Creating Maps using Visio

create a Visio network diagram as usual
insert status or status connector stencil from the BigSister shapes
in their custom property BigSister enter the name of a group (e.g. SERVERS) or a status item (e.g. srv1.conn)
draw a rectangle around the whole diagram - it is ok if it is transparent
name the diagram examplemap
export the diagram as PNG under the name example.png
save the diagram as VDX file
copy the two files to the BigSister configuration directory on the server (usually /etc/bigsister)
run bsvisio example.VDX > example.cfg
add %image example.cfg to your bs-display.cfg

Visio Shapes

The BigSister Visio stencils can be downloaded from https://sourceforge.net/projects/bigsister/files/Big%20Sister/1.12/BigSister.vss/download. Do not expect too much, the file merely contains the two status stencils. You will still need some nice stencils for the devices you want to appear in your map.