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Keep it private, or list it publicly

A Map you have made is Private until you decide otherwise, and private is a perfectly good end state. There are three destinations and only one of them involves review.

The three

VisibilityWho can use itReviewedEditable afterwards
PrivateYouNoYes, freely
Private, shared with your GroupYou, and anybody who shares a Group with youNoYes, freely
Public, in the catalogAnybodyYes, before it is listedNo — changes need a new Map Version

Private

The default. The panel shows Visibility: Private, and nothing you do in the editor is visible to anybody else.

Choose this for a Map you made for one trip, one weekend, or your own use. Nothing is lost by staying private, and everything stays editable — which matters more than it sounds, because the public option gives that up.

Private, and used by your Group

You do not have to publish a Map for your friends to use it. Anybody who shares a Group with you can use your unpublished Map, which covers most of the reasons people reach for publishing.

Choose this for a venue you and your friends go to, a team’s own site plan, or a Map you would rather not have strangers installing. It stays editable, there is nothing to submit and nobody reviews it. See let your Group use an unpublished map.

Public, in the catalog

Listed in the catalog for anybody to find and install. Use 🚀 Submit for Approval, and it goes to Pending — visibility reads Private (until approved) while it waits, and an admin reviews it.

Choose this for a venue where strangers turn up: a festival, a resort, a public park, anything whose visitors are not people you know.

⚠️ Two things change permanently when a Map is published. Read both before submitting:

  1. You cannot edit it any more. Changes go into a new Map Version, which is its own publish — a published map cannot be edited.
  2. It outlives your account. If you later delete your account, a published Map stays in the catalog, unowned, and can never be edited by anyone — delete your account.

How to decide, in one question

Will people you have never met need this Map?

  • No → keep it private, and share it with your Group. You keep the ability to fix it.
  • Yes → publish, and get calibration right first, because that is the change you will most want to make afterwards.

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