Explore features

A feature is one thing on the map, such as one tree or one park.

Select a feature

To select a feature, click it on the map or click its row in the list. Groundwork highlights the feature on the map and opens its details in the Data panel. When you select a feature from the list, the map frames that feature.

If features are on top of each other, click that position on the map. Then choose a feature from the small list that opens.

When you move the pointer over a feature on the map or its row in the list, a small copy of the row shows above the feature. A line connects the copy to the feature. On a touch screen, the copy does not show.

Search, sort and filter

You can search, sort, filter, show bookmarks and use Nearby together. All of them are in the row above the feature list. For example, you can show your bookmarked trees of one species, nearest to you first.

• Search: type a word to find it anywhere in a feature’s details. For example, “Eucalyptus” finds every tree that has that word in its record. Groundwork also searches attached records. When you open a result from an attached record, Groundwork shows that record.
• Sort: change the order of the list. You can sort by any field, by distance from the centre of the map, by Length on a line layer, or by Area on a polygon layer.
• The legend below the layer name shows what each symbol means. If each symbol shows one value of a field, you can also use the legend as a filter. Click a value to show only that value. Then click other values to add them or remove them. To collapse the legend to one row of symbols, click the arrow at its end.
• Filter: press it to see the fields that you can filter by. Choose a field to add a button for it above the list. Then tick the values to keep, such as one species of tree. A feature must match every filter, so “oak trees in poor condition” needs two filters. To filter by a category value immediately, click that value on a feature’s row.

When the list shows only some features, its count shows “N of M”. A map that someone shares with you can open with filters that are already set.

Read a feature’s details

Open a feature to read all the information in its record. The bookmark button is beside the title. Below the title are the route, Street View and copy buttons. On a line or polygon layer, this row ends with the feature’s measurement and a ruler button.

To see Google Street View, press the Street View button. The view opens between the title and the fields, and it faces the feature. Groundwork uses an outdoor photo within 50 metres of the feature. If there is no such photo, a message in that space says so. To close the view, press the Street View button again. A feature with no geometry does not have a Street View button.

If a title, category, description or status has a yes/no or true/false value, Groundwork shows the field’s name. A tick before the name means yes, and a cross means no.

To return to the list from an open feature, press your browser’s back button. One press is enough, even after you use the arrows to go through many features.

Records attached to a feature

On some maps, a feature has records attached to it, such as the inspections of a tree or the jobs done on it. Each kind of record, such as inspections, is a dataset. If a feature has records, tabs show across its details. Details is the first tab. After it, each dataset has a tab, and each tab shows how many records it has for that feature.

To read a record, click it. To go back, click the row above its title. To see the other records in the tab, click the arrows at the end of that row. If a dataset has photos, each record shows its photo above its fields. The feature’s own card also shows a small photo beside its text.

On a map that you can edit, you can add a record from its tab. For example, open a tree’s Inspections tab and press Add Inspection at the bottom right. The name on the button changes with the kind of record in the tab. Groundwork completes some fields of the new record for you: the link to the feature, the date, and a geometry from the feature, such as its point, if the dataset’s records have geometry.

1. Press the add button to open a form.
2. Complete the other fields.
3. Press Save.

To change the values of an open record, press Update in the same corner. If Groundwork cannot identify each record in the dataset, there is no Update button, and a note above the fields says why. You cannot delete a record or share it.

You can also filter by these records. Their fields are in the Filter list, below the name of the dataset. For example, you can show only the trees with inspections that say Poor. To use only the latest inspection of each tree, tick Use each feature’s most recent Inspections record only.

When a tab opens, the last record in the dataset is at the top. To change the order, press Sort at the end of the row of tabs. When you go from one feature to the next, the same tab stays open. To choose the fields that the rows of a tab show, use the ⋮ beside the tab’s count. Groundwork saves this choice with the map.

Nearby and routes

To see the features nearest to a place:

1. Set a location in the location box at the top of the map.
2. Press Nearby above the list.

Groundwork sorts the features by distance from that location. To choose how you travel, use the chevron beside the button. The default is automatic, which compares walking, cycling and driving. You can also choose one of those three, or a straight line.

The map frames the pin and the nearest feature. Other features can be outside the view until you select one. To show the full list again, press Nearby again.

To draw a route to a feature, open the feature. Then press the route button below its title. To remove the route, press Clear route.

Bookmarks

Use bookmarks to find features again, such as the sites on today’s run or the trees to visit again. A bookmark does not change the data, and nobody else sees it.

To add or remove a bookmark, press the bookmark button on a feature’s row or beside its title. On the map, a bookmarked feature has a small bookmark badge. When labels show, the label of a bookmarked feature is bold. Groundwork keeps that label on the map when there is no space for all the labels.

To see only your bookmarked features, press the bookmark button above the list. The list and the map then show only those features. Groundwork saves bookmarks in your browser on this device.

Choose the layer’s fields and style

Use the layer’s ⋮ menu to choose which fields describe a feature. The menu is beside the layer name at the top of the panel.

The list shows the Title. The map shows the Label. Each row shows the Category and the Description. If the features of a layer have attached records, use the Status row to show a value from those records on each row.

If the title, category or description has a date, Groundwork shows beside it how far away that date is. For example, it shows 3 months ago or In 5 days.

To choose how Groundwork draws the layer, use the Style row in the same menu. You can choose:

• A style that was published with the map.
• Simple, for one plain colour.
• One of the layer’s fields, to give each of its values a colour.

Groundwork saves your choices for the layer.

Groundwork shows some layers as an image of their data. The layer picker marks these layers with stacked squares. These layers have no features to list, so their ⋮ menu has none of these rows.

Next: Capture and edit features.