Portals and experiences¶
A portal is a published map with its own URL. You pick the layers, arrange them, choose how the page is laid out, and publish. Visitors need nothing installed.
The three experiences¶
Choosing an experience changes the shape of the page, not just its colours.
Map-first, with a layer list beside it. The default, and the right choice when the map itself is the point.
- Full-screen map
- Layer list you can dock left or right, or float over the map
- Folders, legend, basemap switcher, About panel
Scrollytelling. The page is a narrative of sections; each one is pinned to a map position and a set of visible layers, and the map animates as the reader scrolls.
- Write each section in the editor
- Capture the map camera for a section as you go
- The layer list starts collapsed, so the story leads
A browsing surface, for when you have more datasets than a single map should show at once. The dataset list is the page and the map sits beside it.
- Search across names, descriptions and keywords
- Filter by folder, type and licence
- Each result shows what it is, and how to get it
- Click a dataset to add it to the map, or zoom to its extent
Building a portal¶
- Portals ▸ New portal. Give it a title.
- Add layers.
+ Addpicks them one at a time;Add allbrings in everything you can see. - Organise them. Drag layers into folders, reorder them, set colours and opacity. The top of the list draws on top of the map.
- Set the opening view. Position the map how you want visitors to find it — including the 3D globe if you switch to it — then pin it as the start view.
- Write the About page (optional). A rich-text editor with images; paste screenshots straight in. It becomes a documentation page linked from the portal.
- Publish.
Re-publishing
A published portal is a static bundle, so changes only appear once you publish again. The button reads Re-publish after the first time.
Layout options¶
Beyond the experience, each portal exposes a few placement choices:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Layer list side | Left or right |
| Layer list mode | Docked beside the map, or floating over it |
| Start collapsed | Opens with the list closed |
| Controls corner | Which corner the map controls cluster in |
| Map side and width | Catalog only — which side the map takes, and how much |
| Datasets listed | Catalog only — this portal's layers, or every public layer on the instance |
Who can see it¶
Set per portal, independently of workspace permissions:
| Access | Who gets in |
|---|---|
| Public | Anyone with the link |
| Password | Anyone with the link and the password |
| Organization | Any signed-in member of your workspace |
| Owner | The creator and administrators |
Anything other than Public is enforced on the server before the page is served, not in the browser.
Map tools visitors get¶
Every published portal includes a basemap switcher, a 2D/3D globe toggle, zoom, home (returns to the pinned start view), zoom-to-all-layers, previous/next extent, and a draw-a-box download.
Download by area¶
Visitors can draw a box and download just that area, choosing a format per layer. The clip runs on the server and is prepared in the background, so a large selection does not block the page.
On phones¶
Published portals adapt: the layer list becomes a drawer that starts closed so the map is visible, map controls stay reachable, and a catalog portal stacks vertically — filters on top, results below them, map beneath.
Templates¶
Templates set the look — palette, typography, header treatment — and may preset an experience. You can change any of it afterwards; a template is a starting point, not a constraint.
Per-portal branding (accent colour, font, logo, light/dark) is set in the editor and overrides the template.