What's new

A short note for each change that matters, newest first, grouped by area within each month. Follow a change’s name for the detail. For the full picture of what Groundwork can do, see Features.

August 2026

Data sources

COG raster layers. Groundwork reads a GeoTIFF as a picture layer, from a cloud folder, a QGIS project or an external catalogue.
GeoParquet layers. Publish a GeoParquet file and it loads as a map layer, from a cloud folder or an external catalogue.
PMTiles layers. A catalogue collection publishing PMTiles draws as a picture on the map, however large the dataset.
Cloud folder browsing. Sign in once and pick the folder from inside Groundwork, so there is no share link to paste.
QGIS project settings. Groundwork reproduces the project’s saved view, layer order and field aliases.
Source-first map setup. Groundwork asks what to connect a new map to, with one row per source.
STAC collection items. A collection that files its data on items opens into them, and each item you pick becomes its own layer.

Editing

Live edits from teammates. On maps that support it, someone else’s save appears on your copy within a second or two.
Floating add button. Add floats over the feature list, and Update over a feature’s details.
Points without drawing. Drop a point at the location you have set, or at your device’s own position.
Line and area measurements. Switch on measurements and a selected feature labels its lengths, area and perimeter.
Records attached to a feature. A feature’s details show a tab for each set of records attached to it.
Adding a record. Add a record from an open tab and Groundwork saves it with the map’s data.
Changing a record. Press Update on an open record and its values become editable.
Photos on a record. Where a set of records has a photo field, each record shows its photo above its fields.

Sharing

Required sign-in. Require sign-in to open decides whether a recipient gets the editing tools or a view-only map.
Share link contents. The share window gives a tick box for each part of your setup, and leaves the location unticked.
Single-feature links. A feature’s Share button opens a share window with a link that opens the map on it.
Required start location. A link can ask whoever opens it where they are before the map appears.

Search and navigation

Nearby control. Nearby moved out of the Sort menu, gained a travel mode, and keeps your bookmarks in its results.
A collapsed location box. The location box rests as three buttons, and opens into a search field when you press the magnifying glass.
Browser back button. Your browser’s back button returns you to the feature list, and leaves edit mode first.
Records in search and filters. Search reads a feature’s attached records, and a filter can narrow the map by the values they hold.

Appearance and layout

Layer styling. Pick one of the map’s published styles, no colour at all, or colour every value in one of the layer’s own fields.
One row of list controls. Search, All, filter, bookmarks, Nearby and Sort now sit together in a single row.
Bookmarks on the map. A bookmarked feature gets a badge on the map and a bolder label.
Field type icons. A true/false field shows a tick or a cross wherever its value appears.
Metric or US units. A Units choice in settings gives metres and hectares, or feet, miles and acres.
Themed background maps. The street map draws dark in dark mode, and leaves out shops, house numbers and highway badges.
Selected features on top. A selected feature is drawn above its neighbours, larger, and with a casing behind it.
Status from a feature’s records. A layer can show a value from each feature’s most recent record beside its name in the list.
Simple style symbols. Simple opens a dialog for the layer’s shape and colour, and a line or area layer can draw a point symbol.
A row of feature buttons. Bookmark, route, Share, Copy and Delete sit together in one row under a feature’s title.
Feature labels on the map. Hovering a feature shows its label above it, joined by a line that stays anchored as the map moves.
How long ago a date was. A date on a feature’s row shows how long ago it was beside it.
Broadsheet theme. A third display theme, Broadsheet, draws the panel’s headings in a serif.

Reliability and documentation

Saving back to the source. An indicator names where your save was written, and one that can’t complete blocks the app until you choose.
Documentation chat bot. Ask the website’s chat widget a question and it answers from Groundwork’s own documentation, linking the page it used.
More documentation pages. Both guides gained pages, and a Technology page sets out the open stack underneath.
Guides in fewer pages. The User Guide is five pages and the Administrator Guide seven, each covering one part of the job.
Keyboard and touch access. Tabbing stays inside an open dialog, and a switched-off control says why in text a touch screen can show.
Smaller fixes. Sorting handles a column of mixed numbers and text, a cancelled save no longer suspends saving, a discard no longer undoes a save the source accepted, dates and yes/no fields sort most recent and “yes” first, and the map you were on is gone after Reset app like everything else.

