Some of you will notice that your blog has a new link in the side bar that reads "Current Position (Map)". Here is why its there, how it works, and how to turn this off if you'd like.

All members have the ability to load a current latitude and longitude pair into their profile (for XJSail members, this is over-ridden by your personal mapping). If you are not an XJSail member, this position is used in a number of places, most notably in the Member Map and in the "Local Waters" block on your quick news feed in the admin.

What we have done is upgraded the Member Map to use the Google Earth browser plugin (very cool, be sure to load it - just follow the instructions in your browser). When a visitor clicks the new link in your sidebar, they will be taken to the main Member Map, but unlike the old Google Map of the world, the new member map will center and zoom to your specified location.

We wanted to make it easy for all members to show their current position as this is a great feature for your visitors. So if you've not added your position, try this out - just update your profile info with a lat/long pair. If you have added a position, make sure you keep it up to date so your friends and relatives can keep up with your travels.

If you have loaded a lat/long into your profile, this link will appear automatically. If you do not want this link on your blog, there is a checkbox in the Theme Settings (Blog Manager->Theme & Colors Tab->Theme Settings), uncheck the "Show Link To Member Map" box to remove the link.

And XJSail members: don't worry, there will be more Google Earth goodness for you in the near future as well.

Happy New Year from SailBlogs!