Share your vision with ease
When it is time to get feedback on a development project, you can create a point-in-time interactive web link for your design.
To share with someone who has their own Giraffe account, invite them by email from the same sharing menu. They open the live project, and you choose whether they can view, edit, or administer it. Edit and Administer access need a Team or Enterprise license.
Note: Creating a public link permits anyone with the link to see all data present in the project including spatial layers, attachments and images.
To share, click the share icon in the top right.
The sharing menu appears.
Create Public Link
Click "create link" in the public link section.
The Public Access menu appears.
Give the link a version name. This text will appear in the public link.
Select which apps to include in the publish.
Viewers will have full access to any apps you include.
Select the default app.
This determines which information displays in the right-hand palette when the link is accessed.
Click "Generate public URL"
The URL is added to the project.
The URL contains a view-only snapshot of the current project state.
You can create as many public URLs as you wish.
Share the Link
Once the link is created, you can copy the URL by clicking "copy link."
Send the link to anyone. They can open the link without a Giraffe account.
View the link by clicking "Open Link."
Edit the Link
Public URLs are point-in-time snapshots of your project. If you make changes to geometry, layers, apps, or calculations, the link does not automatically inherit these changes. You must re-publish the link.
To Edit an existing link, tick the radio button next to the link name.
Click "republish" to update the existing link with new project changes.
A republished link can take up to 60 minutes to show your latest changes, because the published project is cached. To check sooner, open the link in a private window or hard-refresh it with Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+R. To share changes right away, create a new version with a new name. A new version shows your changes immediately.
Alternatively, you can create a new version via a new link. This lets you retain the older version.
Show an uploaded layer in a public link
A vector or image layer shows in a published project only when it was uploaded with Public URL turned on. People who open a public link are not logged in to Giraffe, so a layer without a public URL doesn't load for them. The Public URL switch sits under the file picker in the first step of the vector and image layer uploads.
The Public URL switch for layers is only in the New data layer > Create new Layer > Vector and Image uploads. Uploaded files and project attachments have their own sharing settings.
To fix a vector or image layer that doesn't load in a public link, upload it again with Public URL on:
In the Layer Palette, click New data layer.
Click Create new Layer and choose Vector or Image.
Click Browse and pick the file.
Turn on Public URL and click Next.
Finish the upload the same way you did the first time, then click Save.
Remove the old layer from the project.
Republish the public link. Open the sharing menu, tick the radio button next to the link name, and click Republish.
🚨 Warning: Do not turn on Public URL for sensitive data. Anyone with the layer's link can download it.
Learn more about uploading a vector layer and uploading an image layer.
Delete the Link
To remove a link, click the bin icon.
This removes access to the link from anyone who previously had it.
Publishing messages
Giraffe shows these toasts at the bottom of the screen when you publish a project or open a published link.
Message | What triggers it | What to do |
"Copied URL to clipboard" | You copied the published link. | None |
"Deleted. May remain accessible for up to 60 minutes due to caching." | You deleted a published version. | None. The link may still work for up to 60 minutes. |
"Failed to publish project. Please try again." | Publishing your project failed. | Try again. |
"Project published" | You published your project. | None |
"The published project is not compatible with this version of Giraffe. Please republish the project." | You opened a published project made with an incompatible version. | Republish the project. |