Help about Editing
You can change pretty well all the information in the CanalPlanAC database, from noting how good a place is to moor, minor adjustments like the exact coordinates of a place or correcting a misspelling in some text, via adding new places and changing the order right up to adding a new waterway.
You need to be logged on for almost all significant changes. If you have an account just click on Log in/Create Account at the top of the left-hand menu bar. If not go to Login / Create an account for more info on creating an account. Features for which you don't need to be logged on are marked with a yellow star in the text below. Note that in many cases editing menus and options are not displayed if you are not logged on. When logged in, you will find that various areas of the display change when you move the mouse over them: they take on a pale yellow background with a dotted line round them, and the text click to edit may be shown.
Many areas of text can be edited. For example the place name, user comments, mooring comments. Each of these is listed below, but editing them is the same in all cases. Just click on the field when it is highlighted, and an editing box will be displayed. Change the text in there (anything from correcting a misspelling to writing a new and detailed comment about the place) and press Save to make your changes. Cancel discards your changes and returns to the normal display. It's helpful to add a short reason for edit, which is shown when changes are listed. This doesn't need to be anything more than correcting typo, information updated, missing information added or similar.
Add new info
To add new information for a place you should be displaying the
place in the gazetteer (except for adding a new place). This is the
standard CanalPlanAC place display with the place name at the top of
the page.
- Photo — See Photos for
information on how to add or view photos.
- Detail text — Creates a text box, just below the
Place name, which contains — click here to add detail
text —
- Navigational note — Creates a text box, which contains
— click here to add navigational note —
- New place — New places are created between two existing places, which can be real or markers or a combination of both. Make sure you switch marker places on in  Preferences, Exclusions, Types of places which helps find the correct insertion point.
- Select the first place.
- Select add new info.
- Select New place. A page headed "Add place adjacent to place" is shown.
- Add between place and................... shows places either side.
- Choose a place. If the new place is a marker place see below.
- A page headed "Add place between first place and second place" is shown.
- Enter the name the place will be known by, including any lock or
bridge number. For example Atty's Lock No 23. Optional field -
use for a single line of extra information about the place. For
example Also known as Nick's Lock or Little Blithering village 1
mile north-west. Click on the Google map and a red
"pin" will appear. Drag the "pin" on the map to
the right position. The position of these "pins" must be on
the centre line of the canal or river, and opposite the actual place,
irrespective of the actual position of the place.
Select Do it to complete the action.
Once you have created the place, you will be shown the gazetteer entry for it. At that stage you can add information about winding holes, what sort of bridge a place is and similar information. The gazetteer entry page is exactly the same as the page displayed when editing an existing place (see Edit place name below.
If the new place is a marker place tick the box at the top of the page. Marker places helps shape maps but have no other data or name. The screen changes to show the map with the two places joined by a RED line. Click on the map and a marker place will appear which alters the route of the RED line. Continue to create marker places and then select Do it to complete the action. The screen returns to the original place selected.
- Areas — Under construction.
Edit, Move and Delete
- Edit place name — To change the information for a place
you should be displaying the place in the gazetteer. This is the
standard CanalPlanAC place display with the place name at the top of
the page. Click on the name of a place to edit. This will immediately
change how that place is named throughout the program. It won't break
any links though, as places are linked by their 4 character CanalPlan
IDs (shown immediately above sunrise in the information panel
at the top of the menu bar). All places should have a unique name. If
you attempt to change a place name to one that already exists the
change will be rejected.
- Edit place — To change the details of a place select Edit place under the Edit and Change menu. The items that can be changed are shown below:
- Place name: The place name can be change here.
- Subtitle: This is for information specific to this place (ie pub, shops or interesting place nearby).
- Size of place: — Select one of the following:
- minor waterway place
- place on the waterway
- major waterway place
- village
- town
- city
- Aliases for place: — Enter aliases one per line. These are used in quick search and similar as alternative names for the place.
- This place is identified as: — This is the address of the place. If correct, enter any additional road name and number information in the boxes below. If incorrect, start the road name with a @ sign and it will override the text above.
- Is there access to the towpath here: — If "yes" another box with a drop down list will appear.
- What sort of access: — options include "Unofficial access", "Official access", or "Suitable for wheels" Unofficial access could be a gap in a hedge where you scrabble up a bank, possible but not engineered. Official access might be a flight of steps. Suitable for wheels means you can easily get a wheelchair, pushchair, or sack trolley with a gas cylinder on it from the towpath to the road etc. Wheels does'nt mean a car, but it is not steep steps or a muddy bank.
