Improve place URLs

[bubelov]

I have no direct proposals, just want to start a discussion.

So, I've been working on adding Telegram support and I'm using this place for testing:

https://btcmap.org/merchant/node:12114038025

A few notes:

1. Not all pins are merchants, ATMs aren't merchants and idk how that sounds for a native speaker but calling a museum a merchant sounds silly. Place would be more neutral and generic

2. v4 ids are shorter and more consistent, this node:12114038025 monstrosity is not necessary

3. Is it technically possible to support "premium" URLs? What I have in mind is using https://btcmap.org/phuket as our local community URL, etc. This premium namespace can also be extended to places and events, like https://btcmap.org/baltichoneybadger or https://btcmap.org/fabelhaft-bar

[escapedcat]

1. Not all pins are merchants, ATMs aren't merchants and idk how that sounds for a native speaker but calling a museum a merchant sounds silly. Place would be more neutral and generic

Can do. /places seems fine. What about external links? Should we keep supporting /merchants for now?

2. v4 ids are shorter and more consistent, this node:12114038025 monstrosity is not necessary

#421 is introducing URLs with place IDs for internal use. To not break external links monstrosity is still supported though.

3. Is it technically possible to support "premium" URLs? What I have in mind is using https://btcmap.org/phuket as our local community URL, etc. This premium namespace can also be extended to places and events, like https://btcmap.org/baltichoneybadger or https://btcmap.org/fabelhaft-bar

Sounds a bit like you want a btcmap link-shortener service? Handling this in the FE seems too messy.

[dadofsambonzuki]

Should we keep supporting /merchants for now?

Yeah, we should maintain backwards compatibility as those /merchant links are out there in the wild. Should be singular /place.

Is it technically possible to support "premium" URLs? What I have in mind is using https://btcmap.org/phuket as our local community URL, etc. This premium namespace can also be extended to places and events, like https://btcmap.org/baltichoneybadger or https://btcmap.org/fabelhaft-bar

Yeah, although cleaner (implementation wise) to have in the /event namespace. Merchants and Events on the root is possible though. Premium events and places would route to their own customisable pages ideally, not the standard ones.

This would be part of a premium+paid offering imo.

[bubelov]

Yeah I meant very simple redirects, like if frontend gets an unknown path (not /places, /events, areas/, etc), it can ask a special endpoint to get a redirect in case it's a valid top level alias. So, if frontend offers a clean "no other routes matched" callback, the implementation can be pretty easy and clean, but it's a big if and it's just an idea

[bubelov]

places/place is a holywar, I think REST and HTTP in general prefers plurals cuz in the most basic form (static website), those are just folders, and plural is what people choose for real paper and computer folders too, but now it's all optional, like adding www. prefix to website path, etc

[escapedcat]

Also look at the current url: /issues/432 :P

[escapedcat]

To keep both URLs working i.e. merchants and places. Do you have a preference?

Option 1: SvelteKit Route Alias (SIMPLEST & RECOMMENDED)

Create a new route directory that reuses the merchant page logic by creating minimal files that import and re-export from the merchant route.

Pros:

• Pure SvelteKit solution
• Works in both dev and production
• Clean and maintainable
• No redirect = same URL stays in browser

Files to create:

• src/routes/place/[id]/+page.server.ts - re-export the merchant page load function
• src/routes/place/[id]/+page.svelte - re-export the merchant page component

Option 2: Netlify Redirects

Add redirect rules to netlify.toml to redirect /place/* to /merchant/*.

Pros:

• Very simple config change
• Handled at CDN level (fast)

[dadofsambonzuki]

Option 1 Route Alias looks like the best.

Perhaps we promote /places to the main route and have /merchant as the alias?