provider is best? Google, Yahoo, or Microsoft? |
HappyMappy.com displays our points on your choice of Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, or Microsoft Virtual Earth. While their maps are similar, their aerial photos can differ in quality depending on the area you choose, so compare all three for each area. |
| Navigating Map | How can I move the map? |
See our 2-minute video to learn navigating tricks.
There are several ways to navigate:
- Double click anywhere on the map to center and zoom there.
- Drag the map by holding your mouse button down. Follow a road to see points along it. Click any point to open its Details Window then click Zoom In Here.
- Use the + or - button to zoom in or out, or move the zoom slider.
- In the Where box enter a state, or city, zip, or address, or an island name, then click Explore!
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| Other | How can I contact HappyMappy.com? |
The best way is by email at info @ happymappy.com.
HappyMappy.com
3445 Peachtree Rd NE Ste 1400
Atlanta, GA 30326-3253 |
| Points On Map | How accurate are the locations shown on the map? |
Our goal is for HappyMappy.com points to be accurate so if you navigate to them using your car or hand-held GPS unit you will be at the right location. Many of our points are mapped very accurately, using GPS coordinates or aerial imagery to pinpoint them. That's why our map shows many places you cannot find on other Internet map systems because they don't have addresses that can be mapped easily: waterfalls, trails, lighthouses, historic sites, beaches, rural parks, and more. In urban areas, some of our points are mapped using address geocoding that uses the map to determine where an address is. In some cases the map is off and the point may be near where we show it now. Our accuracy will only get better, because soon owners of points, visitor bureaus, governments, and others can use our online editing to move their locations exactly using either aerial photos, GPS coordinates, or the map. |
| Points On Map | Which points show on the map first? How can I see all points? | Just zoom in closer to see all points. In wider map views, HappyMappy.com shows only the more popular points, limited in number by your PC's memory, speed, and bandwidth. Most PCs display 100 points at once without slowing down our map's performance. The Map Status message will say "Showing 100 out of 9999 points" where 9999 is how many more points you can explore by zooming within the current map area. |
| Printing | How can I print a map of many points? |
Our developers will later enable printing of entire maps, with an option to print the details about the points on that map. You can select only certain points to save into your own map, then print the details for your planned trip. For now, you are limited to using your browser's Print command to print what you see on your screen. To learn when this feature is online, sign up for our occasional newsletter. |
| Printing | How can I print all the information for one point? |
For now, you are limited to using your browser's Print command to print what you see on your screen. Soon our developers will add a link that prints all the info about any point. Just click the point to open its Details Window, then click Print and it will give you a sheet showing all the point's info and a map of its location. To learn when this feature is online, sign up for our occasional newsletter. |
| Printing | How can I print directions to a point? | |
| Report Problem With Point | How do I get info about a map point changed? |
In HappyMappy.com click on any point to open its Details Window, then click Report Problems to tell us what info about a point to change. Changes usually take a few days to show up online. |
| Report Problem With Point | How do I report a point that is no longer in business? |
In HappyMappy.com please click on any point to open its Details Window, then click Report Problems. There is a check box to tell us a point should be removed from our maps. Also see How do I get info about a map point updated? |
| Search: Category | A category does what? | Category selects the kinds of points the map displays:
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Things To Do includes all attractions and activities.
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Visitor Info displays any point with more info about that area: visitor bureau, chamber of commerce, daily newspaper.
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Transportation is any point that is an airport, airline, charter aircraft, helicopter, ferry, railroad, rapid rail, rental car, bus, van, limo, or other method of getting you to your final destination.
We are close to adding a new category:
- Lodging shows any point that is a hotel, bed & breakfast, condo, home, lodge, cabin, guest ranch, or houseboat where you can stay while traveling.
