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Adding your project to the Adaptation Layer

You can add your project to the Adaptation Layer by sourcing the geographic coordinates of your project and creating a placemark. Follow the steps outlined below or use the video tutorial to find out how to create a placemark, how to determine coordinates and how to download existing placemark information.

What is a Placemark?

A placemark is an overview of a project which has a geographical reference and can be viewed in the weADAPT Google Earth Adaptation Layer. It is a short summary piece that must have a longitude and a latitude. Placemarks are useful as quick overviews of projects and often link to relevant information elsewhere on weADAPT. You can find guidance around what to include in a placemark here.

Adding a Placemark to the Adaptation Layer

To see how easy it is to add a placemark, either follow the steps below or watch the short movie tutorial above. If you have any problems with the process please contact us.

  • Once you have logged-in, click on the ‘add a case study’ link on your homepage.
  • This will take you to an editing page where you will have to fill out different fields, including importantly the latitude and longitude of the project (see below). For guidance on what to write visit our short Content Guidelines page.
  • Fill these out then click on ‘Add Placemark’. You will see a message saying that your placemark has been successfully created.
  • Now you can add the content of the placemark. You can add text, images, video or downloads simply by clicking on the relevant item and following simple instructions. The order of these elements can be changed simply by dragging and dropping each one in the order you want them to appear.
  • You can preview how the placemark looks by clicking on ‘View placemark’. If you’re not happy with how it looks then you can carry on editing.
  • When you are happy with your placemark click on ‘Publish’. The placemark will be looked at by the editor of the initiative and as long as they are happy it is by a user from a real organisation and meets minimum standards (i.e it’s not abusive and doesn’t contain completely made-up claims) then they will make it visible on the site.
  • Once published on the site you can edit the article at any time by clicking on the ‘edit this placemark’ link at the top of the placemark.

Finding Coordinates for a Placemark

The easiest way to find the coordinates for a placemark is to use the Google Earth desktop application (not weADAPT’s browser) and go to File | Tools | Options (Windows) or GoogleEarth | Preferences (Mac) and make sure ‘Show lat/lon’ is set to ‘Decimal Degrees’ not ‘Degrees Minutes’. Then do a search for each place name. So for example, you search the name ‘La Paz’ in GE and when it finds it, click on the yellow pin at the top which will drop on the globe. If you right-click on the pin, the coordinates that come up in the window are the ones you want. The lat/lon need to be to at least 4 decimal places. If you do not have Google Earth installed you can also do this through your web browser in Google Maps. You can search for a place name (say a big town close by) and then navigate around the map until you identify the spot on the map where you want to locate your placemark. Place your mouse arrow on the spot you want, right click your mouse and select the “What’s here?” option, this will put a green marker on your chosen location and in the search box it will display the coordinates of that location. You can then copy these across to your placemark you are creating.You can also convert traditional Co-ordinate notation to decimal notation using various online resources. Search for “decimal co-ordinates conversion”.

Downloading Placemarks

You can download a set of placemarks and generate a specific Adaptation Layer containing the specific placemarks you would like (e.g. they could be related to a subject or a particular region). To do this, go to the Adaptation Layer feature by clicking on the button at the top of each page. Search for something you are interested in and a set of placemark results will come up.Click on ‘Download projects’ link at the bottom of the page and you will be given a list of placemarks. Select the ones you would like and you will download a file containing the placemarks which you can then open in the Google Earth desktop application (not the weADAPT-GoolgeEarth online browser), to use as a communication tool with partners, donors etc.All contributors adding information to the Adaptation Layer are accredited with their name and organisation logos in each placemark before they are downloaded. You can also use these placemarks to create an Adaptation Story. For an example, see here or for more information on how to do this, please contact [email protected].

Related resources

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