The New Haven Register has written about many events that required people to find parking if they wanted to go. What news or media organization hasn't?

But with this story on New Haven's St. Patrick's Day Parade, we're showing readers where they can park on a Google map that can generate them directions as well as parking cost, if they want to get that detailed. And folks are going to need it, because the Parade is considered the biggest annual spectator draw in the state of Connecticut.

Entertainment Editor Jordan Fenster made this map simply by :

1. going to http://en.parkopedia.com
2. Typing "New Haven, CT" in the search bar.
3. Clicking the paperclip icon for an embed code.
4. Changing the width in the embed generator from '700' to '635'
5. Copying and pasting that code into his online version of the story.
6. yeah, it was that easy.

Of course, Parkopedia's database is not as up to par in some locations as it can be, but it's one of those informational tools that has great potential and can be a great resource for your online readers.

All credit on use of Parkopedia goes to Jordan Fenster, so if you have any questions about how we used it here, email him at jfenster@newhavenregister.com

SIDE NOTE: Not to be confused with Parkipedia, a South Park info wiki.

In writing, 'showing' always trumps 'telling.'

Whether we're talking factless works of fiction or Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism, a writer needs to illustrate the story. And in this digital age of multi-channel storytelling, it's important for every online news organization to show their stories in as many ways as possible. This is at the heart of my love affair with Google Maps. Especially when we're talking about local journalism. People like to see where the news around them is happening. It's also great for filling out space on breaking news stories that may not have much more information than a location yet available.

In about a minute (seriously, it's not that difficult), you can add an interactive map to any online story and show your "where." Google an address, grab the embed code, paste it into your web-publisher, voila.

We've been taking advantage of this at NewHavenRegister.com quite a bit recently. Every time I catch a story that has a location I can pinpoint on a map, I add it to the story. That is of course, if it makes sense to show the location. For example, if you are working on a story about a man who was arrested for stealing a vanilla ice cream cone from a kid - you want to show where this crime occurred on a map. But if the only "where" info you have is the man's address -- as some blotter stories do -- there is often little reason to map that. Don't map just to map. Map information that has context in the story you're telling.

Here are some examples of how I've used it:

• Bridgeport man charged in deodorant heist
• Two people shot at New Haven Dunkin Donuts
• Clerk injured in Hamden armed robbery
• Hamden cops describe cops suspect in Walmart robbery 

And here is more advanced use with multiple locations and areas:

• New Haven cops seek public's help in finding alleged child beating suspect
• Serial rapist sought in New Haven 
• FBI launches digital billboard campaign to capture 'East Coast' rapist

How do you make and embed your own Google Map? Let's walk through it step by step:

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