Welcome to our Website!

This website offers an interactive experience of exploring historical battle sites and routes in the first half of the 20th century.^th century in Western Macedonia. Follow this guide to navigate effectively.

1. Home Page (Full Analysis with Header and Footer)

On the home page you will see:

• Website header (header):  At the top there is from left to right: The logo, the navigation menu to the subsections of the website, below a search box throughout the website and on the right 2 flags for language selection.
• Introductory banner: Just below is the introductory banner that informs us about the role and purpose of the website.
• Filters Section: By selecting one of these we see the routes formed by the battle points that we have available for browsing and further information. Go to Filters Section above the map. Select a historical period (e.g. Macedonian Struggle, Balkan Wars). The map will update to show only the points of the selected period.
• Reset Filters: Uncheck all the boxes in the filters section to show all points again.
• Interactive Map: Displays all battle points. Just below the banner there is an Interactive Map with 5 options that can be made either individually or in combination.
• Information Table: Continuing to scroll down, we come across a complex filter that allows us to filter the 57 battle sites depicted directly below by either the Regional Unit they belong to, the Historical Period, or both. Clicking on any box of a battle site opens a new page with the full analysis of the information we have available for that specific site.
• Website footer (footer): At the bottom of the dark green frame at the lowest scroll point of the website, we find from left to right: a) A link to the official website of the Region of Western Macedonia and a link to the contact email regarding this website. The email is hidden for security reasons, it appears when we click on the link. b) Right after, we will find a small registration form for the website's newsletter, to subscribe to its newsletter. c) On the right we have the column with all the legal documents that accompany the website as well as additional information. d) At the end there are links to download our website's application, from Google Play for Android devices and from the App Store for Apple devices. e) At the bottom you will find links to all the social media of our online portal.

2. Battle Points (Navigation Menu, Submenu Grevena, Kastoria, Kozani, Florina)

• In each of the above options, we refer separately to each Regional Unit of the Region of Western Macedonia. After an introductory banner that gives us an idea by showing a landscape of the specific region, all the Battle Points from all the Historical Periods of the project, which have been recorded on our website and belong to the specific Regional Unit, are filtered.

3. Routes (Navigation Menu, Submenu Macedonian Struggle, First Balkan War, Greco-Italian War, Greco-German War, German Occupation - Holocaust, All Routes)

• In each of the above options, we refer separately to each Thematic Historical Period that we have recorded on the website.
• Map Navigation: For example, visiting the first Route “Macedonian Struggle”, we will see after the characteristic introductory banner, an Interactive Map with all the Battle Points that form the Thematic Route of the Macedonian Struggle. These points are joined by the two furthest from each other, and include all the rest. This is the suggested tour route to visit all the points mentioned in the Macedonian Struggle.
• View Points: Hover over a point symbol on the map to see a short title.
  • Click on a marker to open the information window with:
  • Battle Title
  • Date
  • Short Description
  • “Read More” Link: Leads to the detailed article.
  • Picture: A miniature related to the battle.
• Grouped Indicators: Zoom in to break up grouped markers into individual points.
• Zoom and Move: Use the mouse or touch gestures to zoom in, out, or move around the map.
• Distance and time: Just below our Map, information on the total distance in kilometers and the total time required to travel all these points is displayed, with the calculation being done using a special algorithm that calculates the optimal route in kilometers to visit them all.
• “Open in” button group Google Maps": Immediately after, we have a group of buttons, which are dynamically created and can transfer our navigation to Google Maps to facilitate our journey. Due to Google's limitation of 10 stopover points per group of coordinates, the buttons are grouped with the suggested order of visiting the points in 10s of points, starting from the first 10 and continuing accordingly. The thematic route has a specific suggested start and end and the corresponding instructions on Google Maps. If we wish to define and create our own personalized route, the website allows us to do so on the last page of the menu “My Route”.
• Information Table: Continuing to scroll down, we come across the Battle Points mentioned in this Thematic Route. By clicking on any box of a battle point, a new page opens with the full analysis of the information we have available for that specific point.

