Here are a few key points to know before using the Interactive Map Sites

1. Do not use the back button on your browser    to return to the last view extent. Please use the button found on the ArcIMS toolbar! It looks like this:     If you use the back button on the browser, you will probably have to quit out of the application and start a new Internet session and reload the ArcIMS application.

2. The folders in the Table of Contents should be opened before turning on the layers. A description of the folder options can be found at the bottom of the table of contents. Here is a graphic of the folder options.

Note the different icons that you will see when using the Interactive Maps. In particular, notice the small magnifying glass that indicates 'A visible layer, but not at this scale,' it means that this particular layer cannot be seen until the user zooms further in or further out.

If you turn on a folder such as 'Base Map', all of the layers under that folder will be turned on. Displaying all of the layers can take a very long time and can lead to frustration and will create a very 'busy' map. When the folder called 'Base Map' is opened, there are more folders such as 'Cultural' and 'Cadastral.' The map layers are located inside of the folders as shown in the following graphic.

In this case the 'Cultural' folder is opened and the layer 'Counties' is turned on. If the check box next to the 'Cultural' folder is clicked, all of the layers under that folder are turned on (Cities, City Limits 2004, Structures etc;)

3. It is a good idea to close the folders when not in use. Otherwise the table of contents becomes too large which can create confusion.

4. If in doubt, use the button found in the upper left corner of the browser, or you can click here to access the help pages.

5. When a data layer has a thunderbolt icon appearing in the table of contents, it means that the layer can be linked to other data.  For example, the current weather is linked to the RAWS (Remote Automated Weather Station) layer, and aerial photography can be found under the 'Aerial Photography' folder. The IDL site is currently configured to hyperlink to any layer so that the layer you want to hyperlink to does not have to be active.

6. If you want to save an image of your map as a jpeg file, simply right click on the map and select 'Save picture as.'

7. The topographic maps are set to 40% transparent, this allows orthophotography and relief to enhance the visual characteristics of the topographic maps. For example, when the relief layer is displayed with the topographic map it makes the map appear more three dimensional.

8. When making queries to tabular data, the layer to be queried must be made active by checking the round radio button next to layer you want to query. Most casual users usually do not query the tabular data.

9. Many layers are scale dependent and are only rendered when zoomed in. This saves time and increases performance.