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Wayfinding uses the walking network you build in Route Builder. You edit nodes and paths; wayfinding then chooses a single path through that network. After you make changes, Save and Publish.

Construction on campus? Disconnect or reroute the affected paths so people are sent around the closure, then preview a few nearby routes before you publish.

How to Make Route Edits

1. Open your map CMS and select the Routes tab.
2. Choose Selective to work in one area, or All to view the full network. On a large campus, Selective is safer. Loading every node at once can slow the CMS.
3. Edit the network:
   • Create a node: click the map.
   • Edit a node: click the node, then set type, floor, weight, and features.
   • Connect two nodes: Shift-click.
   • Remove a path: click the path.
   • Delete a node: Alt-click.
4. Select Preview to test routes before they go live. Preview lasts 30 days, so you can share the URL and walk the campus.
5. Save, then Publish.

Wayfinding walking speed is set in the Options tab, not in Route Builder.

Check out this slide deck for more viusal instructions on how to make wayfinding edits: Open Slide Deck.

How Wayfinding chooses a route

Wayfinding is one shared network. It does not keep multiple named routes. Two lines drawn next to each other are still one network, and wayfinding still picks one path.

There are two different “which node?” moments:

1. Where the route starts and ends
A dropped pin, a location, or walking/driving handing off onto the network uses the closest node. Light and heavy do not matter here. A Light door a few steps farther south loses to an Average door that is closer.

2. Which path it takes in between
Once start and end nodes are chosen, wayfinding walks the connected network. Distance is the main input. Light and heavy can nudge that choice.

In that second step, Light can beat a small extra walk. It will not beat a much longer one. Two similar entries — one slightly farther and Light, one closer and Average — Light often wins. If the Light option is well out of the way, distance still wins.

A common mix-up is assuming “light always wins” or “closest always wins.” Closest wins at the start and end. Light vs heavy only matters among paths already on the network.

How distance is measured

The walk is the sum of each connected segment from node to node, not a straight line from Start to End.

That is why extra nodes on a zigzag make the route longer, and why a clean sidewalk with fewer nodes can beat a dense cluster that looks shorter on the map.

Light and heavy only nudge an estimate of how far is left. The path on the map, and the mileage, is still that chain of segments.

If both start and end are outside, wayfinding is strongly influenced not to cut through a building. That is expected. To take people inside, the destination needs to be inside, and the network needs a connected door and interior path.

Node types and weights

Type describes what the place is. Weight describes how willing wayfinding is to use it. They are not substitutes for each other.

Node types

Node weights

Heavy is for a path you will allow only if it is clearly best: a congested cut-through, or the front of a building you would rather people walk around.

Extra-heavy does not block a node. If every path to the destination goes through it, wayfinding will still use it. To prevent a walk completely, disconnect the path.

Weights work best when they are different. Too many similar adjustments in the same area often cancel out. Changing one node can change other routes that touch it, so preview more than the path you were trying to fix.

Light and heavy cannot create a second route for VIP vs general admission from the same start and end.

When a route looks wrong

Send a share link of the route you generated. This will include:

• Start location (for example, Library)
• End location (for example, Madison Hall)
• Whether you used driving directions, walking directions, or the wayfinding start/end pins

If possible, please also send:

• What path you expected
• A screenshot or recording when avaiable

That is enough to tell whether the network needs an edit, a weight is fighting distance, or something is actually broken.

Tips for a good network

Keep it simple.

Put nodes at real decisions: intersections, doors, lot exits, stair or elevator landings, major turns. If a node does not change where someone can go, it usually should not exist.

Extra nodes make the network worse, not more precise.

Wayfinding starts at the closest node to the pin, not the “best” one. A marker in the middle of a lot full of nodes starts in the middle of the lot. The path is drawn node to node, so extra nodes add extra corners, extra turn-by-turn steps, and lines that jog, cut a wall, or walk past a door and turn back. Distance is measured along that chain, so a zigzag is a longer walk than a clean sidewalk.

One extra node is also available to every route that can touch it, not just the one you were editing.

There are times where nodes are necessary to get the right route shape, this is ok, but limit nodes where possible.

Connect what people can actually walk.

A node only works if it is linked to the rest of the network. Isolated nodes, or lots that never connect to a sidewalk, will fail or produce odd routes. Resolve disconnected groups before you save.

Place nodes where the walk actually happens.

• Put parking nodes at pedestrian entrances and exits, then regular nodes on the walking path.
• Place nodes before doors, and run the path through the middle of the door, not through a wall.
• On interiors, prefer simple 90-degree turns.
• Do not stack several doors in a row, the route will always go to the closest door.

When you place a node, ask: How do I get to it? Where can I go from it? What would the instruction say? If those answers are not simple, you may not need the node.

Match floors.

Exterior nodes belong on floor 0. Interior nodes belong on the floor they are on. Vertical nodes should be added to the floors they connect. So an elevator node may need to be on all floors.

Preview related routes.

After you edit a connection or weight, test more than one start and end point.

What Wayfinding cannot do

• Different routes for different user groups (with the exception of accessible routes)
• Different networks by event, opponent, or time of day
• A guaranteed path because a node is light
• A blocked path because a node is extra-heavy

To send people to a preferred lot for driving directions, use the location’s Preferred Parking setting. That is separate from parking nodes in Route Builder.

Updating Wayfinding Description on Front End Map

Partners can add short instructions for visitors in turn-by-turn directions. There is a 400 character limit.

1. Go to the Options tab in the map CMS.
2. Enter text in the Wayfinding Help Text field.
3. Save and Publish.

Updating the Accessible Routes Toggle on Front End Map

The "Show Accessible Routes" label on the front end can be customized. There is a 40 character limit.

1. Go to the Options tab in the map CMS.
2. Enter custom text in the Accessible Routes Toggle field.
3. Save and Publish.

If accessible wayfinding is enabled, mark nodes a wheelchair should not use as wheelchair-unfriendly. When the accessible option is on, those nodes are skipped. That is separate from light/heavy.