Managing Service Areas

Once you've created service areas, you can edit, deactivate, or delete them as your business needs change.

Viewing Your Areas

Go to Settings → Service Areas to see all your defined areas.

Coverage Map

At the top of the page, a Coverage Map displays all your service areas and properties at a glance:

• Coloured polygons show your service area boundaries
• Coloured dots show properties assigned to each area
• Grey dots show properties not yet assigned to any area
• Click the expand icon to view the map in fullscreen mode

This gives you a quick overview of your coverage and helps identify gaps or unassigned properties.

Area Cards

Each area card shows:

• Colour swatch - The area's assigned colour
• Name - The area identifier
• Description - Optional notes about the region
• Property count - How many properties are assigned to this area
• Status - Active or Inactive

Editing an Area

To modify an existing service area:

1. Click the pencil icon on the area card
2. The edit modal opens with the current boundary displayed
3. Adjust any details:
   • Change the name or colour
   • Update the description
   • Toggle active status
   • Modify the polygon boundary by dragging points
4. Click Update to save changes

Adjusting the Boundary

When editing, the existing polygon is shown with numbered, draggable markers at each vertex. You can:

• Drag any marker to move that point
• Use Draw Polygon to add more points
• Clear to remove all points and redraw from scratch

Deactivating an Area

If you want to temporarily stop using an area without deleting it:

1. Edit the area
2. Toggle Active off
3. Save

Inactive areas:

• Are not used when auto-assigning properties
• Still retain their property assignments
• Can be reactivated at any time

Deleting an Area

To permanently remove a service area:

1. Click the trash icon on the area card
2. Confirm the deletion

Properties Become Unassigned

When you delete a service area, all properties assigned to it will become unassigned. They won't automatically move to another area - you'll need to run bulk assignment or manually reassign them.

Bulk Re-Assignment

If you've made significant changes to your area boundaries, you can reassign all properties at once:

1. Click the Re-assign Properties button in the page header (next to "Add Service Area")
2. YardPilot will check every property's coordinates against your current active areas
3. Properties will be assigned to the appropriate area (or unassigned if they don't fall within any boundary)
4. The Coverage Map will update to show the new assignments

This is useful when:

• You've adjusted multiple boundaries
• You've imported new properties
• You want to ensure all assignments are current

Best Practices

Naming Conventions

Use consistent, descriptive names:

• ✅ "North Brisbane", "South Brisbane", "CBD"
• ✅ "Zone A - Coastal", "Zone B - Inland"
• ❌ "Area 1", "Area 2", "Area 3" (not descriptive)

Colour Selection

• Use distinct colours for adjacent areas
• Consider colour blindness - avoid red/green combinations for adjacent zones
• Use consistent themes - e.g., warm colours for north, cool colours for south

Area Size

• Too large: Doesn't help with route planning
• Too small: Creates visual clutter on the schedule
• Just right: 15-30 minute drive time within an area is a good guideline

Regular Review

Review your service areas quarterly to ensure they still match your:

• Customer distribution
• Team capacity
• Route efficiency goals