Build on someone else's published map
Any published Map can be forked: you get a full copy of it as a new private Map that you own and can edit. The original is untouched, and its owner is not involved.
Most map creators never need this. It is here for the case where a venue’s Map exists, is nearly right for what you are doing, and you want your own version of it.
What a fork gives you
- A complete copy — the image, the Anchor Points, the Areas of Interest, the floors.
- Owned by you, private, and fully editable like any Map you made yourself.
- No link to the original. It is not a Map Version of it and it does not track it. If the original publishes a correction, your fork does not get it.
What it does not carry
- Collaborators. A forked Map starts with none, even if the original had some.
- Installers. Nobody who had the original has yours.
- Publication. Your fork is Private and has to be submitted for review on its own merits if you want it in the catalog — submit for review.
⚠️ Before you publish a fork, think about the image
A fork copies the original’s picture. Publishing your fork means publishing that picture, and you confirm you have the rights to it when you submit — a confirmation a reviewer reads.
Somebody else having published it does not transfer that right to you. So a fork you intend to publish usually wants its own image; a fork you keep private for your own Group does not raise the question.
When something else is the right tool
| What you want | Do this instead |
|---|---|
| To fix a mistake in your own published Map | Create a new Map Version |
| To help somebody improve their Map | Ask them to add you — let a colleague edit your map |
| To use their Map as it is | Just install it — find and install a map |
| To keep an old version of a Map that is being updated | Nothing. An older Map Version keeps working indefinitely |
Forking to make one small correction is usually a mistake: you take on the whole Map, permanently, including keeping it current, and the venue now has two Maps in circulation.
The case it is genuinely for
A Map that is unowned. When somebody deletes their FriendTrack account, their published Maps stay in the catalog with the ownership removed — and an unowned Map can never be edited or versioned by anyone. Forking is the only way to continue one. See delete your account.