... with clusters 🌼

Several markers for a location / place can be grouped into clusters.

This is the case if there are several entries for a location / place, i.e. several entries with the same or closely related geodata or addresses.

Clusters are also formed when zooming out of the map. Several locations are then grouped into a cluster. In this case, this not only affects the entries for a location, but also groups the locations from the surrounding area (streets, neighbourhoods, districts...) and, if you zoom in further, also cities, regions and countries.

❗In the map view, borders - national or otherwise - are not taken into account when forming clusters.

Examples of cluster formations are displayed in the GIF. Relations are also visible, i.e. connections that have been created between places / entries. See also our wiki "How can I structure data ...? ... with relations ➰

Under the functions / settings when creating or adding a map, there is the ‘Marker display mode’ area. In a drop-down menu, 4 options for the display of clusters can currently be selected: Cluster, Zigzag cluster, Zigzag cluster w/gradient, Single.

When zooming into the map, the clusters (or groupings) dissolve again. The closer I zoom in on a place - in this case a region, a city, a street or even a specific location or room - simple markers are displayed again. Or even clusters, if there are several entries for a location - defined by its address or geodata.

Screenshot of A Thousand Channels: ORTE Backend, dropdown menu for selecting the display of clusters

The following graphic shows 3 exemplary representations of clusters: Cluster, Zigzag cluster and Zigzag cluster w/gradient. We then explain the options you have for visualising clusters.

Exemplary graphic for the visualisation of clusters

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Zigzag cluster:

A simple marker for a location becomes a point with several rays / prongs if more entries with the same geodata or addresses are created on the map, comparable to a sun with several sunbeams. The prongs or rays already visually indicate that there are several entries for the location.

There are currently 4 symbols / icons for Zigzag cluster. They are generated from the number of entries for a location / place or the frequency of geodata or addresses entered. Or they are generated when zooming out of the map from the sum of locations / places that are grouped into a cluster.

❗ The more entries for a place or the further you zoom out of the map, the more prongs - or (sun) rays - are displayed.

We work with Zigzag clusters on the Lacune Map. In the frontend, only those entries are grouped into a cluster that are assigned to a layer (and therefore a topic, an area, a category) by colour. There may be entries from other layers at the same location / place, which are differentiated by colour or, in this case, by the shape of the marker. These are then displayed next to or overlapping each other as individual markers or, in the case of several entries, as a cluster.

Screenshot Lacune Map, Zigzag cluster

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Zigzag cluster w/gradient

For Zigzag cluster with gradient, we are currently experimenting with colour gradients to visualise clusters for a location / place whose entries are assigned to different layers. And thus also different, colour-coded layers (topics / areas / categories) in the frontend, i.e. the view for visitors to the map.

The Zigzag Cluster w/gradient option is an experiment with a colour gradient that we edited manually and is therefore fixed (for the time being). The fact that places are grouped (and generated!) from different colour-defined layers to form a cluster and that this is also shown in colour and also represents the frequency in the respective layer as a gradient is NEXT LEVEL (tbc).