Sharing Overview

Share your map with anyone via a unique link. Recipients see a read-only, full-screen map viewer — no account required for public shares. You control who can access the map, what they see, and how long the link stays active.

Every share link uses one of three access types, chosen when you create the link:

• Public — Anyone with the link can view the map immediately, no credentials needed
• Password — Viewers must enter a password before the map loads (minimum 8 characters)
• Email — Only users signed in with an approved email address can view the map

1. Open your project in the editor
2. Click the Share button in the top toolbar
3. Choose an access type: Public, Password, or Email
4. Configure credentials if needed — enter a password (8+ characters) or a comma-separated list of email addresses
5. Adjust display options: basemap, legend, labels, and boundary settings
6. Click Create Share Link — the URL is copied to your clipboard automatically

Fine-tune what viewers see when they open your shared map:

• Basemap Override — Choose a specific basemap for the shared view, or leave it as "Use project default" to match your editor view
• Show Legend — Display a collapsible legend panel showing layer names, colors, and feature counts (enabled by default)
• Show Labels — Render feature name labels directly on the map at each feature location (enabled by default)
• Custom Boundary — Constrain the viewer's viewport to a specific geographic area (see the Custom Boundaries page)
• Show Boundary to Viewers — When a custom boundary is set, overlay a dashed indigo outline on the shared map so viewers can see the boundary area

The basemap override dropdown includes all available map styles:

• Streets — Detailed street map with labels and POIs
• Light — Minimal light-colored basemap (ideal for data overlays)
• Dark — Minimal dark-colored basemap (great for bright feature colors)
• Satellite — Aerial imagery
• Terrain — Topographic outdoor map with elevation shading
• Apple Standard — Apple's standard map style (requires MapKit token)
• Apple Satellite — Apple's satellite imagery
• Apple Hybrid — Apple satellite with road labels

The Share modal lists all existing links for the current project. Each share displays its access type, URL, and view count.

• View Count — See how many times each link has been opened
• Copy Link — Click the copy button to copy the share URL to your clipboard
• Toggle Active — Click the eye icon to deactivate a share without deleting it; deactivated links show a "Disabled" badge and cannot be accessed by viewers
• Delete — Permanently remove a share link (requires confirmation)

Share links can optionally have an expiration date. Once expired, the link shows a "Link Expired" message to viewers and the map no longer loads. Expired links remain in your share list so you can review or delete them.

Password-protected shares enforce several security measures:

• Minimum password length of 8 characters
• Passwords are hashed with bcrypt before storage — the plaintext password is never saved
• Rate limiting prevents brute-force attempts: maximum 5 failed password entries per 15 minutes per viewer
• After exceeding the rate limit, the viewer must wait before trying again

Email-restricted shares require viewers to be signed in with an approved email address. Enter one or more email addresses separated by commas when creating the link.

• Each email is validated for correct format before saving
• Viewers who are not signed in see a "Sign In Required" prompt
• Viewers signed in with a non-approved email see an "Access Denied" message showing which email they are signed in with
• You can update the allowed email list after creating the share

If your project includes live data layers, the shared map automatically fetches fresh data from the source URLs when a viewer opens the link. Automatic refresh continues at the interval you configured for each layer. A countdown timer in the status bar shows viewers when the next update will occur.