July 2026

Data sources

Configurable background layers. You can add background layers beyond the standard pair, and a shared map opens with them.

Editing

Copy and paste. Copy a feature and paste it back where it was or somewhere new.
Edit mode while panning. Edit mode stays on while you pan the map, and a feature’s attributes are easier to read down.

Sharing

Shorter share links. Shared map links leave out blank and default settings, so they are shorter.

Search and navigation

Nearby result framing. Nearby frames your address and the closest match, and an exit bar puts the full list back.
A bigger location box. The search box and current-location button are bigger, and a marker you drop is listed under Recent.
Automatic travel mode. Nearby measures walking, cycling and driving at once and ranks the five closest, marking the best of each in green.
Travel-distance sorting. Nearby ranks features by real driving, walking or cycling distance from a searched location.

Appearance and layout

Mobile improvements. A press and hold opens the options a right-click does, the bottom sheet clears the keyboard, and settings scroll.
New logo and light theme. Groundwork has a new logo mark and wordmark, opens in light mode, and puts the theme switch in settings.
Selection colour matching. A selected feature’s highlight is tinted with that feature’s own colour, and so is the hover on a feature’s bookmark button in the list.
Feature card description field. Point the layer at a description field and its value shows under the title on every row.
Street names over aerial imagery. The aerial background now draws roads and labels on top of the photography.
Data panel layout. You now click the layer name to switch layers, and a feature’s details open with a compact header.

Reliability and documentation

Save failure reporting. A server that accepts a save without applying it now raises an error.
Layer switching speed. A layer no longer pauses on its first switch, however many features it holds.
Smaller fixes. Selecting a feature that’s no longer in the store falls back to the list, and switching maps mid-import no longer mixes layers from two maps.

June 2026

The Groundwork website. The product site and documentation launched at groundwork.do.
A refreshed colour scheme. A deep-blue scheme makes dense maps and long lists easier to read.
Sign-in for private cloud folders. Invited team members sign in once to open shared Dropbox data; public folders stay open to everyone.
Cloud data loading. Remote files now open consistently regardless of the host’s cross-origin rules.

May 2026

QGIS projects as a source. Point Groundwork at a QGIS project in your cloud storage and your layers load with styling and field aliases intact.
QGIS Server. Layers load from the projects your organisation already publishes.
Dropbox, OneDrive and SharePoint. Connections to the cloud storage your organisation already uses.

April 2026

Share links. Send a ready-made view, with layers, filters, sort and extent preserved, that opens without an account.
Multiple maps per workspace. Different teams, projects or sites each get their own view.
Search and sorting. Sort by distance, size or any field, and search across attributes.
Plain-language records. Choose which fields title and group features, so lists read in your organisation’s terms.
Source setup shortcuts. Preset WFS endpoints, recent-URL reuse, aerial imagery, and broader Esri WFS compatibility.

March 2026

Multiple layers. Toggle visibility per layer and download any layer as GeoJSON.
Published symbology. Styling now comes straight from your WFS/WMS server.
Orientation aids. Added a collapsible legend, address search, scale bar and per-feature style icons.
Date entry and field labels. Smart date and time entry, and readable labels instead of database column names.

February 2026

The first release of Groundwork. An approachable web map for viewing and editing geospatial data, with no GIS experience needed.
WFS transactional editing. Edit live data in place, with your published styling carried through.
GeoJSON layers. Search and filter features, and inspect every attribute in a side panel.
Built on open standards. WFS and coordinate-system negotiation fit existing OGC infrastructure.