Behind the Scenes Part I: Publications

In this small new category, we’ll be taking a look at topics that normally play a big role behind the scenes at MathCityMap. With this, we would like to give you a brief insight into things that would otherwise remain hidden from you. In today’s post, we want to look at the difference between public and private tasks and trails. Herewith we already want to tease the topic of the next post of this category.

After successfully creating a trail or task, there are two ways in which this trail or task exists in the MathCityMap portal. On the left image you can see the normal way. The task or trail is private, which is indicated by the green key icon. This means that the trail or task can only be found by users to whom the creator has submitted the associated code. When users search for trails in their area with the app, private trails are not displayed and thus cannot be experienced.

The second state for a trail or task is “Public.” Public trails and tasks can be found by all users around the world. This is indicated in the portal beside the field “Visibility” by the green globe, which can be seen in the picture on the right. Public trails and tasks are the heart of MathCityMap, with the help of which the whole community can benefit from the creativity and inventiveness of all its individual members. 

But how can you make your own trail public? There is a central button in the web portal for this purpose, which makes MathCityMap accessible to many people who only use the app and do not create tasks and trails in the portal themselves. Clicking on “Review” (shown in both images) brings you to a pop-up window where you can request publication. What happens behind the scenes on the MathCityMap team until the trail or task is public will be the topic of the next article in this category…