Possible to use a circle kml to create a location?

[moonlittrails]

I’ve been trying to create a place to use in a collection project. Previously I made one by drawing straight lines in iNat, but I want a circular shape. The circle kml was created in Google Earth. I also tried Google Maps. I know I can do a search with coordinates and radius, but in one case I was interested in sharing it with people who aren’t very tech savvy.

I’m not sure if there is really something wrong with the files or if there’s a reason I can’t use a circle?
I get this error “There were problems importing that place: Latitude can’t be blank, Longitude can’t be blank, File was invalid or did not contain any polygons, Place geometry can’t be blank”

[jwidness]

Can you post the content of the kml file?

[pisum]

make sure you’ve got a polygon instead of just a path. as jwidness suggested, it would be helpful to be able to see the contents of your KML file. you can open it with a text editor like Notepad (in Windows). then copy the text from the file and paste it in this thread.

[moonlittrails]

I originally used a circle generator kml produced online (https://kml4earth.appspot.com/circlegen.html)–this was referenced in a GE forum post. Another said to use the circle tool in the ruler. The OP asked specifically about a polygon. I got the same error with both. I also just tried drawing a square polygon inside the circle, to compare the files. That file does have a Polygon tag, and LinearRing. The ruler circle file doesn’t have a Polygon tag, and uses LineString. I tried replacing the coordinates from the circle file into the square file just to see, but that didn’t work either.
This is the version run from the generator, revised per the instructions to make the radius 7.5 in GE.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> Circle radius 7.5 mi ff0000ff 2 1 -121.9300191099898,37.60671471165103,0 -121.9315165352067,37.62292477690493,0 -121.936035974074,37.63877609639133,0 -121.9434782540387,37.65391424435877,0 -121.9536785828138,37.66800053408341,0 -121.9664100991427,37.68071963009751,0 -121.9813888507189,37.69178665188468,0 -121.9982800962749,37.70095360505985,0 -122.016705794911,37.70801499034992,0 -122.036253114468,37.71281245887155,0 -122.056483763287,37.71523840388709,0 -122.0769439270961,37.71523840388709,0 -122.0971745759151,37.71281245887155,0 -122.116721895472,37.70801499034992,0 -122.1351475941081,37.70095360505985,0 -122.1520388396641,37.69178665188468,0 -122.1670175912403,37.68071963009752,0 -122.1797491075692,37.66800053408341,0 -122.1899494363443,37.65391424435876,0 -122.197391716309,37.63877609639133,0 -122.2019111551763,37.62292477690493,0 -122.2034085803932,37.60671471165103,0 -122.201852495229,37.59050811879209,0 -122.1972796085517,37.57466690795776,0 -122.1897938419495,37.55954460671386,0 -122.1795638516837,37.5454784937492,0 -122.1668191345942,37.53278211175164,0 -122.1518448159863,37.52173832300449,0 -122.1349752432974,37.5125930575328,0 -122.1165865317413,37.50554988755127,0 -122.0970882270262,37.50076554341755,0 -122.0769142656054,37.49834646569506,0 -122.0565134247777,37.49834646569506,0 -122.0363394633568,37.50076554341755,0 -122.0168411586417,37.50554988755127,0 -121.9984524470857,37.5125930575328,0 -121.9815828743968,37.52173832300449,0 -121.9666085557888,37.53278211175164,0 -121.9538638386993,37.5454784937492,0 -121.9436338484335,37.55954460671386,0 -121.9361480818314,37.57466690795776,0 -121.9315751951539,37.59050811879209,0 -121.9300191099898,37.60671471165103,0

[pisum]

i just replaced the coordinates of a random existing kml file that i had laying around with your coordinates, saved the result as a kml file, and it seems to upload just fine. here’s the content of my file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<kml xmlns="http://www.opengis.net/kml/2.2">
<Document id="root_doc">
<Schema name="example" id="example">
	<SimpleField name="timestamp" type="string"></SimpleField>
	<SimpleField name="begin" type="string"></SimpleField>
	<SimpleField name="end" type="string"></SimpleField>
	<SimpleField name="altitudeMode" type="string"></SimpleField>
	<SimpleField name="tessellate" type="int"></SimpleField>
	<SimpleField name="extrude" type="int"></SimpleField>
	<SimpleField name="visibility" type="int"></SimpleField>
	<SimpleField name="drawOrder" type="int"></SimpleField>
	<SimpleField name="icon" type="string"></SimpleField>
	<SimpleField name="id" type="float"></SimpleField>
</Schema>
<Folder><name>example</name>
  <Placemark>
	<Style><LineStyle><color>ff0000ff</color></LineStyle><PolyStyle><fill>0</fill></PolyStyle></Style>
	<ExtendedData><SchemaData schemaUrl="#example">
		<SimpleData name="tessellate">-1</SimpleData>
		<SimpleData name="extrude">0</SimpleData>
		<SimpleData name="visibility">-1</SimpleData>
		<SimpleData name="id">3</SimpleData>
	</SchemaData></ExtendedData>
      <MultiGeometry><Polygon><outerBoundaryIs><LinearRing><coordinates>-121.9300191099898,37.60671471165103,0 -121.9315165352067,37.62292477690493,0 -121.936035974074,37.63877609639133,0 -121.9434782540387,37.65391424435877,0 -121.9536785828138,37.66800053408341,0 -121.9664100991427,37.68071963009751,0 -121.9813888507189,37.69178665188468,0 -121.9982800962749,37.70095360505985,0 -122.016705794911,37.70801499034992,0 -122.036253114468,37.71281245887155,0 -122.056483763287,37.71523840388709,0 -122.0769439270961,37.71523840388709,0 -122.0971745759151,37.71281245887155,0 -122.116721895472,37.70801499034992,0 -122.1351475941081,37.70095360505985,0 -122.1520388396641,37.69178665188468,0 -122.1670175912403,37.68071963009752,0 -122.1797491075692,37.66800053408341,0 -122.1899494363443,37.65391424435876,0 -122.197391716309,37.63877609639133,0 -122.2019111551763,37.62292477690493,0 -122.2034085803932,37.60671471165103,0 -122.201852495229,37.59050811879209,0 -122.1972796085517,37.57466690795776,0 -122.1897938419495,37.55954460671386,0 -122.1795638516837,37.5454784937492,0 -122.1668191345942,37.53278211175164,0 -122.1518448159863,37.52173832300449,0 -122.1349752432974,37.5125930575328,0 -122.1165865317413,37.50554988755127,0 -122.0970882270262,37.50076554341755,0 -122.0769142656054,37.49834646569506,0 -122.0565134247777,37.49834646569506,0 -122.0363394633568,37.50076554341755,0 -122.0168411586417,37.50554988755127,0 -121.9984524470857,37.5125930575328,0 -121.9815828743968,37.52173832300449,0 -121.9666085557888,37.53278211175164,0 -121.9538638386993,37.5454784937492,0 -121.9436338484335,37.55954460671386,0 -121.9361480818314,37.57466690795776,0 -121.9315751951539,37.59050811879209,0 -121.9300191099898,37.60671471165103,0</coordinates></LinearRing></outerBoundaryIs></Polygon></MultiGeometry>
  </Placemark>
</Folder>
</Document></kml>

[moonlittrails]

Thanks!

[cmcheatle]

So long as it is a valid kml file, circles work fine

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/biodiversity-of-the-hamilton-study-area