The drop-down menu in the top left corner of the window allows you to pick a task that you would like to perform. Once a task has been chosen the window will make those features available to you automatically.

Navigating around the map is achieved by zooming, where you change the scale of the map to get more or less detail & panning where you remain at the same scale, but drag/manipulate the map to bring new sections of the map into view.

Fixed Zoom In or Out - Click the "Plus" button to zoom further in, click the "Minus" button to zoom out.
(Alternatively you can use the "+" and "-" keys on the keyboard to achieve this.)

Zoom Box - Click the "Zoom Box" tool to activate it, then click and drag a rectangle on the map to define the area you want to zoom into.

Zoom to the "Full Extent" - Click the "Full Extent" button to zoom the map out to the start position.

Fixed Panning - Click on any of the four "Fixed Pan" buttons to move the map "Up", "Down", "Left" or "Right".
(Alternatively you can use the arrow keys on the keyboard to achieve this.)

Continuous Panning - Click the "Pan" tool to activate it, then click and drag the map in the direction you want to go.

*Hint* There is a keyboard shortcut to the Zoom Box by holding down the SHIFT key.

*Hint* You can also zoom in and out using the mouse wheel.

*Hint* You can also zoom in and out using the mouse wheel.

Choose "Find a Location" in the drop-down menu in the top left corner of the window. Now enter an address, place postcode or street into the textbox and click "Search".

Any locations matching your search phrase will be presented in a list below. An icon to the left of the location will indicate whether the location is a point, line or area.

Clicking the Location text (in black) will highlight the location on the map, whereas clicking the "zoom to on map" link will highlight the feature and zoom into it on the map.

*Hint* An autocomplete mechanism will begin after 3 characters, which will assist you by predicting possible locations as you type.

The Legend allows you to control what & how much information you see on the map. The Legend can be activated by clicking on the "Show Legend" button in the toolbar above the map.

Information on the map is grouped together into similar types and presented as "layers" which can be added or removed as desired. There are two types of layers that can be controlled with the legend Base Layers & Overlay Layers.

Base Layers provide background information and context. Using the legend a base layer is made visible by checking on the radio button next to it. Only one base layer can be shown at a time.

Overlay layers are added above base layers as desired, perhaps to answer a specific question. Overlay layers tend to be more numerous than base layers, so the legend control handles this by organising overlays into Layer Groups. The layers in a layer group can be hidden or displayed by clicking the "Layer Group Name". When a layer group is display an overlay layer can be made visible by checking the checkbox next to it, or rendered invisible by unchecking the the checkbox.

*Hint* Turn all the layer on/off in a layer group by checking the Layer Group Name checkbox.

Choose "Search for Planning Information" in the drop-down menu in the top left corner of the window. Choose one of the tools to draw a shape on the map. (e.g. Draw a rectangle)

Once you have completed drawing your shape a popup will appear with a drop-down list of locations. The tool will default to the "All" option, which will find matches on any selectable layers, but you can change this to find only matches on a layer you are interested in simply by picking it from the list. When you have made your selection click the "Search" button. (Or click "Remove Shape" to start again)

Any matches will be displayed in the left hand pane. Click "Zoom to Feature" to see the entire shape of the policy on the map. (N.B. Click "Clear Results" to start over again.

Click the link next to a policy to read more about it.

*Hint* You can click the "Download Results" to save the information onto your local machine.

The overview map is turned on by clicking on the following button in the bottom right corner of the map.

Its purpose is to help you locate where your current map view is relative to the wider surrounding area. This is indicated by a red box drawn on the Overview Map. The size of this box will vary with the zoom level.

The measure tool is activated by clicking the following button on the mapping toolbar.

Click on the map to measure a distance, each single click will create a new line segment. Double click to finish measuring and get the distance. Hold down the SHIFT key for freehand drawing.

The measure area tool is activated by clicking the following button on the mapping toolbar.

Click on the map to measure a distance, each single click will create a new side of a shape. Double click to finish measuring and get the area. Hold down the SHIFT key for freehand drawing.

The printing tool is activated by clicking the following button on the mapping toolbar.

Type a title for your map into the text box and click the "print this map" link.