Creating an Interactive Map using Map Manager

Maps offer a more engaging way of presenting your content in Gametize. Instead of navigating through the default content lists, Players can explore your experience by selecting interactive hotspots on a custom map image, such as a world map, floor plan, or illustrated journey.

Map Manager is available at both the Project and Topic level, allowing you to create interactive navigation for an entire Project or within an individual Topic.

Availability: Topic-level Maps are being rolled out progressively. Maps and their supported hotspot types are currently designed primarily for the Player Web app and may not yet be supported on the mobile app.

Project and Topic Maps

You can create Maps at two levels:

Project Map — provides an interactive navigation experience at the Project level.
Topic Map — provides an interactive navigation experience within a specific Topic.

Both Project and Topic Maps support the same hotspot types.

For Project Maps, publishing a Map replaces the default Project home screen with the published Map. To return to the default view, unpublish the Map.

Creating an Interactive Map

1. Open Map Manager

For a Project Map:

Locate the Project from the Admin Dashboard.
Open Project Tools.
Select Map Manager.

For a Topic Map, open the relevant Topic and access its Map Manager.

2. Create a Map

Select + New Map.

Upload a Map image in one of the following formats:

For best results:

Use a square or landscape image.
A width of at least 1280px is recommended.
Avoid special characters in the image filename.
Image files must not exceed 1.5 MB. Keeping the image below 500 KB can help improve loading performance.

Add a name and optional description to help Administrators identify the Map.

Adding hotspots

Hotspots are selectable areas that you position on your Map.

For each hotspot:

Enter a label.
Select the hotspot type.
Position the hotspot by dragging it to the desired location.
Resize it by dragging its corners.

Select Add Hotspot to add more hotspots.

Supported hotspot types

Project and Topic Maps support the same hotspot types:

Achievements
Activities
Challenge — opens the selected Challenge
Challenge Category — opens the Topic's Challenges filtered by the selected Challenge Category
Leaderboard
Community
Rewards
Teams
Topic — opens the selected Topic
Topic Category — opens the Project's Topics filtered by the selected Topic Category
URL (new tab/window)
URL (same tab/window)

Hotspot availability may vary depending on the Player application. The full Map experience is currently supported on the Player Web app, while mobile app support is still being expanded.

Once all hotspots have been added and positioned, save your changes and publish the Map when ready.

Creating a Map Variant

A Map Variant allows you to provide an alternative Map layout for narrower screens, such as when Players view the Web app on a mobile phone.

To create a variant:

Open Map Manager.
Locate the Map you want to create a variant for.
Select Create Variant.

The new variant form will be pre-populated with the parent Map image and its existing hotspots.

This makes it easier to create a responsive version of an existing Map without rebuilding its hotspots from scratch.

You can then:

replace the Map image if required
reposition or resize existing hotspots
add or remove hotspots
update the Map name or description

Once the variant is ready, save your changes.

Tips for creating Maps

Use clearly identifiable areas for hotspots so Players know where to select.
Keep hotspot labels short and easy to understand.
Consider creating a Map Variant when your original Map does not translate well to narrower screens.
Use Challenge Category and Topic Category hotspots to help Players navigate larger collections of content without creating a hotspot for every individual item.

Experience the Demo Project Here:

Related Articles:

Accessing Project Tools

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