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How map access works in MangoMap

Understand how map access works: signed-in access for your team through groups, and web access through Public, Link-only, or Password publishing modes.

MangoMap has two map access models: signed-in access for people in your workspace and web access for everyone else. Choose whether viewers must sign in, use a public link, use a private link, or enter a password.

MangoMap checks signed-in access first, then web access. Map access means the map’s creator, the account owner, a group with View or Edit access, or any user in your workspace when Allow public access is on:

Who can open a map Flowchart: signed-in users with map access open the map; everyone else needs Allow public access on, and then the publishing mode decides whether they need the public link, the private link, or the link and a password. YES NO NO YES PUBLIC LINK-ONLY PASSWORD Someone opens a map Signed in withmap access? Allow publicaccess on? Publishingmode? Opens the mapno password needed Can’t open itneeds map access Anyone can open itcan be listed in the portal Needs the private linkunlisted, not indexed Needs link + passwordunlisted, not indexed

Signed-in access

Signed-in access depends on the current user, map creator, account owner, and group access. A signed-in user can view a map when one of these is true:

  • The map is public.
  • The user created the map.
  • The user is the account owner.
  • The user belongs to a group with view access for the map.

Editing is narrower. A user can edit when they created the map, they are the account owner, or they are an admin-level user with group edit access for the map. Share access follows the same rules as edit access.

Group access

Groups let admins grant access to multiple workspace users at once. A group can have View access, Edit access, both, or neither.

Edit access also counts as view access. A group with Edit access can open the map, but only members with the Admin role can change it.

Group access still requires sign-in. It does not create a public URL.

Web access

Web access controls whether people can open a map without workspace permissions. In the map’s Configuration page, this starts with Allow public access.

When Allow public access is off, the map is limited to signed-in users with permission. When it is on, Publishing mode controls how outside viewers reach the map.

Publishing modes

Public mode lets anyone with the public link view the map. It can also make the map discoverable through the public portal and search engines, depending on the map’s visibility settings.

Link-only mode uses a private link. Anyone with that private link can view the map, but the map is not listed in the public portal and is not indexed for search engines.

Password mode uses the public link plus a password. Anyone with both can view the map, but the map is not listed in the public portal and is not indexed for search engines.

Public portal listing

Public portal listing is narrower than web access. A map appears in the public portal only when it is public, uses Public mode, and has Show in public portal enabled.

Link-only and Password maps are web-accessible, but they are unlisted. They are intended for direct sharing rather than public browsing.

Common confusion

It is possible for a map to be viewable on the web without appearing in the public portal. Link-only maps and Password maps are examples. A Public map can also be hidden from the public portal when Show in public portal is off.

A group can also show view access while a map is public. In that case, the view access is inherited from web publishing: everyone can view the map, including all groups.

Current access summary of a Public map, with Team access View: All groups (inherited from web publishing) and Edit: No groups, and Web access Enabled, Public access, shown in public portal and indexable by search engines