Getting started
ALIGN is a GIS that runs in your browser. You bring your data, you build a map or an application, and you publish it at an address you can share. Nothing to install.
This page is the shortest path from an empty account to something you can show.
1. Your account and your organization
Section titled “1. Your account and your organization”Create your account, then confirm your email address from the message ALIGN sends you.
Your work does not belong to your account, it belongs to an organization. That is what holds your data, your plan and your colleagues. Your first organization starts your free month, so you can try both builders before choosing a plan. See Organizations.
If you were invited by a colleague, you land in their organization, with the role they gave you. The organization switcher at the top lets you move between the organizations you belong to, and everything you see, data included, follows that choice.
2. The home
Section titled “2. The home”The home page is the door to the two products, with what you last worked on:
- Map Builder, a full GIS in the browser: import data, style it, analyze it, then save and publish a web map.
- App Builder, to turn a map into a complete web application, from a ready-made template.
Both read from the same Datastore, so data imported once is available in the other.
3. Your first map, in four moves
Section titled “3. Your first map, in four moves”- Open the Map Builder and use Add data. Bring a file from your computer, point at a web service, or take something from your Datastore. The Data Hub also has open reference data ready to add. See Data.
- Style your layers so the map says something. See Style and Layers.
- Add the widgets your readers will need: a legend, a search box, a filter, an attribute table. You configure what they may do, they use it. See the Gallery.
- Save, then publish. Saving puts the map in your Datastore; publishing gives it an address, with an audience you choose. See Publishing.
At any point you can ask the AI Assistant to do a step for you, in plain language. It works on the map you have open. See AI Assistant.
4. Going further
Section titled “4. Going further”| If you want to | Go to |
|---|---|
| Analyze, not just show | ToolBoxes |
| Build a real application | App Builder |
| Organize and share your data | Datastore and Sharing |
| Feed QGIS from ALIGN | OGC services |
| Publish from QGIS to ALIGN | QGIS plugin |
| Work with colleagues | Members & Teams |
| Use your own provider keys | Integrations |
| Understand what you consume | Plans, usage & billing |
Three things worth knowing early
Section titled “Three things worth knowing early”Your data stays yours. It is stored in open formats and can be downloaded at any time. The code the App Builder writes is standard, exportable, and yours.
A plan belongs to an organization, not to a person. If you belong to two, you work under two different plans depending on which one you are in.
What you build and what your readers see are two different things. You configure the map; they use what you allowed. That is the idea behind every widget parameter.