Getting Started: Create Your First Project

This guide gets you from an empty TrailNote account to a useful first map: one project, a few important places, one route, and a clear next step for sharing or exporting.

If you are evaluating the broader trip-planning workflow first, see Hiking Trip Planner.

When to use this guide

Use this when you are new to TrailNote and want to understand the basic building blocks before planning a real trip.

By the end, you should know:

What a project is
How markers and routes relate to a project
Where to start when your map is empty
Which next action to choose: organize, share, or export

Before you start

You need a TrailNote account and access to the map editor. If you are testing the product for the first time, use a simple real-world example such as a weekend hike, a city walk, or a cycling loop. A realistic example makes the interface easier to understand than a blank test project.

Step-by-step

1. Sign in and open the planner

Create an account or sign in from the home page. After authentication, open the planner from the main call-to-action or go directly to the map editor.

If the map opens without a selected project, start in the sidebar. The sidebar is where you create, rename, organize, and select projects.

2. Create a project

Choose New Project in the sidebar and give the project a name that will still make sense later.

Good examples:

Yosemite Weekend Hike
Tokyo Cycling Loop
Iceland Ring Road Draft
Banff Hikes 2026

Avoid names like "test" or "new trip" unless you plan to delete them. Clear names make search, sharing, and future cleanup much easier.

3. Move the map to your planning area

Use map search or pan manually to the place you want to plan. Zoom in enough that trailheads, roads, and nearby landmarks are visible. If you are planning a route, start by confirming the approximate area before adding details.

4. Add your first marker

Create a marker for the most important fixed location. For a hike, this is often the trailhead or parking area. For a city plan, it might be your hotel, station, or first stop.

Give the marker a specific name and a short note. A useful note answers "why does this place matter?"

Example marker:

Name: Trailhead Parking
Note: Arrive before 8am on weekends. Limited spaces near the entrance.

5. Add your first route

Choose the route method that matches your situation:

Use directions planning when the route follows known roads or mapped paths.
Use freehand drawing when the route is off-road, incomplete in map data, or easier to sketch manually.

Do not worry about perfect styling yet. Your first goal is to place the route on the map and confirm the rough distance.

6. Add one piece of organization

If the project already has several items, create a folder such as Day 1, Logistics, Viewpoints, or Backup Routes. Move related markers and routes into that folder so the project does not become a flat list.

Starting with light organization early is easier than cleaning up a large project later.

7. Decide what to do next

Once the first map has a project, a marker, and a route, choose the next workflow:

Add more markers if you are still researching.
Style routes if the map is becoming hard to read.
Export GPX if you need a backup or device file.
Create a share link if someone else needs to review the plan.

What the result looks like

A healthy first project usually has a clear project name, one or two folders, a small set of named markers, and at least one route that explains the main movement of the trip. The map should answer the basic question: where am I going, and what matters along the way?

Common issues

I do not see where to add items. Make sure a project is selected first. Markers, routes, annotations, and folders belong to a project.

My project feels messy already. Create folders by day, area, or topic. Move related items together before adding more.

The route does not follow the trail I want. Try freehand drawing for missing trails or off-road sections.

I am not ready to share yet. That is fine. Keep working privately, then create a share link only when the map is ready for review.

Getting Started with a Map-Based Trip Planner