Minimum Acceptable Information
All Places added to the map must contain the following entries:
- Proper Category
- Place Name
- Address (including address numbers)
- Placed in the correct location on the map
This is the minimum acceptable amount of information for inclusion on the map. Below are some guidelines for specific Place properties:
Website
Websites should link to the root site only, and include the "http://" prefix (or "https://"). If the Place is part of a business chain, do NOT link to the store-specific page as many of the details on these pages are also included in the Place properties. Not only that, but the URLs often change whenever the external website is revamped. (e.g. Link to http://www.homedepot.com instead of http://www.homedepot.com/l/Providence/RI/Providence/02908/4285).
If you come across any blank or incorrect Website links in your editing adventures, feel free to correct them.
Phone Numbers
If a phone number is entered in the Place information, please utilize the following format: (###) ###-####
Please correct the layout of any phone numbers you encounter while editing.
Locking Standard
| PLACE TYPE | LOCK LEVEL |
|---|---|
| Military Installation / Airport | 4 |
| Hospitals / Urgent Care / Police & Fire Dept | 4 |
| National & State Parks and Monuments | 4 |
| Gas Stations / Charging Stations | 3 |
| Schools / Universities / Colleges | 3 |
| Government Buildings / Consulates | 3 |
| Train Stations | 3 |
| City and Local Parks | 2 |
- All Places that have complete information (to include, at a minimum, address/city, hours of operation, phone number) are to be locked at Level 2. This is to prevent loss of data due to automatic acceptance of Place Update submissions from Trusted Users, or Place Update Request approvals from other editors without careful examination.
- If you do not have a high enough enough rank to lock the place as indicated, please lock it as high as you can, and notify a higher rank AM, SM, CM, or Champ to lock it higher.
Place Browser
- Rhode Island Place Browser - This is an invaluable tool for working on existing places. Be sure to click the About tab to get an overview of the tool.
Area Editing
When creating an Area, map it to the "fence line" of the area.
For instance, if you are mapping a shopping center, this means that you map the area to cover the shopping center buildings, and the parking lots out to the outer ring road (if applicable). If there is no ring road, or for smaller shopping centers, map to the curb line.
If you are mapping a school, you would map out to the fence line (if visible) or to a reasonable distance from the school. Contact a AM, SM, CM, or Champ for assistance.
Hospitals / Urgent Care
A special Category of Hospital / Medical Center is used for Hospitals, Medical Centers and Urgent Care facilities. ONLY Hospitals, Emergency Rooms, and places offering Urgent Medical Care should use this category. Clinics, and Medical offices which do not offer urgent medical care for Walk-Ins should use the Office, and any other appropriate category, instead.
Set the Stop Point over the Main Entrance to the facility. Additionally, map the Emergency Entrance with the same category name, but place it over the Emergency entrance location. ERs encompassed in a hospital Place Area should be Points, and named in the following fashion: E.R. - Hospital Name
Parking Lots
Rhode Island follows the national standard for Parking Lot Place Areas, so please stick to those guidelines as much as possible. While the standard recommends adding every single parking lot in existence, there's no need to map every lot you can find. At a minimum, parking lots must be mapped if they meet any of the following criteria:
- Parking lot is open to the general public and not tied to a specific business
- Parking lot is tied to a specific business, but is not directly adjacent to the business (e.g. If the lot entrance is across the street from the building, or around the corner from the building entrance)
- Parking lot is meant for certain types of drivers (e.g. Employeee only parking, visitor parking, etc.)
Otherwise, if it's pretty obvious where the driver needs to park to reach their destination, then it probably doesn't need to be mapped.