The Places tool is an interactive mapping tool that captures geospatial feedback about your consultation. You can use this tool to collect community views about specific locations, feedback on established plans, or collect and display places of interest.
Places is an extensive tool with several key features, including the ability to:
Add multiple pin categories to identify different kinds of locations
Collect comments, images, and survey responses along with location data
Set your map location and select from eight map styles for the map area
Restrict feedback to a geographic boundary using our Custom (Draw in eHQ) layer tool
Add multiple layers with information in customized colors
Use shape and line markers to provide additional information
Upload .wms, .kml, and ESRI shapefile layers
Using the Places tool
After adding the Places tool, you can Preview it to see how your participants will interact with it.
Participants can access the tool through the tool tab on the project page. They’ll see the Title and Description, which you can use to provide instructions on how to use the tool.
When viewing the map, participants can:
Select Go To Map in the project's tool tab to see the full-screen version of the map where they can start adding pins.
See the Title, Description, and social sharing options in the Information panel.
Select the Add Pin plus symbol to see the available pin categories.
Select a pin to zoom in on the pin and see any attached details. Participants can also Report a pin to administrators.
Use the Filter Marker option to select which pins they want to see on the map. On consultations with high participation, they can filter out inessential pins and display only the ones they want to see. They can also check See only my pins to filter any pins they did not contribute. Please note that participants cannot turn layers off.
See the Activity feed to see the other contributions to the tool, and select View to see all the details of the pin.
Select the Zoom in and Zoom out options, use the search box to search for a specific address, or pinpoint their location if their browser allows it.
To add a pin:
In the Add Pin menu option, drag and drop the desired pin to the correct location. If you have set a restricted boundary, participants are unable to submit until they drop the pin inside a boundary.
In the Add Pin box, participants can add a comment and an image if you enabled it and answer any survey questions you added.
If you enable Show address on pins, the address will display above the placed pin.
Participants can Submit their contribution once they’re ready or select the X button to cancel and delete the pin.
After submitting, participants cannot delete a pin but can Edit it to change the comment, image, or pin position.
Participants and admins can share a specific pin using the marker ID; this is helpful if you need to ask our support team to delete a specific pin.
To find this, select the pin to focus on it, copy the URL containing the marker ID, and share the URL. In the example below, the URL is https://demonstration.engagementhq.com/places/maps/Park#marker-7572. When a user clicks on the URL, the map will open with the marker id 7572 in focus.
