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.
Phone Numbers
If a phone number is entered in the Place information, please utilize either of the following formats:
- (###) ###-####
- ###-###-####
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 |
| MBTA Subway and Commuter Rail 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
- Boston Place Browser - In combination with the Place Name Harmonization list, this is an invaluable tool for working on existing places. Be sure to click the About tab to get an overview of the tool.
Place Name Harmonization
In an effort to standardize Place Names, Massachusetts uses the following list of Common names. Please note the appropriate category name, as well as the listed spelling. This is necessary for the proper display of any advertising associated with the site (i.e. recent Panera and Subway campaigns)
View this list full-screen in Google Sheets
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
Layered Areas
Places which are part of a larger encompassing place (i.e. place points for lot in a university area, Separate ER entrances in a hospital area, etc.) should be named with their unique name followed by a hyphen and the name of the larger area they belong to. For example "E.R. - Generic Medical Center"
Parking Lots
Massachusetts follows USA guidance for Parking Lots. In general, Parking Lot Areas (PLAs) should be added for all lots, including businesses with small parking lots (fewer than 10 spaces). Any improvements are helpful, but editors are encouraged to start with popular lots with heavy usage, map problem or update request flags and for MBTA stations; public (unrestricted) parking facilities including Park & Ride lots; and restricted lots (some restrictions apply, i.e. lots for customers or visitors only) associated with stadiums and event venues, shopping centers, etc.