Posted by Aran Not even then, really. Database accuracy varies greatly depending on the local urbex community. Where some cities have multiple explorers keeping their local part of the DB up to date, there are also entire states where the only information are a few locations provided by some long-retired explorer ten years ago. If you want to make the DB a reliable resource, you have to do it yourself. The way I see it, doing so helps the community as a whole and helps new explorers dip their toes in the water of the FM community- after all, now that many of the old "rites of passage" locations that everyone explored are gone, there needs to be something to take their place.

Hey there, thanks for taking the time to respond! I understand the ethics behind this community, however I’m sure at some point when you started you either; a) didn’t know a single spot and simply wanted to connect with other to gain a bit of experience, or b) you knew someone & somewhere to start yourself off.
I would love to be able to keeps reliable database but am unable to do so without any resources hence my presence here.

Posted by Saturn_Sayerz This might seem a little excessive but I keep a binder with details, history, maps and photos of all of the locations I have found!

That’s actually really cool, leave it in the family and it may become a cool little family heirloom!

Posted by 204urbex Hey there, thanks for taking the time to respond! I understand the ethics behind this community, however I’m sure at some point when you started you either; a) didn’t know a single spot and simply wanted to connect with other to gain a bit of experience, or b) you knew someone & somewhere to start yourself off. I would love to be able to keeps reliable database but am unable to do so without any resources hence my presence here.

Like many explorers, I too started off with nobody to explore with and no locations to explore. I had to find local abandonments the hard way, with lots of research, trial, and error. Once I found them I ended up exploring solo for a very long time. I suspect many others on this site started off the same way as me.

Try looking into the "how to find locations" threads, there's plenty of them around. Once you've applied what you learn to find and explore some locations, things get easier around here. This is going to sound paradoxical, but the more you explore the easier it gets to find information on UER.

It's not that anybody wants to discourage new members- quite the opposite. But a lot of the information we have is sensitive stuff that could lead to some nasty real world consequences if it fell into the wrong hands. Given that, many users are wary about providing information to new members until they see them around the forums and are convinced of their trustworthiness.

Posted by Aran Like many explorers, I too started off with nobody to explore with and no locations to explore. I had to find local abandonments the hard way, with lots of research, trial, and error. Once I found them I ended up exploring solo for a very long time. I suspect many others on this site started off the same way as me. Try looking into the "how to find locations" threads, there's plenty of them around. Once you've applied what you learn to find and explore some locations, things get easier around here. This is going to sound paradoxical, but the more you explore the easier it gets to find information on UER. It's not that anybody wants to discourage new members- quite the opposite. But a lot of the information we have is sensitive stuff that could lead to some nasty real world consequences if it fell into the wrong hands. Given that, many users are wary about providing information to new members until they see them around the forums and are convinced of their trustworthiness.

I completely understand, I’ve gotten into some pretty shady communities in the past and that was my first lesson with anybody, I do appreciate you communicating the feelings of both parties ( being well known members vs noobs such as I) and I appreciate this as a form of encouragement, I’ve got a couple places but to be completely honest I have no idea how to go about getting in and remaining undetected.. I will check out the section that you recommended, thanks for that! I look forward to seeing if I succeed in becoming more comfortable with exploring

Posted by 204urbex I completely understand, I’ve gotten into some pretty shady communities in the past and that was my first lesson with anybody, I do appreciate you communicating the feelings of both parties ( being well known members vs noobs such as I) and I appreciate this as a form of encouragement, I’ve got a couple places but to be completely honest I have no idea how to go about getting in and remaining undetected.. I will check out the section that you recommended, thanks for that! I look forward to seeing if I succeed in becoming more comfortable with exploring

I wouldn't call us shady, per say. We just happen to balance on a very fine line in the grey area of the law. Our tendency to keep our cards close to our chests is partially because publicly announcing our tendency to walk that fine line is a recipe for trouble.

