At my first writing job I was challenged to list 10 books I couldn’t live without. Two on my list were atlases (World & US) and three were maps (Berlin, NYC subway & Dallas Key Map). For six years, even when my wallet was lost, my purse still contained two maps: SF & the East Bay. Point is, when maps went high tech, I was in heaven. And Minimap Sidebar is a great part of that.

When I come across an address in a site or in an email, I can get maps and directions in a sidebar, new tab or preview. I right click and “Minimap” is the first choice on the menu.

There are so many options for using Minimap Sidebar, it really comes down to personal preference. If you go with the eponymous “sidebar”, you see everything at once:

I suggest you expirement with all the options to find exactly what works for you. There’s a menu of tools above the map that does all sorts of things.

And there’s a bunch of choices below the map to play around with:

Not to mention all the functionality of the other two ways of viewing a location (tab and preview).

This add-on also includes a “geoDiscovery” feature that detects locations on the page you’re browsing. Its icon is in the lower right of your browser chrome, and it turns red when it has useful info to share. Just click on it and go with the flow.

Minimap Sidebar is really the perfect add-on for anyone who ever visits new locations and/or can’t remember the way to the grocery store. Why not try it out?

Post from Elise Allen, who missed her calling as a cab driver, but still loves navigating with Minimap Sidebar. See all posts by Elise Allen.