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Updating Published Maps

Best practices for making changes to live, published maps without disrupting user experience.

Understanding Save vs. Publish

Save: Stores your changes in the editor (private, not visible to public)

Publish: Makes your saved changes live in the public viewer

Key principle: Always test thoroughly before publishing. Once published, changes are immediately visible to all users.

Types of Updates

Minor Updates (Low Risk)

  • Adding new locations
  • Updating location names/descriptions
  • Adding metadata to existing locations
  • Adjusting location marker positions
  • Adding more access points to locations

Impact: Low. Existing routes continue to work.

Medium Updates (Moderate Risk)

  • Adding new walls or rooms
  • Modifying routing network
  • Adding new transitions
  • Changing surfaces
  • Rearranging geometry

Impact: Medium. May affect some existing routes.

Major Updates (High Risk)

  • Restructuring groups/layers
  • Removing locations
  • Removing transitions
  • Major routing network changes
  • Changing map units or scale

Impact: High. May break existing routes or links.

Update Workflow

Step 1: Plan the Update

  1. Document what needs to change
  2. Assess risk (minor, medium, major)
  3. Identify which areas/floors are affected
  4. Plan testing strategy

Step 2: Make Changes in Editor

  1. Open the map in Editor
  2. Make your changes
  3. Save frequently (Cmd/Ctrl + S)
  4. Don't publish yet

Step 3: Test Thoroughly

For Minor Updates: - Test new locations are searchable - Test routing to new locations works - Verify new locations highlight correctly

For Medium Updates: - Test affected area routing - Test transitions still work (if modified) - Test nearby locations still route correctly - Do spot checks on unaffected areas

For Major Updates: - Full regression test: - Test routing between all major location pairs - Test all transitions - Test all floors/buildings - Search for all locations - Consider testing with a colleague

Step 4: Publish

  1. Click "Publish" button
  2. Confirm publication
  3. Immediately test the live viewer:
  4. Embed the viewer on a test page
  5. Run quick smoke tests
  6. If issues found, revert (see below)

Step 5: Monitor

After publishing: - Check for user reports of issues - Test a few routes daily for first few days - Be ready to hotfix if needed

Best Practices

Use Preview Mode to Check Graphics

  • Click Preview button in toolbar to hide editor gizmos
  • Review graphics (walls and surfaces) without visual clutter
  • Verify styles are applied correctly

Preview Doesn't Test Routing

Preview mode in the editor only shows graphics clearly - it does NOT test routing. To test routing, you must publish the map and use the actual viewer.

Save Incremental Progress

  • Save after each logical change
  • Don't make 50 changes then save once
  • Frequent saves = easier to revert

Document Changes

Keep a change log:

Text Only
2026-01-09: Added Conference Room D on 2nd Floor
2026-01-09: Updated routing in west wing
2026-01-10: Added new building entrance

Test on Multiple Devices

  • Desktop browser
  • Mobile browser
  • Tablet (if relevant)
  • Different screen sizes

Communicate Major Updates

For major updates: - Notify users in advance - Consider doing updates during low-traffic times - Have a rollback plan

Common Update Scenarios

Adding a New Location

Steps: 1. Place location marker 2. Add name, description, metadata 3. Define access points 4. Assign surfaces 5. Test: Search for new location, route to it 6. Save and publish

Testing: - New location appears in search - Can route to new location from various start points - Location highlights correctly

Renovated Area (Walls Changed)

Steps: 1. Delete or modify affected walls on graphics layer 2. Redraw new walls continuously (no gaps) 3. Update routes network to match new accessible paths 4. Update affected locations (access points may have moved) 5. Extensive testing

Testing: - All affected locations still searchable - Routes through renovated area work - Routes that used to go through area now use alternate paths - No broken routes to nearby locations

New Floor Added

Steps: 1. Add new layer 2. Upload blueprint and scale 3. Draw complete floor geometry and routing 4. Add locations 5. Create transitions to other floors (elevators, stairs) 6. Test multi-floor routing

Testing: - Can route to new floor from all other floors - Can route from new floor to all other floors - All transitions work bidirectionally - Routes use appropriate elevators/stairs

Location Moved/Renamed

Steps: 1. If moved: drag location marker to new position 2. If renamed: update name in properties 3. Update access points if entrance changed 4. Update surfaces if footprint changed 5. Save and publish

Testing: - Can search by new name (if renamed) - Can still route to location at new position - Surfaces highlight correctly (if moved)

Note: Users with bookmarked links to old name may need to update.

