Playfield Atlas publishes measurements, and a measurement is either right or wrong. This page explains what counts as an error, how to report one, and what happens to a page once an error is confirmed.
What counts as an error
An error is anything the site stated as fact and got wrong. Four kinds come up most often on a site built out of figures and sources.
| Kind of error | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| A wrong figure | A number transcribed, converted or rounded incorrectly, so the feet and the meters no longer describe the same distance. |
| A wrong source | A figure attributed to a rule or document that does not actually contain it. |
| A wrong scope | A real figure applied to the wrong level of play, such as an international competition requirement presented as if it governed every court. |
| An out-of-date rule | A figure that was correct when it was checked, and that the governing body has since changed. |
Correction, update, clarification
The three are handled differently, because they say different things about the page you are reading.
| Term | What happened | What changes on the page |
|---|---|---|
| Correction | The site was wrong. | The figure is replaced, the verification date is reset, and the change is described on the page. |
| Update | The site was right and the rule has since changed. | The figure is replaced and the verification date is reset. The page says the figure has changed rather than that it was wrong. |
| Clarification | The figure and its source are right, but the wording was ambiguous. | The wording is rewritten. No figure and no verification date change. |
How to report one
Write to contact at playfieldatlas dot com. Three things make a report quick to act on.
- The page URL, and the heading or the row of the Key measurements block where the figure appears.
- The figure as published, and the value you believe is correct.
- The rule or document that contradicts it: the governing body, the edition or year, and the clause or page number if you have it.
A link to the source is better than a screenshot of it. If you cannot find the source but the figure still looks wrong to you, say so anyway. A report that flags a number as doubtful is useful even when it turns out the number was right.
What happens next
- The figure is checked against the primary official source it is tied to, not against other websites that repeat it.
- If the source contradicts the page, the figure is corrected and the page carries a new verification date.
- If a diagram shows the figure, the diagram is redrawn to match before the page goes back up.
- If the source supports what the page says, nothing changes. Where the confusion is understandable, the wording is clarified so the next reader does not hit it.
A substantive correction is described on the page itself, with the old figure and the new one both visible. Figures are not changed quietly.
What is promised, and what is not
Reports are read. Corrections are made as soon as the error is confirmed against the source, which is usually the slowest part of the process when a rule book is long or hard to obtain.
There is no promised response time. This is a small publication and a reply may take a while, or may not come at all. A report can also be acted on before it is answered: if the figure you wrote about changes on the site and the verification date moves, that is the acknowledgment.
Disagreements about which rule applies are welcome too. Governing bodies, national federations and facility guidance often set different numbers for the same line, and a report that shows a figure is right at one level and wrong at another usually improves the scope column rather than the figure.