Structure of the Site
The Home page lists 92 regions. Each region contains from one to over a hundred localities. Each locality presents from one to twelve 360° panoramas with captions and navigation features.
Getting Started
On the Home page scroll down the list of states and regions. Click on a region you are interested in.
If you are working on a desktop or laptop computer or a tablet, the initial layout will be in standard view mode, with an option to change to simple view. If you are using a phone it will be in simple view mode.
In both modes the panoramas can be panned (rotated) around 360°, tipped up or down, and zoomed in or out. Many older panoramas are cylindrical, with limited vertical range. Newer panoramas are spherical, with the ability to look straight up and straight down.
Standard Mode
The locality name is in the top left corner. Below it there will be a box with a descriptive caption, the exact location, and the date of photography. To hide the caption box click on it, or on the locality name. To get it back, click the locality name again.
At the center-top there will be the website name Don Bain's 360° Panoramas. Click this link to go to the home page, at the appropriate place in the long list of regions.
In the top right corner there will be a thumbnail map showing the general location of this region. Click the thumb map button to open a larger map window displaying the Open Street Map base map, with dots for all panoramas in this locality. The current panorama will be a red dot, the others yellow. You can pan the map and zoom in and out. If some of the dots are not currently in view a button appears to show all locations. Click any map button to display that 360 panorama. To close the map window click the thumb map.
The wrench icon in the lower left corner will show (or hide) a tool bar. Buttons on the toolbar allow you to:
• show or hide the caption box
• show or hide the thumbnail images
• show or hide the navigation buttons
• change control mode between drag and continuous
• expand the pano window to fullscreen or return it to the previous size
• start or stop auto-rotation
• return to the default pan and zoom
• show more info
A row of thumbnail images will be at bottom-center, click any thumbnail to go to that 360. The current pano will be outlined in red, recently seen panos will display a checkmark.
Large navigation buttons are lined up below the thumbnails. With these it is possible to view a slide-show by repeatedly clicking the next 360 or previous 360 buttons. From the last 360 in a locality it will proceed to the first 360 in the next locality. From the first 360 it will go back to the last 360 in the previous locality. In this way it is possible to methodically view every 360° panorama in the region one by one.
The previous locality and next locality buttons will proceed through all localities in the current region, then loop around to begin again. The go to region button goes to the parent region page, the go to home button goes to the Home page of the entire site.
The simple view button in the bottom right corner hides some of the standard view items, and substitutes a compact navigation bar with arrows. This provides a less-cluttered view of the 360° panoramas.
Simple View
The simple view mode is automatic when viewing this site on mobile phones and other small screens. The icons on the compact navigation bar do exactly the same things as the large navigation buttons in standard view.
Most features appearing in standard view mode can be shown also in simple view mode by using buttons on the toolbar. But a phone will not show thumbnail images, the large navigation buttons, or the more info panel.
My Recommendation
This site is arranged geographically, the regions and localities are presented roughly from north to south, west to east. The 360° panoramas in each locality usually follow a logical order also — north to south and west to east, or in a series along a road or river or valley, sweeping across a geographic area, or circling around the outside of a building then the inside. Using the next 360 button to present a "slide show" that includes all 360 panoramas is the recommended method for viewing.
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The interface for this website was designed by Don Bain and Tony Redhead in May, 2025.