September 2024 - CalTopo

New Feature: 3D

September 30, 2024/15 Comments/in New Features, Uncategorized /by Rachel

Looking at a route and need to visualize in a different way? Searching for a lost hiker and want to view the terrain in the search area? Change your perspective with CalTopo 3D.

After a lot of behind the scenes work, we are so happy to bring 3D to CalTopo web and mobile! This is a feature we are all incredibly excited about, and from feature requests over the years we know you will be too.

This isn’t just any old 3D map though. With CalTopo’s new 3D you can accomplish everything you are used to getting done on CalTopo in 2D.

View all of our existing layers in either 2D or 3D.
Planning a spring ski line? Stack sentinel weekly on top of Mapbuilder topo to view the map and snow coverage while visualizing your line.
Climbing Mt. Rainer? View the peak in 3D and adjust your tentative route to avoid large crevasse fields visible on shaded relief. Seriously, volcanoes look so cool in 3D.
Visualize terrain before sending a search team into the field. Create search areas based on terrain, or rank likely and unlikely routes taken by viewing a 3 dimensional representation of the area.

The use cases are unlimited. Leave a comment below on how 3D will change your mapping!

To enable 3D, click or tap the “3D” icon on the upper left side of the map viewer on both web and the mobile app. Controls will differ slightly between the versions. On the web, use the controls as follows when in 3D mode (these can be brought up at any time by clicking “3D Controls” at the bottom of the map viewer).

On mobile all perspective changes are done using your fingers. Drag two fingers vertically to change the pitch. Drag two fingers in a spinning motion to rotate the map, and drag one finger to move your location on the map (as normal). You can toggle back to 2D in the upper left corner.

For more information on using 3D in CalTopo, visit the 3D page in our user guide.

To use 3D on mobile, ensure you have the most recent app version downloaded (1.13.6 and later). To check for updates visit the app store by following this link: caltopo.com/appstore.

3D will be available to all CalTopo users (free and paid) through the end of 2024. Give it a try, tell us what you think! Starting January 1st, 3D will be available to users with a pro, desktop or team subscription. You can view our subscription levels and upgrade at caltopo.com/join.

If you have any questions or comments, please email us at help@caltopo.com or comment on this post below. Happy 3D Mapping!

New Feature: Lockable Maps

September 18, 2024/1 Comment/in First Response, New Features /by Rachel

We are excited to introduce another highly requested CalTopo team specific new feature: Lockable Maps! This feature allows you to “lock” a map in its current state so no additional edits/additions can be made.

Because team accounts allow for seamless and instant collaboration and editing of shared data, some users have expressed a concern for having data/markers/tracks end up on the wrong map, or for the accidental deletion of data from a map.

While we have worked with many of you in the past to create a subteam for archived maps to limit this potential (still a great option in conjunction), we are very happy to announce that team accounts now include the ability to lock maps!

Team admin or team managers can now lock team maps from completed mission or reference maps that should not be edited or changed. Whatever the reason, locking maps (and unlocking as needed) is as easy as editing the map name.

Simply open the map edit dialogue and toggle “map locked” on or off as needed.

Locking maps on the web pictured above

To lock or unlock maps on the mobile app, please ensure you have the most recent version of the app. Currently this is 1.11.4 or higher. To check for updates visit the app store by following this link: https://caltopo.com/appstore.

You can find more information on using this feature on the web and the mobile app in this section of the user guide: Lockable Maps.

If you work with an organization that could benefit from this feature, but do not currently have a CalTopo Team account you can find more information on these accounts here: caltopo.com/about/teams.

We hope this feature will be as useful to you as we are already finding it. With feedback or questions, comment below or email us at help@caltopo.com.

Moving from FATMAP to CalTopo

September 12, 2024/1 Comment/in General Info, Uncategorized /by Meghan

FATMAP is retiring October 1st. Per Strava’s announcement in June 2024, all FATMAP account data will be deleted after October 1st (our condolences to all the FATMAP users out there). Luckily it is easy to move your data to CalTopo before it disappears- just follow the simple steps below.

And a note before we begin: all these steps are easier on a computer although they can be accomplished on a mobile device.

First log into your FATMAP account at fatmap.com/my-data/tool and choose “Request My Archive”. UPDATE: This tool will now be available until November 1st. Depending on how much data you had, it may take a while for the archive to be ready so be patient. Once your archive is available, select “Download My Data” to download the data to your device.

You can request your archive using FATMAP’s tool. Once your archive has been prepared, download it to your device.

Your archive will be downloaded as a zip file. Unpack the zip file and find the folders labeled “activities” and “routes”. These folders contain your data in GPX format although there may also be some waypoints or other data in the main folder.

Log into CalTopo and select “Import” and then “Choose Files”. Find the FATMAP folder and select the GPX files you would like to import into the map.

Once you have unpacked the zip file, log into CalTopo and import the GPX files into a new or saved map.

You can import multiple files into the same map. If you are working with a new map, make sure to save the map so that you don’t lose any data and can access and update the map at a later time. And the best part? Now you can use CalTopo’s powerful mapping tools to interact with all of your carefully documented activities, routes, and waypoints from FATMAP!

Now that’s a nice looking map!

If you’re new to CalTopo, it can be a little intimidating at first. Here are a couple tips for organizing your imported data in CalTopo to help you get started:

Import the data into an unsaved map and then save it OR import the data into an existing saved map. As long as the data is part of a saved map, you will be able to access that data from either the web or mobile app. If you’ve never created a map in CalTopo, make sure to check out Making your First Map.
Create maps for specific adventures, trips or areas. Many mapping programs display all your data at once on the main map. In CalTopo, by default only the data for the map that you are currently viewing is displayed. If you have a ton of data saved to one map (think hundreds of markers, routes and/or tracks), it can make the map harder to navigate as well as impact the overall performance. Consider organizing your imported data into individual maps by adventure, trip or area. This can make your maps and data much more useful and easier to use- think lean and mean (and useful!) maps. Copying to a New Map covers how to move data from one map to a new map and can be a helpful tool for dividing and organizing your maps, especially after a big import.
Create folders to organize your data within a map. Folders are the organizational rockstars of CalTopo. You can create meaningful folders to organize your data, move map objects between folders as needed and adjust folder visibility. Learn more about creating and using folders in your maps in the Folders section.

If you have any questions, let us know in the comments below or send us an email at help@caltopo.com. Happy mapping!

New Feature: SMS Locators on Mobile

September 12, 2024/7 Comments/in First Response, New Features /by Rachel

We are excited to announce the addition of the SMS locators feature to the mobile app! An SMS locator is a message sent from CalTopo to a missing or injured person. When they open the text from CalTopo, their location automatically populates on your map.

SMS locators are one of our most powerful and widely used team specific features. Search and rescue teams use them to locate missing hikers, ski patrol’s for locating and quickly assisting an injured skier, to name a few common uses. Tell us in the comments below how your team uses SMS locators. We’ve heard of some unique ideas!

Over time, the use of a mobile command station with a computer on site has lessened. More teams are performing the majority of mission planning on a mobile device, and adding this feature to the mobile app has been highly requested.

The ability to send SMS locators is now live on the newest app release 1.11.4 (or newer). If you belong to a team, please ensure that you have this version downloaded to use this mobile feature. To check for updates visit the app store by following this link : https://caltopo.com/appstore.

If your department does not currently have a team account and you are interested in this feature, you can find more details at caltopo.com/teams.

SMS locators in the mobile app work almost identically to online. Choose the “add” button at the top of the app, scroll down and choose SMS Locators. As always, you must be working from a saved map to use this feature.