Cutting turfs

Why you cut walkable chunks, how to draw them, and what the time estimate means.

For campaign admins

A turf is a polygon on your address universe — a walkable set of doors. You cut turfs so each canvass has a clear footprint: not the whole ward at once, and not a vague “north side” in a spreadsheet.

Open Map & Turfs

In admin, go to Map & Turfs. You will see universe dots colored by door status, existing turf outlines, and any canvassers currently live on a canvass.

Click a door

Click a dot to open the visits recorded at that house: who knocked, the result, support level, name, phone, notes, and any other signs noted on that visit. A door with no knock yet says so. Skip this door tells volunteers to pass the house without scoring it a 1 or a 2, so the vote estimate does not change. The dot turns navy. Walk sheets leave it off. Put back on the list undoes that. A visit that is already a 1 or a 2 stays that score. This is the same visit detail a canvasser sees when they tap the pin. Finish or cancel drawing before you inspect a door. Satellite lays aerial photos under the street names. It stays off until you tap it, and if the photos cannot load the street map stays up.

Draw the polygon

Tap Draw turf, tap vertices around the block(s) you want, then Finish. DoorLine counts addresses inside the polygon with PostGIS before you save.

Drawing a turf polygon on the map — Outline a walkable chunk. Cancel anytime if you mis-tap a vertex.

Name and optionally schedule

In Name this turf, give it a clear label (street names help captains). Add notes if useful. Optionally check Schedule a canvass on this turf now to create the canvass in the same dialog.

Name this turf dialog with address count and schedule option — Save the turf — or schedule the first canvass in one step.

Time estimates

While drawing, you may see something like “~120 addresses · ~2.5 hrs at team pace.” That uses recent knock rates (houses/hr) when you have enough data.

Show, hide, delete

The turf sidebar lists every turf. Hide old turfs to declutter the map without deleting history. Delete only when you are sure nothing still needs that outline.

Draw a polygon when you want every door inside. If you only want chosen doors (a warm list spread across the ward), use Lit Drop instead — a hull would include houses you did not pick.

Next: attach turfs to work on the calendar in Canvasses.