Map view

Map view shows you at a glance where your event’s photos were taken. It is a view mode inside the gallery – you do not switch to a separate page, you flip the gallery from the grid over to the map.

Phone

Computer

Every photo that has a location appears exactly where it was taken.

The map only shows photos that had location info (GPS) stored when they were taken. That is why the map is often smaller than your full gallery – this is normal (more on that below).

Who sees what

As a guest you see on the map the same photos that are visible in your gallery – the active filters apply here too. Moderators and hosts also see pending or not-yet-approved photos, depending on their active moderation tab. You reach the moderation and admin areas through the profile menu in the top right.

Opening the map

1. Open your event’s gallery.

2. In the gallery toolbar, tap Map (map-pin icon) – not Filter.

   On a computer (wide window) the Map button sits directly in the toolbar. On a phone or in narrow windows it lives in the ⋮ overflow menu (three-dots icon) – the entry is also labelled Map.

   

   On a computer the Map button sits directly in the toolbar – tap here, not Filter.

3. The gallery switches to map view. The same button now reads Grid – tap it again to return to the familiar grid.

Share as a link

The map mode is stored in the address bar (/gallery?view=map). If you share this link, it opens the map directly for the recipient. Active filters are preserved – so a filtered map link opens filtered. Older links to /map are redirected to the map inside the gallery automatically.

No Map button?

The button only appears when all three conditions are met:

• At least one photo with a location has been uploaded. Without GPS photos there is nothing to show.
• The event plan includes the map feature.
• The host has not disabled it (default: on, under Settings → Features → GPS map view).

If the button is missing, one of these applies.

What you see on the map

Every photo with a location appears as a marker at the place it was taken. There are three kinds of markers:

• Photo marker – the photo itself as a small framed preview with a pointer tip. This is the normal case.
• Pin marker – a classic location pin. Appears when no preview image is loaded (yet).
• Approximate position – a marker with a dashed border and an ≈ badge. It shows a rough, not exact, position (see Showing approximate positions).

Clusters

When several photos are close together, the map groups them into a cluster – shown as a preview image with a number (how many photos are there). The grouping radius depends on the zoom: zoomed far out you get large clusters, and as you zoom in they break apart into smaller clusters and individual photos.

Opening a photo

Unlike a classic map bubble, tapping a marker opens no popup at the marker – it opens a preview panel at the bottom of the screen.

1. Tap a cluster or a single marker.

   • For a cluster, the panel shows all photos in that group in time order. The header shows how many are loaded (e.g. “12 / 40 photos”).
   • For a single photo marker, the panel shows the photo plus the nearby photos within about 30 metres – not just that one image. That way you don’t miss anything taken right next to it.

2. Scroll horizontally through the panel. More images load automatically as you scroll (placeholders appear briefly).

3. Tap a photo in the panel to open it in fullscreen. From there you can page through, like, comment or share as usual.

   Phone

   

   Computer

   

   From the preview panel you go straight to fullscreen.

4. Close the panel with the X in the top right (close preview).

Zooming & panning

The map has its own gestures so that normal page scrolling doesn’t move or zoom it by accident.

On a computer (mouse)

• Pan: hold the left mouse button and drag.
• Zoom: Ctrl + scroll wheel (on a Mac, Cmd + scroll wheel). Scrolling without Ctrl over the map does not zoom – instead a brief hint appears: “Use Ctrl + scroll to zoom the map”. Once you use the gesture correctly the hint disappears for good.
• Zoom buttons in the top right: + (zoom in) and − (zoom out).

On a phone (touch)

• Panning and zooming need two fingers. Swiping with one finger over the map scrolls the page – and shows a one-time hint: “Use two fingers to move and zoom the map”.
• Zoom: pinch with two fingers. As soon as two fingers are detected the hint disappears and won’t return.
• The + / − buttons work on a phone too.

Reset the view

If you get lost, tap the reset button (third icon in the top right, “Reset view to show all photos”). The map flies back to the overall area of all photos.

Info card (i icon)

In the top left sits a small i icon (“Show map information”). Tap it to expand an info card. It shows:

• How many images are in the current view.
• If none are visible: “No photos in this area” with the hint “Move the map to see photos in other places”.
• The permanent note “Only photos with location enabled are shown”.

Use the X (“Close information”) to collapse the card again.

Showing approximate positions

Some devices or browsers (e.g. certain Android web uploads) strip the GPS data out of photos. If the host has enabled it, PhotoGala can derive an estimated location for such photos.

In the expanded info card you then find the checkbox Show approximate positions with a counter (≈ n). It is on by default. Estimated photos appear with a dashed border and an ≈ badge. Clear the checkbox to see only exact GPS photos.

Note

The checkbox only appears if the host has enabled the feature and there really are photos that can be estimated. If it is missing, one of these isn’t met.

Playing the journey (timeline)

If your event has photos at several points in time, a timeline appears at the bottom – a little time bar that lets you relive the course of the event like a journey.

1. Tap the round play button Play journey. The map plays the stops in discrete steps: each step reveals a whole station (all its photos plus the leg leading there). The tour lasts about 12 seconds in total.

2. The same button becomes Pause – use it to stop at any time.

3. Drag the slider manually through the journey (“Scroll through the journey”). Only photos up to the chosen point in time are shown. As soon as you drag, automatic playback stops.

4. Along the axis there are segment dots – each stands for a station. Tap one to fly straight there; a tooltip shows the date and photo count.

5. The date labels show the start on the left, the current position in the middle (bold) and the end on the right.

6. While a time filter is active a circular arrow appears – Show all photos – which clears the time selection and shows all photos again.

The travel route on the map

Between the chronological stations the map draws a dashed line with direction arrows per leg. The route only appears from two stations onward. A few subtleties:

• Very short legs get no arrow (so the map doesn’t get cluttered).
• A path walked there and back appears as a plain line without an arrow.
• What counts as a separate “station” depends on the zoom: zoomed in, individual places are separate; zoomed out they merge into a town or region.

When the map stays empty

Troubleshooting

• Map completely empty (“No photos with location data”): no photo with GPS enabled has been uploaded yet. In that case the Map button usually doesn’t appear at all.
• Photos exist but not in the view (“No photos in this area”): move the map, zoom out or use the reset button.
• Loading error (“Error loading the map”): reload the page and check your internet connection.
• Individual photos missing from the map: GPS was off when they were taken, the device/browser stripped the data (then possibly visible via approximate positions), or the photo isn’t approved yet.

Related topics

• Fullscreen view (slideshow) – how to open and control photos from the preview panel.
• Upload photos and Take a photo – why some photos have a location and others don’t.
• Filtering and the gallery filters – filters apply to the map too.
• Albums – when albums and filters interact.

For hosts

Enable map view under Settings → Features → GPS map view; availability depends on the event plan. There you can also optionally allow approximate positions for photos without exact location data. You reach the admin and moderation areas through the profile menu in the top right.