Standardize "figure"/"map"/"plot" terminology across codebase#4418
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Standardize "figure"/"map"/"plot" terminology across codebase#4418
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- Change "plot or map" to "plot" in examples and tutorials - Change "Map Boundary" to "Plot Boundary" in figure elements example - Change "Plotting map elements" to "Plotting embellishments" in API docs - Change "geographical maps" to "geographic maps" for consistency - Update "map boundary" to "plot boundary" in decorators and rose module Co-authored-by: seisman <3974108+seisman@users.noreply.github.com>
- Change "geographical tick annotations" to "geographic tick annotations" - Change "map frame" to "plot frame" in 3D perspective documentation Co-authored-by: seisman <3974108+seisman@users.noreply.github.com>
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changed the title
[WIP] Clarify usage of figure vs map and plot
Standardize figure/map/plot terminology across documentation
Feb 14, 2026
Co-authored-by: seisman <3974108+seisman@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot
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changed the title
Standardize figure/map/plot terminology across documentation
Fix terminology: use "plot dimensions" instead of "map dimensions" in 3D scatter example
Feb 14, 2026
- examples/projections/nongeo/polar.py: Changed "Set map limits" to "Set plot limits" and "Set map width" to "Set plot width" (12 instances) - pygmt/src/contour.py: Changed "on a map" to "on a plot" - pygmt/src/image.py: Changed "on a map" to "on a plot" - pygmt/src/text.py: Changed "on the map" to "on the plot" and "of the map" to "of the plot" Co-authored-by: seisman <3974108+seisman@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot
AI
changed the title
Fix terminology: use "plot dimensions" instead of "map dimensions" in 3D scatter example
Standardize "figure"/"map"/"plot" terminology across codebase
Feb 14, 2026
…→ "plot region" - pygmt/src/plot.py line 199: Changed "clipped to the map region" to "clipped to the plot region" - pygmt/src/plot3d.py line 174: Changed "clipped to the map region" to "clipped to the plot region" - pygmt/src/grdimage.py line 72: Changed "select a map region" to "select a plot region" Co-authored-by: seisman <3974108+seisman@users.noreply.github.com>
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Inconsistent use of "figure", "map", and "plot" created ambiguity in documentation. Established guidelines: figure =
Figureclass/object, map = geographic plots only, plot = general term for all plot types (Cartesian, geographic, polar, 3D).Changes
Documentation structure
doc/api/index.rst: "Plotting map elements" → "Plotting embellishments"Examples - non-geographic contexts
examples/intro/03_figure_element.py: "Map Boundary" → "Plot Boundary"examples/projections/nongeo/polar.py: "map limits/width" → "plot limits/width" (12 instances)examples/gallery/3d_plots/scatter3d.py: "map dimensions" → "plot dimensions"examples/tutorials/basics/text.py: Removed redundant "or map" qualifiersexamples/tutorials/advanced/configuration.py: "geographical" → "geographic"Source docstrings
pygmt/src/{contour,image,text}.py: "on a map" → "on a plot"pygmt/src/{plot,plot3d,grdimage}.py: "map region" → "plot region"pygmt/helpers/decorators.py: "map boundary/frame" → "plot boundary/frame"pygmt/src/rose.py: "map boundary frame" → "plot boundary frame"Particularly impacts positioning parameters where distinguishing between the plot area (frame interior) and Figure object matters.
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