Logging In

Creating a User Account

We support three types of users: those who want to create maps, those who simply want to view others' maps, and those who have administrative privileges to manage the web site. If you want to create maps, you must create an account.

If the website administrators have enabled open access to the software, here are the steps that you need to take to establish an account. If they have not enabled open access, they may require that you request that they create an account for you.

1. From the main page, click on "Sign Up"
2. Choose a user name and password for yourself. Passwords must be 8 or more characters, include a number, a capital letter, and a lower-case letter.
3. We ask for additional information -- your e-mail, name, and affiliated organization -- to help you recover your password if you lose it and for administrators to track who is using the software. The latter is important to us since we are funded entirely by charitable foundations that like to know how their money is being spent. But, we want the software to be used, so we do not require that you provide identifying information if you do not wish to do so.
4. Click the check box to acknowledge that you agree to our privacy and terms of use policies.
5. Click "Sign Up" and your account will be created, assuming that you provided a user name that has not already been chosen and a valid password.
6. Once you have created an account, you will be directed to the Step 1. Plan page.
7. If the number of users currently using the maximum allowed, you will be asked to try logging in at a later time.
   

Anonymous Users

If you do not wish to create an account, you may view and evaluate plans shared by others. You will not be able to edit these plans. You can paste the URL of a plan that you are viewing as an anonymous user into a blog post or website to direct others to take a look at the plan. You may also want to have an anonymous plan open to view another plan, such as the current plan, so you can quickly compare what you are doing with another plan by switching windows.

To view plans as an anonymous user:

1. Click the "Enter as Guest" button.
2. You will be directed to the Step 1. Plan page.
3. There is no maximum limit on the number of anonymous users.
   

Administrator Users

Administrators may access administrative functions by logging in as an administrator.

1. Point your browser to */admin, where * is the URL of the software.
2. Provide your user name and password.
3. See the software documentation for more information about administrative functions.
   

Maximum Number of Users

Map editing is is computationally intensive and places a lot of demand on the web server. To ensure that users have a good experience when they are mapping, we limit the number of users that can draw maps at any one time. If that the limit is exceeded, you will receive a message asking you to try logging in later.