How to Create Locations

Locations are the physical addresses and virtual meeting rooms your agency operates, and each one carries its own rooms, business hours, default judge, and messaging controls. Create a location once and you can assign it to events, cases, payments, and check-ins.

### Overview

- **What it is:** A location is a record for a courthouse, office, or virtual meeting room, with an address or meeting link, contact details, operating details, and rooms
- **Why it matters:** Settings you put on a location follow every record assigned to it, including the time zone used for scheduling and whether messages are generated at all
- **Who uses it:** Agency administrators who maintain courtrooms, offices, and virtual hearing rooms
- **Expected outcomes:** Your locations appear in the **Location** dropdown on events, cases, payments, and check-ins, and their details are available to messages through location merge tags

### Prerequisites

- Admin access to your agency, so the **Admin** menu appears in the top navigation
- The full street address for a physical location
- The meeting link, and the passcode if one is required, for a virtual location
- A judge record already created if you want to set a **Default Judge**

### How-To Steps

#### Create a location

1. Go to **Admin** > **Locations**. The same page opens from **Admin** > **Settings** by clicking the **Locations** tab.

![The Locations page in eCourtDate](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/42b8621a-9315-4927-8699-63a0ca57b696/Add-Location_01.png)

2. Check the existing list first, and edit a match instead of creating a duplicate.
3. Enter a **Name** in the **Create Location** card. This is the public facing location name.
4. Select **Physical** or **Virtual** under **Location Type**. Choosing **Virtual** hides the address fields.

![The Create Location form with the name and address fields](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/42b8621a-9315-4927-8699-63a0ca57b696/Add-Location.png)

5. Enter the **Address** for a physical location and pick the suggestion that matches, which fills **City**, **State**, and **Zip** for you.
6. Complete **Address 2**, **City**, **County**, **State**, and **Zip** if anything is still missing.
7. Click **Create**. eCourtDate opens the new location so you can finish setting it up.

![The location edit page with the Save button](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/42b8621a-9315-4927-8699-63a0ca57b696/Location-and-Save-Button.png)

#### Position a physical location on the map

1. Review the map on the location page. If the pin sits in the wrong spot, drag the marker to the correct position and click **Save**.
2. Click anywhere on the map to move the pin instead, then confirm the **Update location coordinates?** prompt, which saves the new position for you.
3. Enter values in **Latitude** and **Longitude** directly if you already know the coordinates, then click **Save**.
4. Click **Apple Maps** or **Google Maps** at the top of the page to open the address for directions.

#### Finish a virtual location

1. Select the **Virtual Location** checkbox if you did not choose **Virtual** when you created the record.
2. Enter the meeting link in **Virtual Link**.

![The Virtual Link field on a virtual location](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/42b8621a-9315-4927-8699-63a0ca57b696/Virtual-Location_001.png)

3. Enter the meeting passcode in **Virtual Passcode** if the meeting requires one.
4. Click **Save**.
5. Use **Open in Browser** or **Open in Desktop** in the **Virtual Location** card to join the meeting.

![The Virtual Location card with buttons to open the meeting](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/42b8621a-9315-4927-8699-63a0ca57b696/Virtual-Location_003.png)

#### Set the operating details

1. Select a judge in **Default Judge**. An event can override it.
2. Enter your public hours in **Business Hours** and your open days in **Business Days**.
3. Select a **Time Zone**, or leave it blank to use the time zone configured in General Settings.
4. Add arrival or parking guidance in the **Instructions** editor.
5. Complete **Phone**, **Email**, and **Website** so people can reach the location.
6. Click **Save**.

> **Note:** Click a merge tag beside a field label, such as `[LocationInstructions]`, to copy it for use in a message template.

#### Add rooms

1. Enter a **Name** in the **Create Room** card and click **Create**.

![The Create Room form on a location](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/42b8621a-9315-4927-8699-63a0ca57b696/Create_room.png)

2. Click the edit icon beside a room to load it into the **Edit Room** form.
3. Complete **Reference**, **Floor**, **Sort**, and **Description**, and select **ADA** if the room is ADA compliant.
4. Click **Save**.
5. Drag a row in the rooms list to change the order that rooms appear in.

![The list of rooms on a location](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/42b8621a-9315-4927-8699-63a0ca57b696/Create_room04.png)

6. Click **Trash** in the **Edit Room** form to remove a room you no longer use.

#### Set the default location

1. Open the location you want as the default.
2. Select the **Default Location** checkbox.

![The Default Location checkbox on a location](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/42b8621a-9315-4927-8699-63a0ca57b696/Default-Location_02.png)

3. Click **Save**.
4. Return to **Admin** > **Locations** and confirm the banner at the top names your default location.

#### Stop messages for a location

1. Open the location you want to pause.
2. Select the **Auto-Disable Messages** checkbox.

![The Auto-Disable Messages checkbox on a location](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/42b8621a-9315-4927-8699-63a0ca57b696/Auto-Disable-Message_02.png)

3. Click **Save**.

> **Note:** Messages are not generated for events assigned to a location with **Auto-Disable Messages** selected.

