im a noob

That is how some people make their files. Others use GeePeeEx or google earth.

Look at http://www.poi-factory.com/node/6664.

Daniel

to make a spreadsheet of your favorite 'themed' places, with a standardized column set-up, then save the file as a 'csv' file (column separated values). There are lots of methods - try a simple one as a start. Good luck!

thanks for the info. this looks like it may be fun.

glad you joined jwg300,this is a link that you might find helpful.

http://home.comcast.net/~ghayman3/garmin.gps/pagepoi.htm#get...

Yes, that's one way many of the new POIs are submitted. Many of them are also "geocoded". For example, there's a website called GPS Vizualizer that can use google maps or Yahoo maps to match a lat/long to an adddress... Basically most people will go to, say McDonalds website, in their spare time, copy location addresses into a text file, then pass it to the Geocoder at GPS Vuzialiser, and post it here.

Of course, most POIs here are a combination of the two. SOmtimes the geocoder can be WAAAAY off, although its very good most of the time. So ypu'll see posts where people say they got a reeding with their gps at a local place that is waaaaaaay off in the POI file.

I DO maintain one file though where i've double checked all the stores in person before I submited the POI file. That's my Orange County Cigar stores. I made a point of doing that to weed out some unsavory stores that sell items that are normally associated with drug use, rather than tobacco.

All my other POI files are a Mixture of the two, ones that are 'geocoded' and ones that have been verified by myself or another user.

That's the good thing about this website. We have users from all over the US, and canada, and even the rest of the world that can tell us when an entry is bad, and send us the correct info to put up. The wonders of the internet and social networking:-)

enjoy your time here

You will certainly find lots of GPS information here. As for the POI files, they are created and submitted by our members. You can use free services like www.poieditor.com or www.gpsvisualizer.com to get the latitudes and longitudes for specific locations. A spreadsheet like excel or a text editor like notepad can be used to create the files.

There are several discussions on this site on how to create POI files. Do a search on "creating poi" to find some of these articles. Here is a link to one:
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/2115

Good luck with everything. You will find that this site will be invaluable in your quest for knowledge on GPS related information.

Glad top have you a part of the community. We all look forward to your first POI (and future ones too). You will find the hard part is finding a topic or POI that has not already been done which others will find useful.

glad to have you, jwg300!

be careful ... this place is very addictive!

welcome to the community, please take the time to read:
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/1631
http://www.poi-factory.com/faq

Then you should be read to ask some questions.

Welcome to the site jwg300. no dumb question here. You will find some great people here with tons of knowledge and always willing to help ...

--
Garmin Nuvi, 750

Glad to have you here. You will find this is a very valuable site.

Welcome to the site, it is nice to have you with us.

Miss POI

to the site! If you plan to give it a try making your own POI, then this is the place to learn or ask questions if you're stuck. Good luck.

Welcome to the site.

Welcome!

Building POI is an interesting pastime. It can be complicated or easy depending on what you want your finished product to look like.

The easiest method to organize a POI file is using a spreadsheet program such as Excel or Open Office's Calc. The data is entered into columns and the entire file is saved as a comma separated text file or CSV.

The quicker way to creating your own files is to take one of the existing CSV files and open it to study and learn the format. If you want to store more information in a POI file than can easily be put into a 4 column CSV, look into creating a GPX file. There are several programs available that can help create these. GeePeeX is one, Extra_POI_Editor is another.

Welcome aboard.

I just wanted to want you... this is an addictive "hobby"

Dom