Editorial policy

The rule behind every listing: publish only what can be traced to a source, show the source, and say plainly when something is not known. A missing schedule is better than an invented one.

Where rink data comes from

• OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL): rink locations, names, and often the address, operator, phone, website and opening hours. Each listing links its OpenStreetMap record.
• Wikidata (CC0) for some arenas and well-known rinks.
• Public map listings found through web search, used only for a phone number, website or posted hours when they match the rink by name and location.
• The rink's own website. Public-skate sessions, prices, programs and rules are read from the rink's own schedule, calendar or price pages. Every schedule and price table links the page it came from and shows the date we checked it.

How schedules and prices are read

• Prices are copied as the rink words them (“Admission (2 hr. sessions) $8.00”), with the unit and any note.
• Sessions are recorded day by day with the label the rink uses (“Public Skating”, “Adult Night (18+)”). Special one-off sessions such as school-break skates are left out of the weekly table and mentioned in the note when the rink lists them.
• When software helps read a page, every time and price it reports is checked against the page text, and anything that cannot be found there word for word is dropped.
• We never estimate a price or guess a schedule. If a rink does not publish one, the listing says so.
• Schedules checked more than about five months earlier carry a warning, because most rinks change schedules by season.

“Open now” and “public skate today”

Both are worked out in your browser, on the rink's own time zone, from the hours or schedule shown on the listing. They are hidden when the hours are seasonal, limited to certain weeks, or carry a note we cannot read, and for rinks marked seasonal. Holidays are not checked, so call ahead.

What we do not publish

• No invented schedules, prices, ratings or reviews, and no placeholder listings.
• No star ratings and no review text copied from Google, Yelp or other sites.
• No paid placement. Rinks cannot buy a listing or a position.

Which pages search engines see

A rink listing is offered to search engines only when it is complete (street address plus a phone number, website or hours), not marked closed, placed on the map by its sources, and carries a public-skate schedule, prices or opening hours. Thinner listings stay on the site, so people can still find a rink's address and phone number, but they are marked noindex until they gain that information. A city page exists when the city has at least 2 such listings or one with a published schedule or prices; the national ice, roller and outdoor pages link a state when it has at least 3.

Guides and the size chart

Every figure and rule in a guide is tied to a source listed at the end of it. The skate size chart shows only charts read from each maker's own size guide, linked under each one.

Corrections and removal

Email hello@rinknearme.com or use the link on any listing. Details are on the corrections page.