#### Publish a location on your portals

1. Select the **Enable on Portals** checkbox on the location.
2. Click **Save**.
3. Click **Open Portal Link** at the top of the location page to open that location's page on your portal.
4. Select the **Portal** checkbox in the **Search Locations** card and click **Search** to list every location enabled on portals.

#### Upload locations in bulk

1. Click **Sample File** in the **Upload Locations** card to download the CSV template.
2. Complete the file. **Name** is the only required column.
3. Drop the file on the upload area to open the **Match Your Columns** screen.
4. Review the matches on **Match Your Columns** and choose the eCourtDate field for any column that is still unmatched.
5. Select **Update them** or **Skip them** under **Existing Locations**, which are matched by name.
6. Click **Continue**.
7. Read the counts on **Confirm This Upload**, which show how many locations will be created, updated, skipped, and rejected before anything is saved.
8. Click **Confirm Upload**.
9. Click **Undo This Upload** on **Upload Finished** if the results are not what you expected.

> **Note:** Rows without an address are uploaded as virtual locations, and every uploaded location is enabled on portals.

#### Find an existing location

1. Go to **Admin** > **Locations**.
2. Enter a term in **Search**, or narrow by **Name**, **Reference**, **Agency**, **Address**, or **Creator** in the **Search Locations** card.
3. Select **Virtual**, **Is Default**, or **Portal** to filter the list by those settings.
4. Select **Archived** or **Trashed** to find locations that are no longer active.
5. Click **Search**, then click the edit icon beside the location you want to open.

### What to Expect

A **Location updated** confirmation appears each time you save, and the location becomes available in the **Location** dropdown on events, cases, payments, and check-ins. Once a location has rooms, a **Room** dropdown appears on an event after you select that location. A physical location shows a map once eCourtDate has coordinates for it, either from the address you entered or from the pin you placed.

### Best Practices

- Search the existing list before you create a location, because bulk uploads match on name and a near duplicate is easy to create by accident
- Set a **Time Zone** on any location that sits outside your agency's General Settings time zone so scheduling stays correct
- Confirm the pin on the map after you save a new address, and drag it into place when the geocoded position is off
- Use **Sort** on rooms to put the rooms your staff pick most often at the top of the list
- Use **Auto-Disable Messages** rather than trashing a location you have closed temporarily, so the historical records stay intact

### Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Can I change a physical location to a virtual one later?**

A: Yes. Open the location, select the **Virtual Location** checkbox, enter the meeting link in **Virtual Link**, and click **Save**. The address fields are hidden once the location is virtual.

**Q: Why can I not edit the Location Reference field?**

A: **Location Reference** is only editable by super admins. You can otherwise set it when you first create locations through a bulk upload by mapping a column to **Reference**.

**Q: Do rooms have their own hours or judge?**

A: No. A room holds a **Name**, **Reference**, **Floor**, **Sort**, **Description**, and the **ADA** setting. **Business Hours**, **Business Days**, **Time Zone**, and **Default Judge** are set on the location.

**Q: What happens to messages when I select Auto-Disable Messages?**

A: Messages are no longer generated for events assigned to that location. Event troubleshooting reports the location as the reason so your staff can see why nothing sent.

**Q: What happens if my CSV has no address column?**

A: Every row without an address is created as a virtual location. Add an address column, or add a Virtual column holding 1, true, or yes on the rows that really are virtual.

### Troubleshooting

**Issue:** The map shows the wrong spot for a physical location.

**Symptoms:** The pin sits away from the building, or no map appears at all.

**Solution:**

1. Confirm the **Address**, **City**, **State**, and **Zip** fields hold a complete address and click **Save**
2. Drag the marker onto the correct position and click **Save**
3. Enter the exact coordinates in **Latitude** and **Longitude** and click **Save** if the address cannot be placed

**Issue:** No messages are generated for events at a location.

**Symptoms:** Event troubleshooting reports that the location has messages disabled.

**Solution:**

1. Open the location from **Admin** > **Locations**
2. Clear the **Auto-Disable Messages** checkbox
3. Click **Save**

**Issue:** A bulk upload will not move past column matching.

**Symptoms:** The **Continue** button stays disabled and a warning asks you to choose a column before continuing.

**Solution:**

1. Map one of your columns to **Name** on **Match Your Columns**, because it is required
2. Click **Choose a Different File** if your file has no name column, and add one
3. Click **Continue** once the warning clears

**Issue:** A location you created is missing from the list.

**Symptoms:** The location does not appear in search results or in a **Location** dropdown.

**Solution:**

1. Select **Archived** or **Trashed** in the **Search Locations** card and click **Search**
2. Open the location when you find it
3. Click **Tools** > **Restore** to put it back in service

> **Important:** If you continue to experience issues after following these troubleshooting steps, sign in to eCourtDate and create a ticket by clicking the ticket button in the bottom right corner of the screen.

### Related Articles

- [How to Manage Events](/how-to-manage-events)
- [How to Create a Virtual Event](/how-to-create-a-virtual-event)
- [How to Manage Judges](/how-to-manage-judges)
- [How to Create Web Portals](/how-to-create-web-portals)
- [How to Use Merge Tags](/how-to-use-merge-tags)