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Not all content on your interactive map is meant for public eyes. Whether you're staging future updates, sharing sensitive facility details, or coordinating contractor work, our platform offers a range of visibility settings to help you control who sees what, and when.

This guide explains how to use the private, hidden, visible (CMS-only), and schedule settings to manage your content securely and effectively.

Why Keep Content Private or Hidden?

There are many reasons organizations choose to limit access to map content.

Privacy and Visibility Settings Explained

You can apply the following settings to Categories, Locations, and Tours from their respective edit pages in the Content Management System (CMS).

Private

• How it works: Content is hidden from the public map by default but can be viewed and shared using a special URL.
• Where it applies: Categories, Locations, Tours
• Best for:
  • Staging new content before a public launch.
  • Sharing drafts with a select group for internal review.
  • Keeping content accessible to specific individuals without making it public.

🛠 How to Set Content to Private

1. Navigate to the Edit page for a category, location, or tour.
2. Scroll to the Private setting and toggle it to True.
3. Click Save, then Publish to apply the change.

🔖 Once content is marked as private, you’ll see a “private” icon next to it in the CMS, indicating it’s hidden from the public map.

📤 How to Share Private Content

Even though private content is hidden from the public, you can easily share it using a custom-generated link.

🔗 Sharing a Private Category

When a category is private, all locations inside it are automatically hidden. You do not need to make each location private individually.

1. In the CMS sidebar, check the box for the private category to make it active in your preview.
2. Click the main Share button in the top-right corner of the map preview.
3. Copy the custom URL and send it. Anyone with this link can view the private category and its locations.

📌 **Pro Tip:** You can select multiple private or public categories in the sidebar before clicking Share to create a custom map view with a mix of content.

🔗 Sharing a Private Location

Use this option when a location is part of a public category but needs to remain hidden from the general map view.

1. In the CMS, click to select the private location on the map preview.
2. Choose how you want to share it:
   • Location Share Button: Shares a link to only this specific location.
   • Global Share Button: Shares a link that includes this location plus all other visible locations in its parent category.
3. Click the appropriate Share button, copy the link, and send it.

🔗 Sharing a Private Tour

1. Navigate to the Tours tab in the CMS.
2. Click on the desired private tour in the list.
3. Click either the Tour Share button or the Global Share button to generate a link.
4. Copy and share the URL.

Visible (CMS-Only)

• How it works: This setting makes content visible only to administrators within the CMS. It cannot be accessed on the public map or shared with a URL. It is the highest level of privacy.
• Where it applies: Categories, Locations, Tours
• Best for:
  • Strictly internal data like utility overlays or sensitive infrastructure details.
  • Archived content that should never be shared publicly under any circumstances.

Hidden from Sidebar

• How it works: Content is visible on the map and is searchable, but the category does not appear in the sidebar list for users to browse.
• Where it applies: Categories
• Best for:
  • Reducing clutter in the sidebar menu.
  • Interior locations, vendor-only spots, or other content not intended for general browsing.
  • Creating "Always On" layers (see below).

Schedule

• How it works: Set content to automatically appear or disappear from the public map at specific dates and times.
• Where it applies: Categories, Locations, Tours
• Best for:
  • Event-based content like festival parking or conference schedules.
  • Seasonal information such as holiday decorations or temporary closures.
  • Automating content updates to reduce manual publishing tasks.

Default Display

• How it works: The category is toggled on by default when the map first loads. Users can still turn it off from the sidebar (if it is not hidden).
• Where it applies: Categories
• Best for:
  • Essential information like building outlines or primary campus locations.
  • Highlighting key features like available parking or current construction zones.

Finding the Visibility Settings

You can find these toggles on the edit page for any category, location, or tour within the CMS.

Advanced Visibility Scenarios

"Always On" Content

• How it works: By combining two settings on a category, you can make its content permanently visible on the map.
  • Hidden from Sidebar = True
  • Default Display = True
• The result: The content is always shown on the map, and because the category is not listed in the sidebar, users cannot turn it off. This creates a permanent base layer.
• Best for:
  • Essential reference layers like campus boundaries or accessibility routes.
  • Background information like safety zones or utility line corridors.

Restricted Maps (Add-on Feature)

• How it works: The entire map is placed behind a secure login (e.g., SSO). No content is visible without successful authentication.
• Best for:
  • High-security environments like data centers, corporate campuses, or hospitals.
  • Maps created exclusively for internal use with no public-facing component.

Additional Map Unit (Add-on Feature)

• How it works: Maintain two completely separate map instances—one for public use and one for private use. Each map has its own independent content, settings, and URL.
• Best for:
  • Organizations needing total separation between internal and public data.
  • Managing sensitive facilities or security information that must not co-exist on the same platform as public map data.

Pro Tip: Share a Specific Map View

When you generate a shareable link from the map, you can preset the focus area:

1. Pan and zoom to the exact location, building, or area you want to highlight.
2. Click the Share button.
3. The latitude, longitude, and zoom level of your current view are automatically included in the URL.

🔎 When anyone opens that link, their map will load zoomed in to that precise spot. This is perfect for directing people to a specific building entrance, a single point of interest, or a detailed section of a tour.

Choosing the Right Setting: Quick Guide