Maps for Mac users
See below for two very useful updates.
One of the new features on our site makeover of which we are most proud is the new Maps section which allows purple pagers to access, download and print all 169 maps from the latest, 2007, 6th edition of the classic reference book, The World Atlas of Wine, co-authored by Hugh Johnson and me with massive help from Julia Harding MW.
You go to the opening page of the Maps section and have a choice between clicking on a specific place name in the Gazetteer via the alphabetical lists (still to be properly divided into General, Chateau and Quinta names, and still to run vertically rather than the current, counter-intuitive horizontal format) or you can access a complete list of the maps by country and choose to view a specific map.
Once you have accessed a PDF of the map, you can use the controls along the top of it to, for example, zoom in and out, navigate your way round the map, and even search for a specific word within it.
This new feature has been enthusiastically welcomed by many of you, but some of you, especially the 10% of you who are Mac users, have had difficulty accessing the maps at all. This, unfortunately, is not within our direct control as it is generally a function of how your Mac reacts with the Adobe software used to read PDFs.
However, my colleague Nancy Preston is currently investigating ways around this problem and here is her best solution to date:
It entails installing another PDF viewer (not Adobe’s) for the purposes of viewing while in a browser. If you’re willing, you should follow the link below to install the plugin, being sure to read the Readme file to install it. It requires one manual step, plus there’s a bit about going into Adobe Reader and unticking a box that will ensure Adobe Reader stops trying to be the default reader from within your browser. Don’t be daunted – it took me about a minute to do, and seems to work for me in Safari, Firefox and Opera browsers.
http://www.schubert-it.com/pluginpdf/
We will of course tell you if Nancy's researches unearth a solution involving the more conventional Adobe software but hope very much that this alternative will work for those of you who are particularly anxious to take advantage of this new feature of JancisRobinson.com - whose name is prominently displayed on each map as a reminder that they are copyright and intended for personal use only. Very useful for travelling though, or even for taking to tutored tastings.
A medium term plan is to have direct links to the relevant map whevener a word in the Gazetteer appears in one of our articles which would be rather jolly.
Purple pager John Conrad reports:
Hey Folks, Woopee. I found another way to get into Maps for Mac users without having to use Schubert but staying w/in Safari (& Adobe Reader).
Quit Safari.
Open Adobe Reader.
Go to Preferences.
Click on Internet in the left hand column.
Uncheck the default: display pdf in browser using..."
But then check box for "Allow fast Web view".
Quit Adobe Reader.
Restart Safari.
Go to Maps and it should open the one you choose.
Then in order to take advantage of the features such as zoom, etc, place the cursor arrow on the map, press Ctrl and mouse button and the pop down menu should display showing the features.
For more information, especially pertaining to Intel Macs and further complications, go to
http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20060831091053988
And purple pager Kim Gammelgard has an even simpler solution:
I was surprised to see the problem, as I simply have not installed the Adobe Reader on my Mac. And I do very fine without it .
