Developer

Publish and Share style

In this guide, you will learn:

  • What are Draft and Production styles.
  • How to publish a style.
  • How to share a style.

Draft and Production style

When you create or import a style, Map Maker creates two versions of it:

  • Draft
  • Production

Draft version of the style:

  • This is a current version of the style. It is what you see in the Editor.
  • All the changes you make to the map are applied to the Draft version. These changes are automatically saved in the TomTom cloud. You do not need to worry about accidentally losing your progress.
  • You can use the Draft style in your test application or prototyping.

If you are not satisfied with the changes made to the Draft style since it was last published, you can revert to the last published version at any time. Read the Replace and revert style guide to learn more.

Production version of the style:

  • This is an optimized for performance and a cached version of the style. Rendering and viewing the Production style in your application is faster and more efficient.
  • Changes from the Draft are applied every time you publish. For example, if you use Production style in your application, changes in the Draft will not impact the application, until you publish the style again.
  • In your production application you should only use the Production styles.

When you are using Production style in your application, changes may not be visible immediately after you publish, because of server-side optimizations and client-side caching.

Publish style

When you are happy with the changes to your Draft style and want to update the Production version, you can publish your style.

Follow these steps to publish a style:

  1. Open a style.
  2. Click the Publish button.
  3. Compare both the Draft and Production versions. Publish style
  4. Click Publish Style. Map Maker will update the Production style with changes from the Draft.

Share style

TomTom cloud safely stores your map styles. In Map Maker, you can generate a URL to your style and download it. To access or download your style URL, you must share the style.

Follow these steps to share a style:

  1. Open a style.

  2. Click the Share button.

  3. On the side panel, click the version of the style you want to share, Draft or Production.

    Usually, you will share the Production style to use it in the production applications. Sharing the Draft is useful for reviewing and testing.

  4. In the Access section, choose an option from the drop-down. The following are available:

    • Private, the style can only be used with an API Key from your Developer Portal account.
    • Open, the style can be displayed with an API Key from any Developer Portal account. Only you can make changes or delete it. Keep in mind that the person you shared a style with will be able to create their style based on the style you shared.
    Share style

  5. In the API Key section, select one of the available API Keys from your account. You can omit this step if you:

    • are using TomTom SDKs, where you can provide the API Key separately
    • use header based authentication in your application, where you can provide the API Key in the header of the request
    • plan to enter the key manually in the style URL or style file
    • set the Access option to "Open"

    If your API Key list is empty, make sure that you have enabled the required Product API in your API Key settings. For example, if you are using the "Traffic" map module in your style, you need to have the Traffic API Product enabled in your API Key. You can edit your API Key settings in your Developer Portal account dashboard. If you are not sure how to add a new API Key, read How do I get a TomTom API Key?.

  6. To copy the style URL click the Copy button in the the Style URL section. Two options will appear: Style URL only and With API Key.

    To download the style file to your local device, click the Download button in the the Download section. You will see two options: Style without API Key and With API Key.

    • Style URL only and Style without API Key options are useful when you are using TomTom SDKs or when you want to provide the API key separately, for example in your application settings or in the header of the request. This option is also useful if you want to share the style URL with others, but do not want to share your API Key.
    • URL With API Key and style With API Key options are useful when you want to quickly test the style in your application without the need to enter the API key separately. The style URL and the style file will contain your API Key, do not share this style with anyone you do not trust.

  7. Click the option that suits your case.

    If you select API Key while sharing the style, the style URL and the style file will contain it. Remember to always protect your API Key. Never share it with others, rotate your keys regularly for added security. If you plan to use it on the Web, enable domain whitelisting in the Edit key > Security, in the dashboard on the Developer Portal.

Notice that when you download a style file:

  • assets like icons and glyphs are still fetched online
  • style is not connected with TomTom cloud and will not be updated after you publish

Since you have learned about the Publish and Share style, here are recommendations for the next steps: