Create and publish an interactive map in 5 minutes with no coding

Maps are a powerful and appealing way to display information. While creating them appears to be difficult, Clockwork Micro’s File Tiler allows you to to create interactive maps in minutes with no coding. In this blog, we will walk you through the process of creating an interactive map with File Tiler in minutes. For this example, let's make an interactive map of US National Park Boundaries. Here's how you can get started:

Step 1: Downloading the shapefile

To get started, we need to acquire the shapefile containing the boundaries of US National Parks. If you're unfamiliar with shapefiles, don't worry - they are a common format for storing geospatial data. You can read more about the shapefile format here. To access and download the shapefile from the official source, click on the link below:

Download - US National Park Boundaries Shapefile.

Step 2: Upload the shapefile to File Tiler to make a tile set

Once you have downloaded the shapefile, head on to Clockwork Micro’s File Tiler service. You can make tilesets from the uploaded shapefile by following the following instructions:

b. Set a center location (you can use the default value).

c. Set the minimum and maximum zoom levels.

d. Drag and drop the downloaded shapefile.

e. Finally, click on the "Submit" button.

Note that the tool does not require you to state the coordinate system; it will automatically figure it out. Also, the shapefile size can be up to the 2 GB.

After submitting the shapefile, the tile source will enter a pending state. It may take several minutes for the processing to complete. Patience is key during this stage. :)

Refresh the page to see if the tile source has been processed. Once the processing is finished, the tile Source will be marked as "ready."

Step 3: Styling the Map

To make the map visually appealing, we need to create a style for it. Follow these steps:

1. Click on the "Simple Styler".
2. Give your style a name that reflects its purpose.
3. Edit the style to customize its appearance and choose the color scheme that suits your preference.
4. Preview the style to see how it looks on the map.

Once you are satisfied with the style, publish it for future use.

Step 4: Make your map on Map Maker

Now, let's add the tile set we created on a base map and configure the viewport settings to ensure the perfect perspective for your audience.

a. Navigate to the "Map Maker" section and click on "New Map."

b. Provide a name for your map to identify it easily.

c. Add the US National Park Boundaries layer to your map.

d. Zoom to the desired center point and adjust the zoom level.

e. Click on "Update Default Viewport" to save your changes.

Step 5: Generating the Dynamic Map

To obtain the dynamic map URL, follow these steps:

a. From the list of maps, open the "Dynamic Map" tab.

b. You will now see the URL for your dynamic map, which you can embed anywhere.

Now that you have the dynamic map URL, you can easily embed it into your desired platform or website to share it with others. Simply paste the URL into the appropriate location, and your interactive US National Park Boundaries map will be ready for exploration! You can see the example below.