Elevator/Stairs Added or Removed

Adding: 1. Add access points on all floors the transition serves 2. Twin the points across floors 3. Connect to routing networks on all floors 4. Test cross-floor routing

Removing: 1. Un-twin the transition points 2. Optionally remove the access points 3. Critical: Test that alternate transitions work 4. Publish

Testing: - For added: Routes use new transition when optimal - For removed: Routes use alternate transitions - No "route not found" errors due to removed transition

Reverting Changes

Before Publishing

If you realize you made a mistake: 1. Don't publish 2. Use Undo (Cmd/Ctrl + Z) to revert recent changes 3. Or: refresh the page to reload last saved state (loses unsaved work)

After Publishing

If you published changes that broke the map:

Option 1: Quick Fix 1. Identify the problem 2. Fix it in editor 3. Test thoroughly 4. Publish fix immediately

Option 2: Revert (if no easy fix) - MapBoot doesn't have built-in version history - You'll need to manually redo previous state - Prevention: Keep backups (see below)

Backup Strategy

Manual Backups

Unfortunately, MapBoot doesn't have export/import: - Take screenshots of your geometry before major updates - Document your structure in a text file - Note key coordinates (transitions, important locations)

Testing Copy

For major updates: 1. Consider creating a duplicate map for testing 2. Make changes on the test copy 3. Verify everything works 4. Manually replicate changes on production map 5. This doubles the work but ensures safety

Maintenance Schedule

Regular Maintenance Tasks

Monthly: - Spot-check routing between major locations - Verify transitions still work - Check for user-reported issues

Quarterly: - Full routing test - Update location metadata as needed - Review and optimize routing network - Add new locations as facility changes

Annually: - Comprehensive quality audit - Blueprint updates if renovations occurred - Location database cleanup (remove outdated locations) - Performance optimization

Handling User Reports

When users report issues:

Gather Information

  • What were they trying to do?
  • What location(s) were involved?
  • What error or unexpected behavior occurred?
  • Can they reproduce it?

Investigate

  1. Open map in editor
  2. Try to reproduce the issue
  3. Check affected area in debug mode
  4. Verify routing network and access points

Fix

  1. Make necessary corrections
  2. Test the specific scenario reported
  3. Test nearby areas to ensure fix didn't break anything
  4. Publish fix
  5. Notify user that issue is resolved

Update Checklist

Use this checklist for any update:

Text Only
Planning:
□ Changes documented
□ Risk level assessed (minor/medium/major)
□ Testing plan created

Making Changes:
□ Changes made in editor
□ Saved incrementally
□ Not yet published

Testing:
□ Preview mode tested
□ Affected areas tested
□ Routing tests passed
□ Search tests passed
□ Transitions tested (if applicable)

Publishing:
□ Published
□ Live viewer tested immediately
□ Smoke tests passed
□ Change log updated

Post-Publication:
□ Monitoring for issues
□ Ready to hotfix if needed

Tips for Large Updates

  1. Phase the work: Update one section at a time, publish, then next section
  2. Use DEV tags: Tag work-in-progress layers with DEV so they don't appear in published version
  3. Communicate: Let users know updates are in progress
  4. Low-traffic times: Publish during off-hours if possible
  5. Have help ready: For major updates, have someone available to help fix issues

Emergency Fixes

If something critical breaks:

  1. Assess impact: How many users affected? How severe?
  2. Quick fix vs. proper fix:
  3. If quick fix possible: Do it immediately
  4. If proper fix takes time: Consider temporary workaround
  5. Test minimum necessary: For critical fixes, test just enough to verify fix works
  6. Publish immediately
  7. Follow up: If you did a quick/dirty fix, schedule proper fix soon

Version Documentation Template

Keep a simple version log:

Text Only
# Map Update Log

## Version 1.3 - 2026-01-09
- Added Conference Rooms D, E, F on 2nd floor
- Updated west wing routing for renovation
- Fixed: Route to Cafeteria was suboptimal

## Version 1.2 - 2026-01-05
- Added new building: Student Center
- Connected Student Center to outdoor paths
- Added 47 new locations in Student Center

## Version 1.1 - 2025-12-15
- Initial publication
- Main Library with 3 floors
- 152 locations

Need help with a complex update? Email contact@mapboot.com