Get started with Spatial Map

Spatial Map runs in the browser. You draw a facility (a store, a warehouse, a factory) on a real-world map, bring in your data, link that data to the shapes on the map, and then share a live map or a report. This page walks through the whole path once, in order. Each step links to the guide that covers it in full.

1. 1
   Create your account

   Email, a 6-digit code, then a password. Your first workspace is created for you, with a 7-day free trial.

2. 2
   Look around your workspace

   You start on the Dashboard. Its setup checklist ticks itself off as you work through the steps below.

3. 3
   Create a facility and draw it

   Add a floor plan (an image, a PDF or a DWG drawing), then draw areas, racks and assets on top of it.

4. 4
   Bring your data in

   Poll a REST API, upload a file, or create a table that your systems write to.

5. 5
   Link the data to the map

   A data link puts records on the map: it tints rooms by status, places markers by coordinates, or fills rack bins.

6. 6
   Share a live view

   Preview the facility in the read-only viewer, then create a share link that can expire.

7. 7
   Open and share a report

   Every facility comes with ready-made reports. You can also build your own and give teammates access.

Go to app.spatialmap.io/signup. Sign-up has three steps (Email, Verify and Password), and a progress bar at the top shows where you are.

Screenshot · Create your account

• Enter your Work email and click Continue. We email you a 6-digit code.
• Type or paste the code and click Verify code.
• Choose a password of at least 12 characters that uses at least 3 of these 4: lowercase letters, uppercase letters, digits and symbols. Then click Create account & start 7-day trial.

You are signed in and taken to your new workspace. The details (password rules, resending a code, and resetting a forgotten password) are in Sign up, sign in and reset your password.

Everything you create lives in a workspace. You own the one created at sign-up. It is on the free trial: 7 days, up to 5 facilities, no card needed. The banner at the top counts the days down, and View plans opens Plan & billing.

Screenshot · A new workspace on its first day

• The sidebar has Dashboard, Facilities, Integrations, Files, Tables, Data and Reports, plus your Solutions. The workspace switcher is at the top and your account menu is at the bottom.
• Finish setting up your workspace lists six steps: create a facility, add a floor plan, map racks and zones, connect live data, build a report, and invite your team. It ticks each one off from what is really in the workspace, so you never tick anything by hand.
• Press ⌘K (Mac) or Ctrl K (Windows, Linux) at any time to open the command palette.

Want your team in from the start? Click Invite members. Each person needs a Spatial Map account first. See Members and roles. The Dashboard guide explains every card, and Workspaces covers switching between workspaces and creating more.

A facility is one building or site. Go to Facilities and click Add facility. Type a Facility name, add an Address if you like (it is optional), pick a colour, and click Create facility.

Screenshot · New facility dialog

Click the facility card to open the layout editor, where you draw. A typical first session goes like this:

1. 1
   Add a floor plan

   Pick the Floor plan tool (press I) and upload an image, a PDF sheet or a DWG drawing. Then drag it to size and line it up with the map. A DWG or PDF becomes a picture of the drawing, not editable walls and rooms. See Import a PDF or DWG floor plan and the Floor plan tool.

2. 2
   Trace what matters

   Draw rooms and zones with the Area tool, shelving with the Rack tool, and equipment or people with the Asset tool. Add stairs, lifts and escalators if the building has several floors.

3. 3
   Let it save

   Changes save on their own. Undo and redo are ⌘/Ctrl Z and ⌘/Ctrl Shift Z. See Saving, undo and redo.

Screenshot · The layout editor

The Editor overview is a tour of the toolbar and side panel, and Facilities covers the facility list, settings, duplicating and deleting.

Go to Integrations and click Add integration. There are three ways in:

Owners and admins add integrations and create tables. Every record that comes in can be browsed on the Data screen.

A data link connects one source to one facility and decides how its records show up on the map. In the layout editor, click the Data links pill at the top left, then New link. The editor walks you through it: choose the data source, choose how to show it (tint shapes, place points by coordinates, fill rack bins…), choose which shapes and floors it applies to, which fields hold the coordinates or the matching key, and how it looks.

In the Acme Warehouse demo, for example, Rack Inventory tints each rack cell by its bin status, and staff markers show where each person is. Start with the Data links overview. If a link shows nothing, see Troubleshooting.

Click Preview on a facility card to open the read-only viewer. It shows the same map with live data, floors, layers and a detail drawer for each shape. Anyone in the workspace can open it.

Screenshot · The read-only viewer

To show it to someone outside the workspace, open the facility card menu, choose Share, and create a share link. A share link opens the same viewer without a sign-in. You can set it to expire, cap its number of views, choose which layers and data links it shows, and revoke it later. See Viewer overview and Share links.

You may not need to build anything. Every facility gets eight ready-made reports (Overview, Floors, Areas, Racks and more) when it is created. The first time you link a table to a facility, Spatial Map also creates a report for that table. Open them from Reports.

Screenshot · A report

• Build your own: New report opens the step-by-step builder (owners and admins). See Report builder.
• Give teammates access: on the builder’s last step, Review & save, set each member to View or Edit. Owners and admins always see every report.
• Share it: Share copies the report’s link with the filters you have set. Export downloads it as PDF, Excel, CSV or JSON for people outside the workspace. See Report widgets and export.