This article is about the Proxi admin app at app.proxi.co.
Most people who open your map got there from a link or a QR code, with no idea what they're looking at. A welcome screen is a short hello that appears before the map does: what this is, how to use it, and a button to get going. We write it for you from the way your map is set up, you can change any of it, and you can watch it take shape as you type.
It's off until you turn it on, so nobody's map suddenly opens with a screen in front of it.
Where to Find It
Open your map from the Maps page. In the settings rail on the left, look under Access for Welcome — a small teal dot sits next to it until you've turned it on. You can also get there from the Share button at the top of the editor, which has a Create a welcome pop-up button at the bottom (it reads Edit your welcome pop-up once you have one).
Turn It On
Flip the switch at the top of the Welcome section, or click Turn on the welcome. The line under the heading tells you what's happening in plain words — "Showing once per person" to start. That's it; it's live. Everything here saves on its own a moment after you stop typing.
What Visitors See
The first time someone opens your map, they get:
Your map's cover photo, colors, and logo across the top, with the map's name and a line like "24 places to eat and drink around Ballard, all in one map."
A short How It Works list — two or three steps with little icons, like "Tap a place to see more" and "Filter by what you're in the mood for."
A button that closes the welcome and drops them onto the map.
On a phone it fills the screen. On a laptop it's a card in the middle of the page with the map dimmed behind it, and people can close it with the button, the ✕, the Escape key, or a click anywhere outside the card.
It Writes Itself From Your Setup
You don't have to write anything. The one-line description and the steps come from what your map actually has: how many places are on it, whether you've turned on filters, whether your places have photos, and whether visitors can add a place of their own. Add a filter next week and the steps update to mention it. You'll see an Updates itself tag on the steps while they're in this mode.
Make It Say What You Want
The What it says card is where you take over, one piece at a time. Anything you leave blank keeps using our version.
One line about what this is — the sentence under the map's name. Type your own, or leave it blank and we'll write one from your setup.
Say more (optional) — a few lines below the headline if there's more to tell: the story of the event, sponsor thanks, a tip for parking. Paste a video or web link and use the embed button to show it as a card.
How It Works — click Write my own and the suggested steps turn into rows you can edit. Change the little icon and the words, drag a row to reorder, remove one, or Add a step. Changed your mind? Back to suggested hands them back to us.
Button label — what the big button says. "Explore the map" is the default; "Start the tour" or "Let's eat" work just as well.
See It the Way Visitors Will
While the Welcome section is open, the preview on the right stops being a plain map and shows the welcome exactly as a visitor gets it, over your real map with your real places. It follows every keystroke.
Switch between Desktop and Phone at the top of the preview to see the card and the full-screen version.
Tap the welcome's button to close it, just like a visitor would, and you're looking at the map underneath.
Click Show it again to bring it back. This also forgets that you've seen it, so the next time you open the live map you'll get the welcome once more — handy for checking it on your phone.
Decide How Often People See It
The When it shows card has two settings:
How often — Once per person is the default and right for most maps: someone sees it the first time and never again on that device. Every visit suits a short-run event where the instructions matter each time. Once a day, Once a week, and Once a month sit in between — good for a map people come back to season after season.
Show it inside embeds — off to start. When your map sits on your own website, the page around it usually does the introducing, so the welcome stays out of the way there. Turn this on if your embedded map needs to explain itself.
Visitors can always bring it back themselves: the info button at the top of the map has a How this works link that opens the welcome again.
Colors, Logo, and Cover Photo
The welcome wears your map's branding — the primary color, text color, logo, and cover image you set in the Branding section. There's a small Uses your branding note at the bottom of the Welcome section with an Edit link that takes you straight there. A good cover photo does most of the work here, so if your map doesn't have one yet, this is a fine reason to add it. See Designing Your Map: Branding, Style, and Starting View.
Good to Know
Turning the welcome off keeps everything you wrote, so you can switch it back on later without starting over.
"Once per person" is remembered on the visitor's device, so the same person on a new phone will see it again. That's normal.
The welcome only appears on the map itself — not in your printed handouts or link previews.
On the free plan, a small "Made with Proxi" line sits at the bottom of the welcome. Paid plans show a smaller credit or none, following your map's usual Built with Proxi setting.
If visitors can add places to your map, the welcome mentions it on its own — see Collecting Places From Your Community for turning that on.
Directories have the very same welcome — see Greet Visitors With a Welcome Screen on Your Directory.