Map layers and shared views
Order venue plans, set opacity and default visibility, and publish saved views that switch overlays for everyone.
The map your crew sees is built from a background map plus the site plans and floor plans of your event. Administrators decide which plans exist, in which order they are stacked, who may see each one, and where the map opens for a new visitor. This page covers Map layers in the dashboard and the shared global views. How individual users switch layers on and off for themselves is described in Map, layers and views.
Open the layer settings#
Open the dashboard and choose Map, then Map Layers. The page has four parts: Event Overlays, Base Maps, Tile Resolution, and a header with Upload SCAD Map, Refresh and Save. Ordering, visibility and opacity apply to everyone on the instance once you save.
Event overlays#
Every site plan appears as a row. The name of the plan is shown with its tag, its opacity and how many images it is built from.
Stacking order#
The top row is drawn above the rows below it. Drag a row by its handle to move it, or use the small up and down buttons, which are easier on a phone. Changes show on the map straight away, so close the dashboard to preview the result and come back to save.
Visible by default#
The Visible switch on each row decides whether a plan is on when someone opens the map for the first time. Everybody can still turn any plan they are allowed to see on or off for themselves; this only sets the starting point.
Edit a plan#
Choose Edit on a row to open its settings:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Display name | The name shown on the map's layer switch. The original file name stays as the internal identity. Blank goes back to the file name. |
| Tag | Plans that share a tag, such as Friday, are shown as one picker on the map, and only the chosen tag is drawn. Use this when the plan changes from day to day, so old and new drawings never stack on top of each other. Leave it empty for a plan that is always available. |
| Audience | Who may see the plan. Everyone is the default. Choose roles and individual people to restrict it, for example a power distribution plan for the technical crew only. |
| Opacity | How transparent the plan is, from 0 to 100 percent. Use a lower value to keep the base map readable through it. |
The Show tag filter above the list narrows the rows to one tag when you have many plans. Choosing an audience saves your layer settings straight away. Everything else is saved with Save.
Upload a SCAD Map#
New plans arrive as .scadmap files, one for each drawing area, produced when the plans are prepared for the event. Full administrators can add one without any access to the server.
- Choose Upload SCAD Map and select the
.scadmapfile. The size limit is 2 GB. - Wait for the upload to finish. The button shows Uploading… while it runs.
- The plan appears in the list. Set its visibility, order and audience, then choose Save.
- Ask people to reload the map to see the new layer.
The file is checked when it arrives: it has to carry readable map bounds and a coordinate system, or it is refused. A plan with the same name as an existing one is never overwritten. Rename the file first, then upload it again. For preparing the files themselves, see Venue maps and offline downloads.
Base maps#
The Base Maps list decides which background maps are on by default for people who have not picked their own. Everyone can still toggle any base map from the map menu, and their own choice wins.
- Tick Default visible for each base map that should start on: the road map, the topographic map, aerial photography, the detailed topography map, and the OpenStreetMap streets.
- The detailed topography map (BGT) has a visualisation theme picker: standard, background (grey), pastel, outline (lines), icon or plan. A grey or pastel theme lets coloured event plans stand out. The choice applies to the whole instance.
Tile resolution#
Event plans are drawn from small image tiles. The Tile Resolution setting tells the map how large it should treat each tile. The files themselves do not change, and it applies to the map when you save.
| Choice | Result |
|---|---|
| 256 px | Sharpest when zoomed out, with the most tiles to load. |
| 512 px (default) | A balance of sharpness and load. |
| 1024 px | Lightest, with the fewest tiles, but blockier when zoomed out. |
Global views#
A view stores where the map is looking, the zoom, the rotation, the tilt and which plans were switched on. Everybody can save personal views. Administrators can also save global views that everyone on the instance sees and can jump to, for example Main entrance, Artist village or Camping north.
- Arrange the map the way you want it: position, zoom, rotation, tilt, and the plans switched on.
- Open Views (press V) and choose Global.
- Type a name and save. The view is available to everyone straight away.
Global views can be renamed and deleted from the same panel. Two rules keep them safe:
- A global view can only refer to plans that everyone may see. A plan restricted to certain roles cannot be part of a shared view, and saving such a view is refused.
- When someone opens a global view, the plans it names are still filtered to what they may see. A person never gets a plan through a view that the audience setting would hide.
The default start view#
Mark one global view as the default with the star. Only one view can be the default at a time. It is where the map opens for people who have never used it on that device, and who therefore have no last position saved. Everybody else opens where they left off. Without a default, the map is fitted to the whole event area.