Woodland Explorer is in development- some features will change between visits. If you need help click on the
Question marks. You can make the control panel shrink away by clicking the green banner
entitled Woodland Explorer Controls - click again to re-open. This and AutoWalk are the only controls you need learn.
To Start click - Explore! Kinneil. Please wait a few seconds for the route to start. You can jump to another Route
by clicking any of the other buttons. Using these pre-prepared Starting points you can explore Tourist and Leisure facilities and
jump to other locations to see what else is on offer nearby.
You should soon see the Display Panel at the bottom left become active. If you need more room simply click on the
Woodland Explorer Controls banner (green background) to make it shrink away. On the Display Panel there will be a
welcome message and underneath Arrows like these below
These represent a move forward (not North); to Turn around; and to move at approximately 45° to your current direction.
Click the forward arrow and read the information. Click Forward again to move into the Virtual Tour proper.
You should see a photograph of the real world and arrows indicating choices of routes from that point. Hover over the arrows to see the name of the
leg of the route you can choose to take. This is shown at the top of the photograph in yellow text and also highlighted in yellow on the main map.
When you are happy with your choice click the arrow - the photograph will change to reflect your new position and direction. At this point take notice of the compass above the photograph - this should help you see which way you are facing (red points to the direction of travel). Also note the Distance in metres travelled, the compass heading and You Are Here location
Some background technical notes. The map navigation works by moving from the start of a leg of the route where you only have the choice to move ahead or turn around to face the junction you are at. If you move along the leg of the route the map will move and the 'Blue Person' will jump to that new junction. At this point you will be given a new set of arrows to indicate the direction choices you have. When you move across a junction the 'Blue Person' will not move far - you have effectively only taken a short hop to face another way. Remember you can turn around if you have gone the wrong way
AutoWalk is used to show visitors how to move from one Leisure activity location to others nearby. Open up the control by clicking the banner. Then click any of the active route buttons e.g. Kinneil to Railway. You can Pause the Tour at any time, perhaps to explore something manually nearby - you can then continue the tour by Restarting.
Around the map you will see several icons. Generally, the square ones are Tourist and Leisure and those within a green circle are for extra information and may change frequently (you won't see any yet). Open the Control Panel - Points of Interest section now. You should see a series of buttons for showing and creating comments, lines, routes, shapes. The only ones you need be interested in are shown below - click one or both - please wait a few moments as the data has to be fetched from a database. You may need to zoom out to see the new data.
Currently most of the Comment icons are clustered around the Kinneil and Railway routes. To see the information contained within these Comment pins just hover over the icon. Some contain buttons for you to click - most provide information. Can you find the Steam train videos (hint they are in Kinneil Woods near the railway track).
Other icons to look for include those designed to provide shortcuts into the Virtual Tour network 
this
one has a Start From Here button which acts a bit like the main Explore! buttons but is designed as a shortcut you can use to
get to specific locations within the major Routes.
Congratulations! that is all you need to know to use the most common features of Woodland Explorer
You only need this facility if you have an interest in Registering to add your own comment pins, routes or shapes
Register requires a username, password and email address. If you forget the password a new one can be emailed to you (as long as you remember your username). If you forget the username or have any problems then email loginhelp@parthiansystems.co.uk for assistance.
If you successfully login your username will appear in the banner.
Parthian Systems will not pass your details on to anyone. The password is stored encrypted but as a security precaution you should not use the same password for all sites.
This block has 4 sections. Most users will only be interested in the 1st - Showing/Hiding (Toggling) Comments, Routes and Shapes - and in the 4th section - the checkboxes to toggle the Icons on and off, this is to help locate specific types of information and to declutter the map. The middle sections include controls to toggle the creation of Point Comments, Lines/Routes and Shapes and a tool to Export Routes downloaded from the database to GPS - this is for advanced users only
As mentioned in the Introduction instructions there are potentially many comment pins and shapes that can be added to the map
These are stored in a database and so can take a few moments to appear. When the button is on it will turn orange. Wait a few seconds
and you should see the green circular icons representing features such as General, Map, Trees etc. What you see depends upon
where you are looking and the zoom level. To zoom out use the mouse scroll wheel if you have one or the +/- controls in the
top left of the browser window.
Why not try some of these map controls now (in the top left on blue background). In particular
try the Aerial and Label buttons - these change the look of the map. You may prefer less clutter. Sadly, Woodland Explorer is
not compatible with 3D mode. Returning to the comments and shapes, if you want to learn more hover over the icons on the map.
Some may have buttons or URLs to link to other pages. You should also see some routes (in the Bo'ness area) if you have turned the
Shapes and Routes on. Routes start with a Green Flag and end with a Chequered flag. They also contain compass bearings and distances
which you may find useful.
To create new Comment pins, Routes or Shapes. Turn on the particular button. The mouse cursor should change to a crosshair. Click on the map to add a Comment - and hover over the pin to open the Pushpin popup box. The Pin, Route or Shape is not added until this popup has been Submitted. Also, if you move the mouse away from this popup any information you have entered disappears. Most users will simply type in some text, select an icon type from the buttons and click the Submit button. Then wait a few moments for the data to be stored and you should see a messagebox appear stating 'Submitted Comment'. You won't see your new data until you toggle the appropriate 'Show' button (to reload the data).
The process is similar for Routes and Shapes. Switch on the mode. Use the crosshair to click to make the shape/route but this time the final point should be made with a right click. It is possible to go on and create more shapes which when submitted share the same comments information but usually you should Toggle Off the mode you are in. Now hover over the Red Pin as before to add your comment. And Submit (don't forget). Remember to reload (Show) the Pins, Shapes to see your new comment.
The Comment popup also contains other buttons. The Calendar button allows the user to open up a calendar and to pick a date, perhaps to organise a day out or a reminder of an open day. When you have clicked on the Date you must then click the Add Date button. This closes the calendar and updates the text field. Alternatively type into the box STRICTLY in the format DD-MM-YYYY.
It is also possible to add a Picture by selecting the button and finding a JPG on your system. It is best to prepare these for internet use by making them as small as possible (both in X/Y and also filesize - does anyone really need a 10Megapixel picture?). Finally there is a Buffer edit box where for Comment Points only you can create a circle around the point by setting the metres value.
This block contains various experimental controls - most users will only need to be interested in the checkboxes used to show raster maps of the Kinneil Paths and ING foreshore plans and some rough outlines of the buildings in Kinneil Woods. The Path network text is not very clear. Work in progress.
The GPS upload is work in progress
The Calendar is useful only when the Points of Interest Show Comments and Show Shapes and Routes are on. The calendar will show any comments that are active in the particular month by adding little buttons to that day. You can look back to previous months or forward as required. These dates relate to the date shown in Comment information popup. Some dates may have a hash(#) symbol on the button. These indicate 'Active' dates. Comments that have been set with a future date using the Calendar prior to Submitting are tested for imminence. Those within 7 days are given a coloured border in either green, amber, red to indicate less than 7 days, less than 3 days, less than 24 hours to go for that activity. Clicking the date button with a # on it will toggle off the border. Clicking date buttons without a # will turn on a red border. By this mechanism it should be easy to identify the pins which are due on a particular date. You may need to zoom out to see more pins.
Note that the Calendar may not update immediately when new pins are submitted. It is currently necessary to restart the application by Refreshing the browser (in Internet Explorer there is a button with two green arrows or press F5). Then Show the comments/ shapes again and check the Calendar. You should now see the buttons for the new comments.
This block contains interfaces to external tools used to aid routefinding around the Forth Valley tourist and Leisure attractions. More information to come.
Old password
New password
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