Getting started with ownmap.id
What you can do with it, how to create your account, and the two websites you'll use.
What ownmap.id lets you do
ownmap.id is a free, open mapping service. With one account you can collect map data out in the field and see it turn into an interactive map online. Three things you'll do:
Record places, take photos, and answer a short form — right from your phone, even with no internet.
Open an interactive map in any browser — pan, zoom, and tap features to see their details.
Join a shared community project and add your points to a map that everyone builds together.
It's free to start, runs in your browser and a free phone app, and your data stays available to you.
Create your account
Head to ownmap.id and choose Create account. You'll pick between two kinds:
You'll see a short sign-up form.
A trial starts immediately; a permanent account asks you to confirm your email first.
Write the password down — for your safety, it is never stored where it could be recovered.
That activates the account. Then you can log in.
One password for everything
Your single ownmap.id login works on both websites and the phone app — the same username and password everywhere. There's nothing separate to set up.
Go to ownmap.id and open Change password (linked in the footer). Set a new one and it updates everywhere at once. Forgot it? Use Forgot your password? on the same page to get a reset link by email.
Two websites, one account
ownmap.id has two places you'll visit. They use the same login but do different jobs:
mergin.ownmap.id
Where your survey projects and data live. You also use it to log in from the Mergin Maps phone app.
maps.ownmap.id
Where finished maps are published for anyone to explore in a browser.
You want to open the Mergin Maps app and collect data. Which address do you log into?
Collecting data in the field
Install the Mergin Maps app, log into your ownmap account, and capture your first points — even with no signal.
Get the app and log in
Free on the Android Play Store and Apple App Store. Prefer a computer? Use the Mergin Maps plugin inside QGIS.
When the app asks where to sign in, enter your server: https://mergin.ownmap.id — not the default merginmaps.com.
Use the username and password you created on ownmap.id.
Signing in to the public merginmaps.com instead of your server. If your password is “rejected,” check the server address first.
Open a project and capture a point
A project bundles a map with a survey form. Download one (for example the shared community project), then:
The app reads your phone's GPS location.
It drops a point at your current position. You can also tap the map to place it by hand.
Answer the questions and snap a picture if the form allows it. Tap save.
Everything you capture is stored on the phone. You can survey all day offline and sync later when you have signal.
Sync to save your work
When you're back online, tap Sync. Here's what happens:
You tap Sync
Your new points upload to the server
They're saved & backed up
Teammates can pull the same update
Syncing keeps a full history, so nothing is ever lost and your whole team sees the same data.
You're mapping in a remote area with no mobile signal. Can you still collect points?
Exploring maps on the web
Your collected data — and lots of other projects — become interactive maps anyone can open in a browser. No app, no account needed to look.
Opening a web map
Go to maps.ownmap.id. A web map opens full-screen. Everything works with a mouse or a finger:
Drag to move around the map.
Scroll or pinch to get closer or pull back.
Tap any point to see its details — the name, category, photo and anything else that was collected.
A published map has its own web address. Send the link and anyone can open the exact same map — nothing to install.
Your own private map
Here's the best part: when you collect data in your personal project, ownmap.id automatically turns it into your own web map — and it's private to you. Nobody else can see it unless you choose to share.
Add points in the Mergin Maps app and tap Sync, as usual.
Within a few minutes your project becomes a web map automatically — you don't set anything up.
Sign in at maps.ownmap.id and your private map is there, visible to your account alone.
When your account is created you already get a starter survey project to collect into — so your private map appears as soon as you add your first points.
Switching the background
Behind your data sits a base layer. Use the layers button to switch it, for example to OpenStreetMap streets, so your points have helpful context like roads and place names.
Turn individual data layers on and off from the same panel to focus on exactly what you want to see.
How your survey reaches the map
You don't have to do anything technical — once a map is set up, the points you collect simply show up on it. Watch the trip a single point takes:
To get your survey points onto the public web map, what do you need to do?
Mapping together: the community project
One shared map that everyone with a free account can add to. Here's how to join in.
What a community project is
Besides your own surveys, ownmap can host a shared community project — a single map that many people build together. Think of neighbours mapping every public bench, or volunteers recording water points after a flood.
Dozens of people each adding a few points quickly creates a richer map than any one person could make alone — and it stays free and open.
Join in — it's the same three steps you already know
It appears in your project list once it's shared with members.
Exactly like Module 2 — record a location, answer the questions, save.
Your additions join everyone else's, and the shared web map updates for all to see.
It feels like a group effort, because it is:
You've got the whole picture
Sign up at ownmap.id
Survey with the Mergin app
View it on a web map
Map together with the community
How do you add to the community map?
Create your free account at ownmap.id, install Mergin Maps, and put your first point on the map today.