- This is the site of a bridge: — Check the box if the place is a bridge. This will generate further boxes as follows:
- Is the bridge under or over the canal? — select a button
- What passes under or over the canal by this bridge? — Select one of the following:
- nothing
- cable
- pipe
- pedestrian traffic
- footpath
- track
- minor road
- road
- major road
- dual carriageway
- motorway
- railway
- disused railway
- stream
- river
- canal
- special
- If the bridge opens (it is a lift or swing bridge), tick the box. This will generate a further box as follows:
- Is the bridge a lift or a swing bridge, tick a box.
- The lift or swing bridge is normally left open, tick a box.
- The bridge is high enough that it doesn't need to open for typical craft, tick a box.
- The lift or swing bridge needs the following implements to operate it, tick a box.
- BW key
- handcuff key
- windlass
- The bridge is a changeline bridge — Check the box if the towpath is carried from one side of the waterway to the other side on this bridge
- The towpath changes here: — Check the box if the towpath has an unusual change .
- Considering the waterway as it runs from xxx to xxx), at this place the towpath: — Select one of the following:
- remains unchanged
- becomes double here
- becomes left hand side
- becomes right hand side
- changes sides with out a bridge
- stops
- NB: If the towpath changes sides on a normal changeline bridge do not set anything here, just tick the "changeline" box in the bridge settings. Only use this for unusual towpath changes including the change from single to double towpaths, or vice versa, or where the towpath changes sides without a bridge.
- The place is a winding hole:
- If the winding hole is not big enough for full length boats (it's less than 72 feet) then enter the actual length in the boxes. If a bridge is also selected a further option is required.
- Considering the waterway as it runs from xxx to xxx, where is the winding hole in relation to the bridge? — Select one of the following:
- Before the bridge.
- After the bridge.
- There is one each side of the bridge.
- The canal narrows here
- The canal is particularly wide here
- The place has facilities for boaters: — Select one or all (use Ctrl or Shift keys to select multiple options and the arrow buttons to move the items from Possible facilities to Available here) of the following:
- aluminium can recycling
- chemical toilet disposal suitable for DIY pump-out
- laundrette
- boatyard pump-out
- toilets
- water (cans only)
- coal for sale
- glass recycling
- tin can recycling
- diesel for sale
- chemical toilet disposal
- gas for sale
- paper recycling
- boater-operated pump-out
- rubbish disposal
- showers
- telephone
- water point
- The place is of a particular type: — Select one or all (use Ctrl or Shift keys to select multiple options and the arrow buttons to move the items from Possible types to This place) of the following:
- milepost
- marina
- wharf
- visitors mooring
- boatyard
- stoplock
- pub
- place of Interest
- basin
- Tunnel
- Junction
- Supermarket
- Cutting
- Hotel
- toll stop
- Aqueduct
- Temporary moorings
- Gauging Stop
- Flight
- Kilometre Post
- arts venue
- Bar
- Bar/Restaurant
- Restaurant
- town
- Incline Plane
- Slipway
- Campsite.
- The place is a lock:
- Enter the rise (height difference) for the lock - or leave empty if you don't know it.
- If there is more than one lock here (it is a 2-or-more lock staircase for example), set the number correctly - leave as one for single locks. The "rise" figure above should be the total rise for multiple locks. If a bridge is also selected, its relation to the lock is required.
- Considering the waterway as it runs from xxx to xx, where is the bridge in relation to the lock?
- Before the lock (at the head of the lock)
- Over the lock chamber
- After the lock (at the tail of the lock)
- Considering the xxx Canal as it runs from xxx to xx, does a branch or arm leave here? — Select one of the following:
- No
- Yes, to the left
- Yes, to the left and there is a bridge over it
- Yes, to the right
- Yes, to the right and there is a bridge over it
- Yes, on both sides
- Yes, on both sides and the left-hand one is bridged
- Yes, on both sides and the right-hand one is bridged
- Yes, on both sides and both are bridged
- Lock direction changes here — Check the box if this lock
is on a summit or lowest pound on the waterway.
