IT: Live Collections

Lately I've been using a feature from Live Search Maps called Collections. This is a relatively new feature (although surprisingly it has been around for about a year) that allows you to add markers, lines and regions to a map and to save them.

This is useful if you go cycling or running and want to record the route you took but don't yet have a GPS. For example, suppose you take a tour around the Microsoft campus in Redmond and want to record and share with others. Here's what I did:

• Went to Live page and opened up 'Collections'.
• Selected 'pushpin' and clicked to mark the start of the loop.
• Selected 'draw a path or a trail on the map' and click to insert nodes for the trail
• Double-clicked to finish.
• Added a region to mark the Overlake Transit Center.
  

The results are shown below.

Example Collection

You can select options for sharing, which will enable you to give links to others to take a look at your handiwork, like this.

The most useful feature for me is that the trails give you a length (e.g. 2 km) so you can map out how far you ran, walked or cycled without needing a GPS.

Tips:

• Don't press 'Esc' while making a trail or it will disappear forever.
• It is a good idea to save your work early because then changes will be autosaved as you go.
• If you make a mistake while making a trail, don't worry you can move nodes around or add or remove them to suit.
  
  
  
  Edit nodes by clicking on the path and then dragging the node.
  
  
  
  Add or delete nodes by right-clicking and selecting.
  

Things I'd like to see:

• Undo. I lost a few longish trails before I figured out what not to do and it was frustrating.
  
• Being able to switch units of measurement from miles to kilometers and back again.
• Better management of collections. Being able to duplicate collections easily would be good.
• Search for collections that are not shared. I want to be able to search some collections of my own that I don't want to share.
• Privacy feature - ability to make a public view of a private collection that doesn't include some parts of a trail and/or pushpins etc. I don't want to put collections that include my address up on the web.