You can either browse around on a map to find interesting places or search for places by tag, location or name.
Browsing
You can drag the map around and zoom in and out to an area of interest. The map will
automatically show places in the visible region.
Or you can use the Move Map field to enter any city, state, country or US zip code.
If more than one
match is found a list will be shown with up to 10 items. If your search is
unambiguous the map will immediately move to that place.
For example, searching for "portland" will display a list of several cities and places around the world, but
searching for "portland o", "portland, or" or "portland oreg" will move directly to Portland, Oregon.
Searching
In the Find Places field you can perform three different kinds of searches.
| Tag Search | This is the typical search for tags (keywords). Searching for "park" will find all places that have been tagged with the word "park", but not "parkland" or "parkway" |
| Place Name Search | You can search for a specific place name by using "place:" or "name:" followed by a place name or partial place name. Searching for "place:way" or "name:way" will find all places with names that include "way", i.e. "WestParkway3" or "wayfarer_apartments". |
| Username Search | You can search for places created by specific users by entering "user:" followed by a username or partial username. Searching for "user:fan" will find all places created by users whose username includes "fan", like "fannie_mae" or "lakersfan". |
In the results list, clicking on the place name will display an info-balloon on the map with basic information about the place. Clicking [+] will zoom in to get a closer look at the place on the overhead view and clicking "Walk" will bring you to the Walk Around page where you can view and navigate the place from a first-person perspective.
| First-Person View |
On the left side; shows photos of real places at eye-level.
You can navigate by clicking on the green arrows to move ahead or to rotate and look in different directions. Or you can use the keyboard arrow keys. If you press the space bar or hover your mouse over the photos you'll see everything you can click on, including icons for zoomed views. |
| Overhead/Map View |
On the right side; shows a view of where you are from above.
The red circles indicate spots where you can stand, and the yellow arrow indicates which direction you're facing. If the red circle is filled in, then you've already visited that spot, if empty, then it is still unexplored. Click on any red circle to move directly to that spot. |
| Descriptions & Comments | Below the first-person and overhead views. Descriptions and comments update dynamically to match what you see as you walk around. |
The Walk Around page is designed to explore and enjoy. Just look around and try things. :-)