- Move place — This feature moves a place logically on the waterway - in other words it alters the order of places. So it can alter a sequence from the incorrect Bridge 1, Bridge 3, Bridge 2, Bridge 4 to the obvious alternative. This is nothing to do with where the place is shown on the map – to change location, see Move place on maps below.
- Move xxx to the other side of: — Select one of the two
options to move the place.
- Move place on maps —
If a place is not shown in the right location on the maps, you can change it by dragging the "pin" on the Google map to the right position. When you let got of the pin, two buttons will appear. Move will send the change to the database (and after a couple of seconds a confirmation will be displayed), Clear will cancel the change without anything happening. Changing a place's coordinates alters where it is on both gazetteer and route maps, the latitude and longitude shown and the relative distance to nearby places in data tables. It does not alter the relative order of places (so if a route table shows bridge 3 before bridge 2, changing the coordinates won't alter that - see Move place above for how to fix this).
- Links and features
- Set locks in adjacent links — This option sets the number of locks in adjacent links to this place. After adjusting the number of locks, click Do it to complete the action.
- Edit features starting here — This option allows a feature to be created linking this place to another place.
- Select feature type — Default "Do not create feature"
- Tunnel
- Enter the name of the tunnel you are creating:
- Select the other end:
- Aqueduct
- Enter the name of the aqueduct you are creating:
- Select the other end:
- Flight
- Enter the name of the flight you are creating:
- Select the other end:
- Lift
- Enter the name of the lift you are creating:
- Select the other end:
- Cutting
- Enter the name of the cutting you are creating:
- Select the other end:
- Embankment
- Enter the name of the embankment you are creating:
- Select the other end:
When it has been created you will be taken to the feature's gazetteer page where you can edit details such as the length, add photos and navigational notes etc.
- Delete place —Before deleting a place all photos must be moved or deleted. The following warning message warns against deletion:
- You are about to permanently delete xxx from the CanalPlanAC database. The place can only be restored by adding it back again by hand, it cannot be un-deleted.
- Please be absolutely sure you want to do this before continuing. If uncertain, use "cancel" to return to the place and discuss whether it should be deleted in the "comments" box. Note that reckless deletion could lead to your editing rights being restricted or withdrawn.
- Please explain why you have deleted this place: — If you
are sure you want to delete this place put your reasons in the
following box.
- Break waterway —Page heading is: Split the xxx Canal at Place name The main reason for using this is to separate a part of a waterway that is a different gauge from the rest (the Worcester and Birmingham through Diglis locks for example), or to break a long waterway into shorter sections (the Trent and Mersey for example). Another use is to split a restored section of waterway off from a longer un-navigable section so that it can be merged with the navigable waterways The program will try to put the two resultant waterways at a suitable place in the waterway structure, and selecting the appropriate option below will help, but if the results aren't what you want you should go to the home page, and follow the menus to "Major edit" and "reorganise waterways" to correct things. Once split, you can use "edit" on the gazetteer page for each waterway to change dimensions etc.
- Divide waterway — Split the waterway making xxx Canal the name of an overall waterway for the two new ones.
- Divide section — Divide the waterway into two parts of equal importance, both sub-waterways of the xxx Canal.
- Cut-off left — Put the waterway from one end of the waterway to Place name into a new waterway, keeping xxx Canal as the name of the remaining waterway from Place name to other end of the waterway
- Cut-off right — Put the waterway from Place name
to other end of the waterway into a new waterway, keeping
xxx Canal as the name of the remaining waterway from one
end of the waterway to Place name
Each waterway has a "full name" which describes it in some detail and a "short name" that just refers to it. The short name should be part of the full name and in these boxes should be between "[[" and "]]".
Depending on the selection, box or boxes will appear below the following items: - New name of waterway from one end of the waterway to Place name
- New name of waterway from Place name to other end of
the waterway
- It is 99 miles/kms from one end of the waterway to other end of the waterway. Please check and adjust how this is distributed either side of Place name.
- Distribute the distance in the two boxes.
- one end of the waterway to Place name.
- Place name to other end of the waterway.
Major edit
- See Major edit for help and information on using this function.
Add or edit website
- What is the link to: — Select from photo, YouTube, website, or Facebook square.
- Associate this with which pages: — Select the associated place.
- Enter the link URL:
- Name the item you are linking to: — This will form the text of the link to the item.
- Describe the thing you are linking to:
If a website exists it can be deleted or edited.
- Delete this record — Tick box to delete and click Do
it.