We plan to add a Dining category next year. |
| Search: Category | Can a map point be in two or more categories? |
Some map points appear in 2+ categories. A hotel in Lodging category may also appear in Things To Do when it offers attractions or activities the public can enjoy, such as a golf course, tours, a bar featuring live music entertainment, etc. |
| Search: Category | Can two categories be mapped at the same time? |
Not at this moment, but we are developing the following. You can map more than one category, but only one category can be selected for your first Search, then hit Explore! To add a second category to your map, now select Add More Points (to the right of the search boxes). The second category will apper on the map in a different color than the first set of points you mapped. For example, in category Things To Do you can map tag Golf Course, then add a second category Lodging and map all hotels Named Holiday Inn. Different color map points tell you which are golf courses and which are hotels. |
| Search: Category | How can my point get into another category? | A category is assigned to one or more categories by our staff. To request a change, click the point and then "Report Problems" and check the Category box, and explain the change you are requesting. |
| Search: Named | How do I map all points within a place like Disneyland? | To see a map identifying every ride and entertainment in the theme park, in the Named box enter Disneyland to find only points having Disneyland in one of their names. A point has a main name, but may have other names that identify places they are within, or alternate names the point is also known by. To see some cool maps of everything within one place, search for Named using terms like:
Yellowstone National Park
Columbia River Gorge
Walt Disney World
Blue Ridge Parkway
Freedom Trail (Where: Boston, MA) |
| Search: Named | I searched for a point using the Named box but did not find it. Why? |
Try using just a few words from the name, as we may have named it differently. Spelling counts.
When you search using our Named box, it looks for points with that exact name first...
- If it finds one, it takes you to it.
- If many match, you get a map of all, and the list at left shows first points that most closely match your search.
Also, if you specify a place in the Where box, you'll only find nearby places. Leaving Where on USA will map a Named match anywhere.
Some examples of how the Named box works:
- "Rolling Oaks Golf Course" may not find a point officially named "Rolling Oaks Country Club." Try searching for just "Rolling Oaks." Add Tag "Golf Course" so you won't find "Rolling Oaks Museum."
- "State Park" searched in the Named box finds only points with that exact phrase in their names. (State Park searched in the Tags box finds any point with that tag, regardless of name.)
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| Search: Tags | Can I add tags to your points? | Our developers are working on letting you add tags to points, either for your own private use, or as tags that all HappyMappy.com users will see. |
| Search: Tags | How can I see all kinds of things to do at once? |
Clear all tags in the Tags search box, so the Show All default appears again. Only search for tags when mapping particular kinds of points. Once you do put tags in the Tag search box, you'll only map those even if you move to another Where location, until you clear the Tags again to return to Show All. |
| Search: Tags | What tags can I search for? |
Type one letter in the Tag search box and it will list all tags beginning with that letter. Hundreds of tags cover all kinds of attractions, activities, historical sites, arts, culture, recreation, nature, science, parks, sports, theater, concert venues, nightclubs, and things to do. |
| Search: Tags | When I type a tag, why does a list of other tags appear? | HappyMappy.com will suggest tags related to the first tag you type. Example: you enter tag Golf course, it suggests adding: Public, Private, Semi-Private, Resort, Military. These related tags help narrow your search to the kinds of golf courses you want. |
| Share This Map | How do I use Share This Map? |
When you click Share This Map, whatever you see in your map area will be recalled using the link that we provide you. You can email this link to friends, or put it in your blog or website. (Windows users can copy the link by highlighting it, then hold down the CTRL button and C at the same time to copy it to the Windows clipboard. Then use CTRL and V to paste the link into your email, blog or website.) |
| Where | What if I don't know where an attraction or activity is located? |
Unlike most online maps, HappyMappy.com doesn't require you to enter anything in our Where search box. Just leave it on USA (the default) and enter all or part of the attraction name in our Named box, and the map will show you where it is. Or, widen out to a state or region, search for any tag, then zoom in wherever the maps shows most are located. Let the map suggest where to explore! |
| Where | What kinds of places can I enter in the Where search box? |
Enter nothing in Where and you search the map area you are presently viewing. Enter USA to search all states, or enter just one state, or a city + state, a zip code, or a street address. You can also enter the name of any major island. |
| Where | Where can I search? | HappyMappy.com lets you explore places in the continental United States, Hawaii and Alaska, in rural areas as well as cities. |