AI-ASSISTED · EDITOR-REVIEWED

Theme brief

Choose a tool that changes one step — collection, analysis, design, publishing or accessibility — rather than rebuilding your whole practice in a day. Document what felt faster, what remained awkward and whether you would use it again.

Official prompt
“The challenge has always been about learning things. Try out a new tool in your mapmaking workflow.”
30DayMapChallenge 2026

02

WAYS IN

Four map ideas

01
Pick a random MapTools listing and solve a tiny problem with it.
02
Move one familiar QGIS task into a browser-based tool.
03
Try a command-line conversion and compare it with your usual GUI.
04
Publish a mini review alongside the map, including setup time and limitations.

03

IN THE DIRECTORY

Recommended tools

Fused

Experiments with cloud-hosted geospatial functions and shareable outputs.

Freemium · View details

DuckDB Spatial

A compact way to query and transform spatial files with SQL.

Open source · View details

Protomaps

Introduces a modern, self-hosted basemap publishing workflow.

Open source · View details

Observable

Combines data exploration, code and publication in a live notebook.

Freemium · View details

04

START WITH A CLEAR LICENSE

Data sources

Your own observations

Document the collection method, date and privacy decisions.

You choose the license Natural Earth administrative areas

Generalized world boundaries at multiple scales; read boundary notes.

Public domain OpenStreetMap points of interest

Query amenities, shops and other tagged places with Overpass Turbo.

ODbL 1.0 · attribution required

Licenses are a planning aid, not legal advice. Check the source record and version you actually download; terms can vary within a catalog.

05

BEFORE YOU EXPORT

Cartography check

Keep the dataset familiar so you are evaluating the tool, not debugging both new software and new data at once.

06

COMMUNITY MAPS

Selected work

Selections begin after this theme closes.

First participate officially by posting publicly with #30DayMapChallenge. You can then suggest that original post for our independent MapTools picks. We link to the source, credit every author and use images only with permission.

Suggest for MapTools picks