Adding a field feature

Platform: Mobile (the Archer app)

You'll normally add field features in the field, standing at or near the thing you want to record. The mobile app uses your GPS position to place the feature accurately, but you can also tap the map to place points by hand.

Before you start

• You're signed in to the mobile app and in the correct management group.
• The vineyard the feature belongs to exists and has synced to your device.
• Your GPS position is healthy (ideally RTK fixed).

Steps

1. On the List tab, tap the vineyard the feature belongs to. This opens the vineyard's detail screen.

2. Tap Create new feature. The capture screen ("New Feature") opens on the map, fitted to the vineyard — its blocks and existing features are shown for context, and your GPS position is marked.

   If you have parked drafts for that vineyard, an Add feature sheet appears first. It offers New feature ("Start capturing from scratch") at the top, then a Parked drafts list — tap a draft to pick up where you left off, or press and hold its bin icon (Hold to delete) to delete it — the hold is the confirmation, there's no popup. With no drafts, you go straight into a fresh capture.

   

   

3. On a fresh capture the Select Feature Type picker opens automatically — expand a category, then choose a type. The type sets the geometry — point, line, or area — shown by a badge (POINT / LINE / AREA) next to each type. The list reflects your organisation's configured taxonomy.

   If you dismiss the picker without choosing, a full-width Select feature type button sits at the bottom of the screen to reopen it. Once a type is chosen, a type card floats just above the bottom bar — tap it at any time to change the type. (The card is locked while you're re-mapping an existing feature, since the type can't change mid-edit.)

   

4. Capture the geometry:

   • Point — tap Place Point to drop a point at your current GPS position; the bar then reads Point placed, and Move Point re-drops it.
   • Line or area — tap Add Point at each spot to add the current GPS position to the shape. Walk the line or boundary, adding points as you go; the bar counts them (5 pts) and an undo/redo pill appears at the top-left of the map.

   Place Point / Add Point is greyed out until the phone has a GPS fix. Once a type is chosen you can also turn on Tap to place (top right) and tap the map to drop points by hand instead of using your GPS position — with it off, tapping the map does nothing. See Placing and adjusting points below.

   

   

5. When the shape is complete, tap Save — it appears in the bottom bar, next to the Place/Add Point button, once the geometry is valid.

6. In the Save Feature dialog, optionally enter a Feature name (optional) and Notes (optional), and tap Add Photo to attach photos — the counter beside it reads No photos until you do. None of these are required — tap Save to finish. (How many photos a feature can hold depends on your organisation's plan; the camera tells you if you've hit the limit.)

   

The feature syncs to the cloud and appears in the vineyard's Features list and the portal. Type-specific properties (for example a pipe size or valve number) aren't set here — add them afterwards via Edit, or by drawing the feature in the portal.

Drafts

Leaving the capture screen part-way through doesn't lose anything:

• Leave with points captured and the work is automatically parked as a draft. (A capture with no points is simply discarded — there's nothing worth keeping.)
• Parked line and area drafts show as dashed ghost geometry on the Maps tab (with the Field features layer on), each with a small Draft chip at its first point; a point draft shows just the chip. Tap the Draft chip to resume the capture — a "Resumed draft from …" banner across the top confirms what was restored (it dismisses itself after a few seconds). A draft parked while re-mapping an existing feature isn't shown as a ghost; it resumes the next time you re-map that feature.
• Drafts are also offered whenever you tap Create new feature on that vineyard: the Add feature sheet lists them alongside starting fresh (see step 2 above).
• To throw an in-progress capture away, press and hold the bin icon in the capture screen's top bar (its tooltip reads Hold to discard draft). The hold itself is the confirmation, so there's no popup; the icon only appears once you've captured at least one point.

Placing and adjusting points

• GPS vs tap-to-place. Place Point / Add Point uses your current GPS fix — the most accurate option in the field. Switch on Tap to place (top right) to drop points by tapping the map instead, which is handy for marking something you can't stand on.

• Undo / redo. For lines and areas, a pill at the top-left of the map lets you Undo the last point or Redo one you removed.

• The points drawer. For lines and areas, tap the point count (for example 5 pts) in the bottom bar to open the Points (5) drawer listing every vertex. Each row is numbered to match its marker on the map and shows the point's coordinates, an accuracy badge (RTK, RTK float, GPS ±X.Xm, Manual, or Existing for points loaded from a feature you're re-mapping), a delete button, and a drag handle for reordering points. Tapping a row selects that point on the map — and selecting a point on the map highlights its row, so selection works both ways.

  

• Move a point. Drag any point's handle on the map to nudge it.

• Delete a point. Long-press a point on the map and confirm the "Delete point N?" prompt — a long-press is the same gesture as starting a drag, so the confirmation absorbs accidental deletes. For deliberate deletes there's no prompt: with a point selected, the delete (bin) button in the undo/redo pill removes it instantly, as does the delete button on its row in the points drawer. Deletes, drags, and reorders are all undoable.

• Follow GPS. The map follows your position as you move; pan the map and it stops following, so you can review the shape without it sliding away.

Editing a feature you just added

1. On the vineyard detail screen, switch the section toggle to Features and tap the feature. This opens its inspect view.

2. Tap Edit (pencil) in the header to open the Edit Feature sheet.

3. Change the Feature name, Notes, photos, or Properties (shown when the feature's type defines them), and add free-form Custom Attributes (key / value pairs) if you need to — then tap Save in the sheet's header.

4. To change the shape, tap Re-map Geometry. The capture screen reopens with the feature's existing shape loaded, ready to adjust — the title bar reads "Re-map Feature". Move, add, or delete points, then save: the dialog is Update Feature, and the confirmation reads "Feature geometry updated". If you're interrupted mid-re-map, the edit is parked as a draft tied to that feature and resumes automatically the next time you re-map it.

   

You can also edit a feature — including its geometry and type-specific properties — in the portal.

Archiving a feature

When something is gone from the ground — a tank removed, a hazard cleared — you can archive its feature from the app:

1. Open the feature's inspect view (vineyard detail → Features → tap the feature), or tap the feature on the main map to open its card.
2. Press and hold the archive icon. The button reads Hold to archive — the hold itself is the confirmation.

The feature disappears from the map and feature lists. There's no in-app restore, so double-check before archiving.

Tips

• Name your features where it helps — a bank of five irrigation headers on one site is easier to tell apart if they're named, even if the type is the same.
• Use notes generously — especially for things like "spare valve in shed for this header" or "this gate's lock needs replacing". Notes are searchable and show up for everyone on your team.
• Offline is fine. If you're out of signal, the feature is saved locally and uploads automatically when you're back online. See Working offline.
• Mapping a block? You can jump straight into feature capture with the Add feature button in the block-mapping wizard's top bar — handy for marking a gate or hazard you walk past mid-block, without abandoning the wizard.
• Capture method is recorded. Each feature records how it was captured — RTK GPS, Device GPS, or Manual (tap-to-place) — so you can tell how accurate its position is.
• Check the category/type list. If you find yourself constantly adding features as a generic, catch-all type, ask whoever manages your organisation to add the category or type you're missing.