User:Vestigal/Permalinks View history

Revision as of 03:19, 6 November 2021 by Vestigal (talk | contribs) (→‎Zoom level matters!)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

How to create a best-practice permalink

The basics

Click on the segments/objects you wish to create a permalink for (use ctrl+click to select multiple).

Click on the link&chain icon at the bottom right of the screen to generate the link in your URL bar.

Copy the link from your URL bar to your destination.

Creating a permalink has a few hidden pitfalls that may not be immediately obvious to newer users.

Limit your selected objects to 20 max.

First of all, permalinks, while can select a near unlimited number of segments, should be limited to 20 segments/objects. Trying to load a permalink with too many selected objects can cause a load failure, which won't select anything.

Ensure all elements are on the screen

When using the permalink button, the editor also notes your lat/long coordinates so it knows what part of the map to load into memory. If your selected elements are off-screen when creating your permalink, they will likely not be selected when someone uses your permalink. To ensure that varying screen sizes are taken into account, if you're on a screen using 1920x1080 resolution or higher, make sure all the elements are centred on screen too.

Zoom level matters!

The zoom level is important when creating permalinks, because if you're too far zoomed out, some elements don't get loaded by default, even if they're selected in your permalink. Use the below table as a guide when creating permalinks so that the appropriate elements get loaded when the permalink is used.

Zoom level Elements not loaded at this level
22 (Lowest) to 17 None
16 Some Point Places
15 Street (Road Type)
14 Private Road, PLR, Narrow Street
13 - 0 (Highest) Everything except some large map comments & large Area Places (not recommended)

Use the below table to determine what zoom level you're on. (Use the scale reference on the bottom right corner of the editor)

Zoom Level Scale (Metric) Scale (Imperial)
22 2m 10ft
21 5m 10ft
20 10m 20ft
19 10m 50ft
18 20m 100ft
17 100m 200ft
16 100m 500ft
15 200m 1000ft
14 500m 2000ft
13 1000m 5000ft
12 2km 1 mi
Test!

Always test your permalinks by using them yourself.