Lot number as a Place attribute

Submitted by annelisec on Tue, 08/23/2016 - 03:48

The 1924 map and the HK Gov Map app together do a great job of identifying lot numbers pin pointing various places. 

Is  it possible to add a lot number attribute

To help answer the question, how do you imagine this working? eg will it be a simple text field, like the surname on a Person page? Or like any other feature on Gwulo? Is there anything you want to do with the information once it's there?

Two fields. Lot type ML, IL, etc. (we could copy from the Gov drop down box) and second field is the number. 

Or we just leave it free form so as to accommodate places with multiple lot numbers. 

The purpose is to add a check to the Previous Places field and give a way to cross ref the gov map which can often give the outline of a lot.

I've noticed that as we go forward useful information that changes with time is

Lot owners

Buildings

Tenants

Addresses

what usually stays fixed is the Lot number itself.  On the master map it is now now dense with pins for multiple buildings on the same site. Many pins for the same lot overlap so it is hard to click on each one.  In future, pins by lot number displaying all buildings when clicked may be useful. 

See if I understand the features correctly:

1. "add a check to the Previous Places field" - so if the Lot for the current Place is different from the Lot shown on the Previous Place, it would flag a problem.

It isn't worth trying to automate this check. At the time we add a Previous Place we can read the notes of that Place to see its Lot number, and if there's a problem we can already spot it quickly.

2. "give a way to cross ref the gov map which can often give the outline of a lot."

I don't think we can automate this cross reference, but having a "Lot:" field would make it easier to find the information.

I'm still interested in ways to record areas for Places, not just points on the map.

3. Store information about a Lot that is independent from the buildings on that Lot (my paraphrase of "useful information that changes with time is ...")

If there's a need for this, I suggest creating a Place for the Lot, and make it the oldest in the timeline. So the first buildings built on that Lot will have the Lot as their "Previous Place". If we try this, stick to Lots that have a lot of information about them. It won't be worth creating pages for Lots where they just show the Lot number and that's all - that'll just clutter the site without adding information.

4. The master map is crowded, many pins for the same lot overlap so it is hard to click on each one. In future, pins by lot number displaying all buildings when clicked may be useful.

The map is crowded, but I use the Timeline to get around it - so I just click on whatever pin is on top, then use the timeline to navigate to the building I'm looking for.

Possible enhancements:

 - Expand the timeline to show the full history, not just the later and earlier generations.
 - Provide filtering on the main map to reduce the number of pins shown, most likely some type of date range.


I still have the 2016 to-do list I'm working on, so I won't work on any of these now, but they'll be a good source of ideas for new features to go on the 2017 to-do list. In the meantime, comments & ideas are welcome.

Lot number as a place is a good idea.   It also solves the lot splitting and renumbering after a new lease issue. Thanks. 

Perhaps give it a unique colour under the existing building attributes ?