Using a map service allows GEDKeeper to show you locations of births, deaths, and living, defined in database, right on a map.
A number of providers are used to display maps: Google, Yandex, OpenStreetMap, Bing, WikiMapia. To change the provider, use the "Providers" button on the window toolbar.
Maps can be saved to a image file using the button on the toolbar.
To load places from database records, use the "Load places" button. This is the main mode, when the map window is called from the "Pedigree" menu of the main application window. Places are loaded according to the selected parameters on the left panel. It can be either the output of the selected type of place of birth, death or residence of all persons; or the output of places of any facts of a single selected person.
If in the options (menu Service\Options), on the tab "Interface\Locations and Maps", the option "Search in geocoders of places without coordinates" is not enabled, then when loading places of various facts, the presence of a place in the directory of location records will be checked and places without coordinates will be skipped. If the option is enabled, then all places without coordinates will be checked by the selected geocoding provider and the names of the found coordinate options will be compared. Loading places with coordinate search is a slow process. It is recommended to use places entered in the directory of locations and with specified coordinates.
The following modes assume that the locations is maintained in accordance with the GEDCOM 5.5 EL standard - i.e. locations form a hierarchy in which historical names of locations are specified at each level (City/District/Region/Country), with the period of validity of these names, and each location has a list of top-level locations, also with the period of validity of subordination.
Before calling the map service, you can filter persons using the general GEDKeeper filters.