You'll find that as you zoom out in Local Insight, your service markers (icons) will be grouped together and the number of services contained within this group is shown on the marker. This is known as clustering.
There are 2 main reasons for clustering the services:
- It aids website performance, as there could be thousands of markers rendering at any given moment
- It could potentially be confusing to show all markers at once, as they will be bunched together and overlapping
Exactly how or when to group the icons together is determined by how far apart they are on the current map view in pixels (px) - think of this as a threshold after which the map groups the services. In Local Insight, this threshold value is this to 40px, which means the map will cluster markers within 40 pixels of each other. This value gives a good balance between site performance and a sensible amount to render on the screen without causing confusion, while also providing an accurate representation of where services lie as possible.
The below examples show an under-clustered map, an over-clustered map and the current clustering:
Over-clustered (100px) Current clustering (40px) Under-clustered (1px)
Ultimately, there will always be a trade-off between clustering the services so that they are visible and the site performs well and having them placed as accurately as possible.
Individual Marker Placement:
- As you zoom in and are able to see individual services, it will be placed at the centroid of the postcode, using the postcode entered during the upload process.
- If you have a number of services at a given postcode (for example a high street), Local Insight will scatter the postcodes around the postcode centroid, so that you can see individual properties. This scatter is randomised, so where properties appear may vary slightly each time you refresh the page.