Publishing to a cloud folder

There’s no upload step: the folder is the published map, and Groundwork reads it each time the map loads.

Folder layout

The folder you publish holds one .qgs file plus the GeoJSON file (or files) it references:

street-trees/          ← this is the folder you publish
├── street-trees.qgs
└── trees.geojson

The rules Groundwork applies when it reads the folder:

• A missing data file doesn’t stop the project loading. That layer is skipped with a warning.
• A layer pointing at a Shapefile or a GeoPackage doesn’t appear on the map. Groundwork names it when you connect the folder, but says nothing when the map reopens later, so check the layer list against your project each time.
• A GeoParquet layer is read-only. Use GeoJSON for any layer your users capture into.
• The project can only load data at or below the folder you publish.

If you publish several maps, the natural arrangement is one folder per map inside a container folder of your own. Don’t share the container folder, and don’t create a link for it: a link to the container opens every map under it, whatever the individual folders say, and on Dropbox Basic and Plus it stops you giving the maps inside it their own settings at all.

Publishing the folder

Connect Groundwork to Dropbox

Create a map, choose Dropbox in the connect step, and click Connect to Dropbox. Sign in once; you aren’t asked again afterwards.

Browse to the folder and pick what to publish

A folder holding project files lists them individually; a folder holding only data files offers Publish this folder. The top level of the account is never publishable itself. A folder someone else shared with you doesn’t appear in your own Dropbox to browse: use Or paste a share link in the same panel. A pasted link names no project file, so that folder has to hold exactly one, or none at all if you’re publishing it as a folder of data files.

Choose who it opens for

Groundwork reads that folder’s own sharing and tells you what it means. A folder with no share link yet is offered one, for only people invited or anyone with the link. Choose deliberately, because this sets the folder’s sharing in Dropbox itself.

Check it before going further

Click Open as a workspace and confirm your styled map appears, before you configure or share anything.

Public link or private folder?

This choice decides whether your team’s edits can flow back into the folder, so make it before you share anything.

• Public link (“anyone with the link”): the map opens with no sign-in, anyone who obtains the folder link can read the data, and a save is refused when it’s pressed. Use it for data you don’t need edited.
• Private folder: share the folder with specific people as members with edit access. Signed in with their own Dropbox account, their changes are written back to the folder.

OneDrive and SharePoint folders are published by pasting the folder’s link into the OneDrive panel; browsing is Dropbox-only for now. Edits to a map opened from OneDrive or SharePoint can’t be saved back today; a save is refused when it’s pressed.

How your team’s edits are saved to the folder

When a signed-in folder member with edit access saves a change, Groundwork writes the updated GeoJSON back to your folder, showing Saved to Dropbox beside the layer name. Only the data files are written; your .qgs is never touched. Dropbox’s own version history is your change log and rollback, and there is no versioning inside Groundwork. The copy in Dropbox is always the master, so a colleague who saved second is offered the latest file to make their change again on: A message says my save couldn’t be completed in the User Guide describes what they see.

Publishing a folder without a QGIS project

A folder holding GeoJSON, GeoParquet or raster (.tif/.tiff) files and no .qgs can be published as it stands. Groundwork builds a map from what it finds, naming each layer after its file, and you choose which layers start switched on. It takes seconds and gives up nearly everything a project file holds: read-only layers, symbology, labels, layer names and order, the display field, and an opening view. Publish a project file for any map that matters to your team.

Updating a published project

Change the project or data files and let Dropbox sync. The folder link and any Groundwork link you’ve already sent both still work, and your team gets the updated version the next time they open the map: new layers appear on their own, and their own field settings, filters, sort and bookmarks are still on the layers they belong to. In a folder published without a project file, a data file you rename starts that layer over, because the file name is the only thing identifying the layer.

Next: Configuring the map.