Currently, the Create section is designed for functionality and throughput. While much of the authoring system can be surprisingly efficient once you are familiar with it, some aspects are not easily discovered and/or are not well documented yet. And there are a still a number of obvious shortcomings at this early stage. We have many plans for improvement, but in the meantime here are some helpful hints.

Note: these are functionally-organized snippets. If you'd like a step by step walkthrough of how to use the site to create your first Place, try the After You Shoot tutorial.

Spots


• Creating spots[Sort page]
  First, look at the photos near the top of your Unsorted Images. Determine which compass direction the first photo in your spot(s) most closely faces, then select it as the 'Start dir'. Then shift/alt click on each view in real-world-clockwise order until you have selected all 8 main views. Direction labels will be shown as you click. If photos are all nicely in order you can just click the [Grab 8] button or 'G' on the keyboard as a shortcut. If there are zoom views for this spot, just continue to shift/alt click on them or any other images you wish to associate with this spot. Then click the [Make Spot] button or 'M' on the keyboard and you will be prompted for a spot name. Enter the name, press OK and your new spot will show up in the Spots list to the left. Repeat until all image are sorted.
• Adding views/zooms to existing spots[Sort page]
  If you would like to add more views to an existing spot (typically new zooms), first select the image(s) you would like to add in the Unsorted Images pane. Then either open the [More...] menu and select Add Images To Current Spot, or just press the 'a' key on the keyboard. You will be prompted for confirmation, and the image(s) will be appended to the currently selected spot.
• Adjusting a spot location (nudge)[Locate/Link page]
  When a spot is selected, you can adjust its position on the map by using the arrow keys. The arrow keys move the spot 1 screen pixel in the chosen direction with each key press; if the shift key is held down, the arrows will move the spot 10 pixels. Yes, this means the physical distance the spot moves is dependent on the zoom level of the map. This is powerful and by design; use it to your advantage! (If you ever find that the selected spot doesn't move when you press the arrow keys, click the Nudge button)
• Adjusting all spots at once[Locate/Link page]
  If you hold down the 'A' key (for All), pressing the arrow keys will move all spot positions on the map. If the shift key is also held down, then all spots will move 10 pixels in the chosen direction. Companies that provide mapping data (like Google Maps) update their data over time, and occasionally you may find that all your spots appear to be offset from where they should be. Using the 'A' key to move all spots at once is an easy way to fix this.
• Moving spots directly[Locate/Link page]
  If you want to move a spot directly to a new location on the map you can hold down the 'M' key (move), and click the new location. The selected spot will move there immediately.
• Moving spots (more info)[Locate/Link page]
  When you move a spot which is linked to one or more other spots, you will notice that the links (the blue lines) do not move. It's okay, the spots are still linked, and the lines will adjust the next time the page is reloaded. The links will not change compass directions however, so if you move a spot far enough that one or more links should be to/from a different view direction, then after moving the spot you should delete and re-create those links.
Links
Apologies in advance for items in red. We are constantly working to improve the site - there is just so much to do!


• Linking spots[Locate/Link page]
  It's not at all obvious how to connect your spots to allow users to walk between them (sorry! but it is fairly efficient). The 'secret' is to select a spot, then hold down either the 'C' (connect) or 'L' (link) key while clicking on an adjacent spot. That will create a link between the spots and a line will be drawn between them. A link is actually comprised of 2 'moves'; a move from spot A -> B, and a reverse move from spot B -> A.
  
  Advanced tip: the software chooses which view the move will appear on based on the relative placement of the spots on the map. Sometimes if your photos are not spaced evenly in 45 degree increments, or if they are not well-aligned with the default compass directions this doesn't work perfectly. In these cases, it may be possible to force a move into the 'proper' view as follows: move a spot temporarily to get the right relative angle; create the link to another spot; move the first spot back to it's real position; save. Ugly, but can be helpful.
• Deleting links[Locate/Link page]
  This is also not obvious. To delete linkage between spots, click on the blue line which connects them. You will be prompted twice, once for each move! So while it is uncommon in practice, you can build one-way links. It's possible, due to rounding errors, that your click may only find one of the two moves. In that case just click again to delete the remaining move. Sometimes you may need to click around a couple times to land right on the line. Yes, this is a funky UI, and we plan to make it much better. Comments and ideas are certainly welcome.
Zooms


• Zoom views[Sort and Locate/Link pages]
  If you added 'zoom' images to a spot (after the 8 main directional view images) they are outlined in yellow and displayed after the main views in the Selected Spot pane. If your window is not wide enough some views may wrap around to the next row. They won't have visible labels, but are still fully functional. You can grow the window wider or reduce the size of the selected spot images using [-]/[+] to show more views in a single row.
• Placing/attaching zooms[Sort and Locate/Link pages]
  You can link a zoom to a main view just by dragging the zoom thumbnail onto a view thumbnail! When you start dragging you will see a miniature image of the zoom view, which can be very helpful in determining the placement of the zoom on the main view. As soon as you release the mouse button the zoom is placed, and the zoom number will be displayed for reference.
• Adjusting zooms[Sort and Locate/Link pages]
  When a zoom is placed, you can adjust it's position on its view by dragging it around with the mouse. You'll notice that there is a slight 'stickiness' near the view border to help position a zoom at the edge, if desired.
• Detaching zooms[Sort and Locate/Link pages]
  To detach a zoom from a view, drag as if you were going to adjust its position, but give it a good flick to pull it outside the view's border. It will jump outside the view and will turn red with a 'X', showing that if you release the mouse button it will be deleted.
Thumbnails


• Selecting[Preview page]
  You get to choose which image is used as your place's thumbnail on the Find Places page. On the Preview page (which you must visit in order to publish your place), just walk around until you are looking at the view you'd like to use and then click the "Set Thumbnail" button near the upper right. A small version of the thumbnail will be displayed. If you don't like what you see, you can simply walk to another view and click Set Thumbnail again.