4. My Route (Navigation Menu)

4 options: By visiting the link where the “My Route” page is hosted, it asks us to choose 1 of 4 options: first is to create a route for us with the points that are near us. This option is activated only through geolocation and if the visitor is within the geographical boundaries of the Region of Western Macedonia. It retrieves the coordinates of the visitor and finds all the battle points or related points that are within a range of 20 kilometers from him. The second option is to choose our location as a starting point, and the third to manually define the point from which we wish to start our journey by clicking on the map. The fourth The option is 'exit' so that if we entered the page by mistake we can leave it in an easy and visible way.

Legend: Having entered the main interface of the page, we first see a legend that informs us about the symbols we will encounter on the map and what they represent. Apart from the starting point symbol which is unique, the rest are divided into 5 categories by color, and each category is divided into 2 more, one with a classic map pin symbol representing a main battle point, and one with a monument symbol, representing a related point such as a monument, a bust, a landmark related to a battle of that historical period.

• Using the Map: The Google Map with this specific style and format was chosen to be as clear and readable as possible, due to the large amount of information contained in all the battle points, we tried to avoid more 'noise' on the eye. All the battle points and related points are grouped on it. We zoom in or click on the numbers to break the grouped markers into individual points. Each point has the same interactivity as it had in the Thematic Routes with one and only difference: In the popup window that appears if we click or tap on any interactive point, there is another option, the "Add" box along with a heart which, when clicked on, turns red and stays red until we click on it again or delete it from our list. As soon as we click on it, the first route is immediately created, from the starting point we chose to the specific point represented by the heart. Closing the popup we notice the following: a) the route that was already drawn for us on the map b) In the “Selected battle points” box the point we chose has been added with a heart next to it. We can delete the point from the list of desired points of visit either by moving the mouse next to the heart and clicking the X that appears, or by clicking on its name and deselecting the heart.

Another very useful feature is the search field at the top of the map titled “Search for Battle Points.” When you start typing, it brings up various battle points related to the text you type as a title, and once you select one of them, it adds it directly to your list of places to visit and redraws the route on the map.

Once we complete the process and select all the points we are interested in visiting, we will also have available the total distance we need to travel according to the algorithm that takes into account the optimal kilometer route, as well as the estimated total time. We now have 2 options that also certify the personalization of the application: Export the selected list to a pdf file or open the selected points per 10s in Google Maps to immediately start our journey.

• The process can be repeated as many times as desired.

5. Each Battle Point Page

• Introduction: At the top of the page we get 3 pieces of information:
  • The date of the event (battle)
  • The title of the event (battle)
  • A typical image from the spot
• Main body with all the information: At this point we can see all the information that interests us:
  • Period: Σε ποια ιστορική περίοδο ανήκει το συγκεκριμένο σημείο μαχών.
  • Location: The location where the battle took place.
  • Regional unit: The Regional Unit to which the location geographically belongs.
  • Χάρτης: Map with a pin on the point, and the ability to open it in Google Maps.
  • Main Photo
  • Brief Description of the Battle
  • Photo gallery: Collection of photos related to the site after research
  • Detailed description of the Battle
  • Indicative Bibliography
  • Related points (if any): If there are any related monuments, busts or landmarks related to this event, we will find them at this point on the page, one below the other, and they include a description, a photo and a map of the related point which has a pin to open in Google Maps and directly start the journey to this point.
• Epilogue: At the end of the page we find 2 important options:
  • Ability to post comments and photos: Each Battle Point allows the visitor to comment on it and upload a photo from their visit (after approval by the administrator). By clicking on the green icon on the left, the corresponding box opens to start the commenting process. By clicking on the paperclip icon, we can upload one or more photos along with our comment.
  • Icons social media media: These icons are different from the ones found in the footer of the website. They are tools with which we can easily share the specific page on our social networks so that those who connect with us can see it.

6. Accessibility Icon (Bottom Right)

• Clicking on the accessibility icon opens up a multitude of options for people with disabilities. By selecting the innovative “Text to Speech” function, we can select any paragraph on the page we are on, and by clicking the play icon that appears above the selected text, we can listen to audio narration.