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How it works
Tell a story through places.
A Tracespot is a story made of Places on a map. It can follow a walk, explore your hometown, document a family journey or connect events, films and music to real locations. You add descriptions, photos and sources, and readers discover each Place in the order you choose.
- 1Station · the journey begins
- 2Market square · the town’s history
- 3Viewpoint · the final stop
01
How to create a Tracespot, step by step
Start with a subject and a few Places that help explain it. Develop your story as a draft and publish when it is ready.
Sign in and choose Create a Tracespot
Give your story a specific title, write an introduction and select its main category. Explain what it covers, where it takes place and what readers will discover. Set the content language too. Choose Personal stories for childhood places, family memories or experiences that shaped your life. Set the story’s visibility separately.
Add Places and arrange the story
In Places, search for a location, check its position on the map and add a description. Each Place is a chapter: what happened here, what you can see or why it matters. Arrange them by journey, chronology or theme.
Add detail and save a draft
Choose a cover, add Place photos and record your sources. Check the descriptions and map pins, then choose Save draft to return later. Read the complete story in order before publishing.
02
Upload a GPX route and add stops
Have a recording of a walk, bike ride or mountain hike? A GPX file lets you use that recorded route as the starting point for your story.
Choose Start with GPX
Open Places in the editor and upload a .gpx file. Review the route preview and select the parts you want to show if the file contains several. You can also try an example route to learn how it works.
Pick the stops you want to describe
Click the track on the map or use Position along GPX route, then add a Place at that point. Its location is linked to the track. Add a name and narrative. If the file contains named waypoints, you can also use Add stops from GPX.
Show the route and elevation profile
Save the draft to keep your route and Places. Readers can see its recorded geometry and distances, plus an elevation profile when the file contains heights. Map settings let you hide route lines and show Places alone. The map supports the story; it does not provide navigation in the field.
03
Use your own photos or openly licensed images
The cover introduces the whole story. Images beside each Place show the buildings, landscapes, objects or events described there.
Upload your photos
Choose an image from your device for the cover or a Place and confirm your right to publish it. JPEG, PNG, WebP and AVIF files up to 10 MB are supported. Choose a crop that clearly shows the subject.
Search open image sources
Search Wikimedia Commons, or include Openverse in source discovery. Inspect the image and its original source page. Check that it shows the right location or subject, and review the creator and license before importing.
Keep the credit, license and source
Openly available images have their own reuse terms. Imports preserve attribution, license and source information. Confirm that the selected image can be published. Finding an image online does not itself give permission to use it.
04
Add sources, music and video
Descriptions explain each Place. Sources help readers check the facts, while additional media develops the subject.
Link to your research
Add links to archives, museums, publications or other materials used for each Place. Source discovery can help find related material and locations. Read sources before adding them. When an event or location is uncertain, explain what is known and what remains an interpretation.
Include something to watch or listen to
Add music, audio and video blocks to a Tracespot or its Places, including Spotify, YouTube and SoundCloud links. Players load after reader interaction. Other supported links may open as links to external websites.
05
Organise Tracespots into a Collection
A Collection brings several of your Tracespots together as an album. Use it for a multi-day journey, a series about a region or stories connected by film, music or architecture.
Create a Collection from your account
Choose Create a Collection, add a title and description, and optionally select a cover. Pick your own Tracespots to include. You can also use Add to Collection on a saved Tracespot.
Set the order and introduce each story
Arrange the stories in the order you want readers to discover them. Add short introductions to individual entries. A Tracespot can belong to several Collections; removing it from one does not delete the story.
Choose the Collection’s audience
A Collection has its own publication status and visibility. A public Collection does not automatically make private Tracespots public. Sharing a Collection with named viewers or through its special link can also grant access to its private, published stories. Drafts remain visible only to their creator.
07
Add Places as you travel with Live
Live lets you build a story during a trip. Add Places, descriptions and photos as you go, while readers with access follow its progress.
Start a session and choose its audience
Start Live on your phone, choose who can watch and add Places along the way. Check locations and the details you share. Readers with access can follow the session and use available notifications.
Keep the journey as a finished Tracespot
When you finish the session, choose the completed story’s visibility. You can refine descriptions, photos and sources later, then add the Tracespot to a Collection such as an album of the whole trip.
Before your first Tracespot
What is the difference between a Place, a Tracespot and a Collection?
A Place is a single location with a description in a story. A Tracespot connects ordered Places into one narrative. A Collection groups several of your Tracespots, such as days of a trip or stories about a region.
Do I need a GPX file?
No. You can add locations manually. GPX is useful when you want to show a recorded journey and place your story’s stops along it.
Do I have to visit every Place?
You can create a researched Tracespot about historical events or film locations. Explain how the Places relate to the subject, cite your sources and acknowledge uncertainty. For a personal journey, describe your own experience.
Does every Place need a photo?
Images help show the subject, but text and a map can tell the story. If you cannot find a suitable image with permission to publish it, leave the Place without one.
Can a Tracespot connect distant Places?
Yes. Places can follow a timeline or a theme. Map settings let you show points alone. A line between Places does not necessarily represent a real road or a walkable route.
Have a subject for your first Tracespot?
Start with a title and one Place. You can develop the rest in a draft.