The other reason (and perhaps the biggest) is because when a new member joins, we know nothing about them. If information about a location (name, address, point of entry, sometimes the very fact that it exists at all) falls into the wrong hands, bad things happen. Best case scenario, the owner remembers that they own the place and seal it up tight, denying access to everyone else. But rarely does the best case scenario happen- more likely, the taggers find a place to tag, the scrappers find a place to scrap, and some idiots with more lighter fluid then common sense end up torching it for kicks. Everyone here has seen at least one priceless historical building full of cool stuff turn into a barren charred shell because somebody wasn't discreet about who they told, so naturally we're cautious about giving that information out to people we don't know.


As for learning more about exploring, I highly recommend This list of common topic threads. It may not hold every piece of knowledge you need to learn how to explore, but it's a really great place to start.

Posted by ClementRSedona http://i98.photobu...Se91/efwewffff.jpg[/URL]

How did you get that sidebar to come up in Google My Maps? I'm not getting it, despite using Google My Maps too. I just get a less detailed blurb that pops up when I click on the point, instead of a whole sidebar like yours.

I use Google MyMaps, it's pretty good, but there's some features I wish it did have.

I know there's a ton of icons and colors to pick, but I really don't know how to label my points, what should colors represent, should I use check marks to indicate where I've been, do I keep demolished locations on the map, etc.

ClementRSedona, may I ask how you do your map labels? You've got quite a lot on there too!

I just use Google maps

I just pin locations i find, save to favorites and label them.

Whoa. This thread is super inspiring.

My collection is, well, erhm. A mess. Time to get to organizing!

I use a notebook. I make a list of places I want to go and track them down to the address or as close as I can get and keep it in the notebook. Any time I go exploring I take it with me and write a little bit down about the location so I can remember that I did it. Then I just cross it off as I go. It's worked great for me for years!

I’ve been using a custom google map but I have noticed now that I have many saved icons it has started acting a bit glitchy when using on my phone. Works fine from my laptop. A buddy of mine originally used a custom google map but has since switched over to just saving spots as “starred places” within the basic google maps app. You can save a place like this by just clicking on the point, then hitting “save.”

Posted by korysan I’ve been using a custom google map but I have noticed now that I have many saved icons it has started acting a bit glitchy when using on my phone. Works fine from my laptop. A buddy of mine originally used a custom google map but has since switched over to just saving spots as “starred places” within the basic google maps app. You can save a place like this by just clicking on the point, then hitting “save.”

its super glitchy on the phone, zooming can sometimes crash google maps if you have a bunch of spots.

Lol the elder teachings of the Urbex. I'm sure the rest of my family will be thrilled

Posted by 204urbex That’s actually really cool, leave it in the family and it may become a cool little family heirloom!

Thanks guys, Google My Maps works really well.

Posted by ClementRSedona Here is an example if i click on one of my spot, you can add wathever information that you want, for each layer you just need to fill the 'form' that you created. http://i98.photobu...Se91/efwewffff.jpg[/URL]

So I found that the sidebar view was by clicking "Preview" on the map, but what do you mean "form that you created?" All I have is a name and a single text box for each point, how did you get multiple text boxes for each point?

EDIT: Found it. If you click on the three dots in the upper right corner of the sidebar for each layer, it should open a drop down menu with the option to "open data table." Click it and it should open that layer in data table form. Click the down arrow in a column heading and select "add column before/after" to add new fields to all the points in that layer.

Best way I've found is to write a website from scratch, invest thousands of hours rewriting it as you learn better techniques, and never actually explore because you're working on said website if you're not working stupid crazy overtime at work.

In all seriousness, though, for the more interesting stuff I drop placemarks in Google Earth, and I then export the kmz to use in Locus Maps on my phone.

Google My Maps is where all the dirty secrets hide.

Everything's pinned and labeled on Google maps.

Google Earth Pro. Bonus of old aerials.

Also, you can search MyMaps.