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Maps and stats summarizing your travels
The basic idea is to make a list of highway sections you have traveled and collect them into a plain text file to be submitted to Clinched Highway Mapping. The text file will be processed and converted into a set of custom stats pages and maps describing your travels.
For examples, you can browse the travel summaries of any of our users.
Simple steps
- Choose an alphanumeric username.
Use only lowercase English letters (a-z), numbers (0-9), and underscores (_) in your username, and keep the name at or under 15 characters long. Avoid capital letters, characters with diacritical marks, and characters from other alphabets; otherwise your file will not be processed.
- Make a plain text file.
Name the file username.list, replacing username with the username you chose. For example, if you choose the name "highwayguy", name your file "highwayguy.list".
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Make a list of highway sections you have traveled.
The Highway Browser is designed to help you with this process. The Highway Browser lists all available highways that you can use. For each highway, the Highway Browser also provides a list of waypoints that you can use as a start or end point.
Break up your travels into traveled sections by highway and region. For each highway section, add one line to your .list file with the following format:
For example, if you traveled on Interstate 70 in Illinois, USA between the Missouri border and Exit 52, you would put the following line in your file:
That text comes from the in the HB, shown here in the areas highlighted in yellow:
See our Examples page for more examples of how to break down your travels into "sections" to enter into the file.
- Check your work.
Make sure the following items are correct:
- Each line has exactly the four required fields: region, highway, and two waypoint labels.
- The fields have only a single space between them. Tabs, commas, or other delimiters may prevent the mapping script from parsing your file correctly.
- The file is saved as plain text with a .list extension. Word processor files (Microsoft Word, Open Office Write, etc.) and rich-text formats will not work. If you use a word processor to create your file, be sure to select "Save As..." and save the file in a plain text format.
- Including a small number of blank lines is acceptable. You might wish to break up your list into chunks by region or highway type to make it easier to read or manage.
- Send your .list file by email to
. Mention in the subject line that your username is a new one.
You have now finished your part! Your file will be included in the next site update, which usually occurs more often than weekly.
- Later, look for your name on the Traveler List.
Once your file has been processed, your name will appear in this list along with all the other travelers. Click on your username and enjoy your clinched highway stats and maps.
- Update your file as needed by emailing an updated copy.
Check your online Log File (linked on your stats pages). If you included a highway or point label that the mapping script does not recognize, it will tell you in your Log File. Sometimes the highway data are updated, and this may generate a new error. If you do more traveling, you can update your .list file to reflect the new highways on which you have traveled. To update your file, just email it again, and it will be processed in the subsequent site update.
The Clinched Highway Mapping collaborators hope that you enjoy your free maps and stats pages.