My assumption was that they should be areas until I made one and it just seemed cluttered.
I looked for a rule but couldn’t find it if there is one, and I looked on the map and there doesn’t seem to be much consistency.
Not sure what to do for the best?
As with all guidelines in mapping there is always wiggle room for both arguments, it all depends on the size, variety of businesses and such like, would you like to provide a Permalink example of one :?:
It is impossible to write rules for every situation.
I’ve always treated them the same as Schools or Retail Parks.
Map as an area, outlining the major buildings. Point places for business’s inside the park, using the business park name in the street field.
This was the one I was looking at. Across the street from the airfield.
https://www.waze.com/editor?env=row&lon=-0.85146&lat=53.56545&s=1178459647&zoom=4
All the businesses on it are addressed Unit X, Belton Industrial Estate so I thought drawing the boundaries would help but now I’m unsure.
I’d map the outline of the main buildings but not all parking areas at the sides & rear. Consider how you would like it to look on the app, huge areas don’t really add anything visually.
NB the majority of the business’s at the link provided give their address’s as Sandtoft Industrial Estate.
Yes, I’ve used a similar approach to map the buildings as an area place and the business as point places as per the Retail Park guidelines.
Perhaps we should just include Industrial Estates and Business Parks in those guidelines.
Happy to add to the Wazeo page, does anyone want to consider any differences to the retail park mapping :?: Retail parks can be big but industrial estates can range from a coupe of units to many hectares of land, should we have a minimum before adding an area place, should there be a maximum :?:
Definitely a maximum, very large places don’t really add any value to the app view.
Perhaps only map the outline of the major buildings, ignore parking or outdoor storage areas?
Only map those that have a name visable on a sign at the entrance and are included in the addresses of business’s inside.
Hi.
Can we come to a decision regarding this?
These are the options that I see would be possible.
Map the whole property Example
This will make sure the place is always visible in the app, even when zoomed out.
People who pass by will be able to see what is there, and the name is more likely to show up
Cover all buildings Example
This could be useful if there is only one building. If there are several - probably not so much.
Map separate buildings, in one area place Example
This could be useful to people going to the property, to see how many buildings there are and where they are, but will not show what they are.
This involves connecting the buildings with a thin line that is supposed to be invisible.
Personally I don’t like this because it breaks the user interface, the thin lines are usually visible in the app.
Map separate buildings, in multiple area places Example
This could be useful if all buildings have unique names, or are otherwise different.
Map as a point.
For places smaller than 20x20m.
My preference is - Map the whole property.
This way, if I am in an unfamiliar area, I can visually scan the area and see if there is anything I need. It is more likely that larger places will come up.
The count or contour of the buildings on the map is less important to me.
I don’t think we should differently map depending on the type, whether it is a shopping centre, industrial estate or university campus.
But it could depend on the number of buildings.
The problem with this option is it doesn’t provide any visual reference on the app as to where the main building is, this example generates one large grey area on the app for several places, there’s no definition on the app for each place. I believe Waze would normally route to the closest road to an area place but because these overlap multiple roads it could give incorrect destinations. Waze is not a land registry map, showing users acres of fields or storage areas owned by the company adds no value to the user experience.
A combination of these
Multiple places with the same name can cause issues with searches. Which one would get the Google link? Mapping individual buildings as area places would constitue map clutter. Does the Landmark test still apply for wether something shoud be an area?
Same as Shopping Centres, Area place for main buildings with point places for indevidual business’s.
For area places, you should add at least one entry point, and that will be the destination.
If there is no entry point, you can use this script to see where the destination will be. https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/26340-wme-place-interface-enhancements
In the example - Willink Leisure Centre probably has to be a point.
And you could add a small space between the two schools - this way they will be separated.
Waze is primarily for getting to the entry point. After that, you will likely have on-site directions to any buildings etc. I would not rely on Waze to find anything on-site.