If this is your very first time visiting this page there will be no prior map to display so all you'll see are some menu options. To get to the advanced map editor, click on the Advanced Editor menu option.
In a nutshell:
From the dashboard, click on the Design/Edit Maps icon. You'll need to have master permissions to access this feature.
You're first presented with the browser-editor. In the menu bar, you'll see an option for Advanced Editor. Click on this.
You'll see a hyperlink that says "Click here to download the map editor software". This software will only run on Windows computers of version 7 or higher. Please be sure to read all the instructions below this hyperlink before proceeding, and then when you're ready, click on the hyperlink to start the download.
The file will start downloading, and will prompt you when complete. Open the file when the download is finished. Windows will open the ZIP file to reveal the contents. There is an application within the zip file. Double-click on the application to install the software.
You may receive a security warning. This is normal. Click on the RUN button to proceed. If you do not feel comfortable proceeding at this point, that's up to you... but you cannot install the advanced map editor without performing this task.
You may see another box pop up with the heading "Windows protected your PC" and at the bottom it will have a button that says "Don't run". If you click on this, the installation will abort. To continue with the installation, you must click on the hyperlink in the blue box that says "More info". It shows you the app name and the publisher comes up as "unknown publisher", but this is because Microsoft wants us to pay them to get around this issue, and we refuse to do that. If you are ready to proceed with installation, click on the Run anyway" button.
Another box may open asking, again, if you want to install the software. Answer yes. Finally the installation software will be displayed, and you can click on the NEXT button, and then the INSTALL button. It won't take very long, and then you can click on the FINISH button.
The software will be visible on your desktop via an icon that looks like a ruler/pencil/compass, titled The Crypt Keeper Map Editor. Double-click on this icon to open the application. When the app opens, a small box will appear in the center of your screen with some brief information. Click on the Map Editor icon to begin.
You start out with a blank slate (empty canvas). You'll need to add rows and columns to start building your cemetery. Click on the Edit menu and choose Maximum. Here you can set the columns and rows you'll need for your cemetery. Don't worry if you got the size wrong at first, you can always adjust this later.
Now that you have a canvas you can start adding graves. There are three ways to add graves.
- Add a single grave and manually input the grave identifiers. Use the Assign menu for this, and choose Usable Lot (or press F4 on your keyboard). You can then directly type into the cell with the three grave identifiers, separated by commas (please don't use spaces). For example: A,1,2 (where A is the section, 1 is the lot, and 2 is the grave).
- Add whole groups of graves with the assignment boxes that exist on the left side of the window. Before doing this, you'll want to configure your lot so that the graves populate correctly. Click on the Assign menu and choose Configure the Graves Assignment Grid. Then input the number of rows and columns that make up your Lot. The grid is configured, but you'll need to input the grave numbers that would exist within the lot in the box on the left pane of the window. For example: you might want 2 rows of 4 columns of graves in your lot, and the graves might be numbered 1 through 8, with 1 being the top left portion of the grid and 8 being the bottom right portion of the grid. With the lot assignment configured, you could input a Section and Lot in the boxes in the left pane, then click the Assign menu and choose Assign Using Section/Lot/Grave Identifiers Below (or press F9) to add them to the map. All eight graves would then be added to the map, and the Lot value would be incremented by one value automatically so you could just move on to the next cell and press F9 again to repeat the process.
- Add single graves, but with automatic increments. This might be useful if your Lot assignment is non-numeric (for example: A,B,1). You must click the "OR" box to utilize this feature. Input your Section, Lot and initial Grave values in the pane on the left side of the window. Then move to the canvas in a cell where you want your first assignment to exist. Click on the Assign menu and choose Assign Using Section/Lot/Grave Identifiers Below (or press F9). The grave is created, and the Grave value on the left side of the pane is incremented by 1. Move to the next cell on your canvas and press F9 again. Repeat as needed.
You can increase the size of the zoom of the view if you need to see the identifiers better. To do this, click on the Zoom menu and choose either Small or Large.
If you want to add some roads or paths to your canvas, with your mouse highlight the cells that would make up your road/path and then click the Assign menu and choose Road/Path (or press F5). Repeat this for all areas that should be designated as a road or path.
If you've messed up and want to revert a cell to green, highlight tat area with your mouse and then click the Assign menu and choose Unused Area (or press F3 on your keyboard).
If you've made your canvas too big, you can resize it by clicking your mouse in the lower-right portion of your map and then clicking the Edit menu and choosing Trim to Bottom Cursor Location option. Likewise, you could cut areas away from the top/left by moving your cursor to where you want your map to begin and then click on the Edit menu and choose Trim to Top Cursor Location option (but be very careful with this as you could lose data if you do it incorrectly... this option assumes you are leaving a green padded area at the top and left of your first grave in the map).
If needed, you can insert and/or delete rows/columns, also using the Edit menu.
It's always a good idea to save your work periodically in case you make a mistake and need to go back to a point in time. You can do this under the Map menu and choose Save to Local Hard Drive. So, if you mess up and accidentally delete something while editing, you could just click on the Map menu and choose Open File from Local Hard Drive.
When you're ready to upload the map to your Online Account (only a master user can perform this task), click on the Map menu and choose Export Map Data to Online Application. You'll be prompted to input your credentials. Click the Login button to gain access. You may be asked to choose which cemetery the map will be applied to, so select from the dropdown, and then click the button to locate the map file from your local computer (navigate to the Documents folder and look for a folder named CryptKeeperMapEdit, be sure that the file is named "MAP-EXPORT.ONLINE"), and then click on the Upload button. It map take several seconds for the map to upload, and then you'll see a message saying Processing Complete.
If you've already got a map in your Online Account and want to make changes to it, you can open that by clicking on the Map menu and choosing Import Map Data from Online Application. Select the cemetery from the dropdown and click the button to transfer the information.