1. Getting started

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This is the extended manual: it explains every step in detail, with edge cases and the messages you may encounter. If you want a quick overview of the features, the app has an in-app Quick guide and FAQ.

What is Locaria

Locaria is an app to explore the world, build itineraries and collect the places you've visited — your "digital passport". It works as a website (installable on your phone as a web app/PWA) and as a dedicated Android app that adds native features such as the GPS-tagged camera and screen-off route recording (see Android app).

You can use it at two levels:

• As a guest, without signing up, just to take a read-only look.
• With a free account, to unlock all the personal features (passport, routes, trips, badges, network, messages, contributions).

As soon as you sign in with an account, the Home automatically takes you to the Dashboard, the summary page of your travel profile.

Browsing as a guest (no account)

As a guest you have full, read-only access to the public part of the catalog:

• the Home (public landing with hero, inspiring carousels — Elements, Flavors, Inspiration — and the Community, Badges, Guide and FAQ sections);
• Explore (/esplora): global search with autocomplete, the continents/countries list with filters, carousels, and — if you grant geolocation — nearby places;
• the Map (/mappa): interactive map with city and place pins, category filters and search by name;
• the place, city and country pages;
• official routes and public trips (read-only).

What you can't do as a guest: save places, build routes, vote, mark visits, see the full content of elements and flavors, use passport/badges, trips, dashboard, network and messages.

What you see when a section is locked

Locaria handles the lock in two different ways depending on the page:

1. Redirect to login. The strictly personal sections (Dashboard, Wishlist, Visited, Contributions, Passport, Badges, Network, Messages, "Suggest a place") take you straight to the Sign in page as soon as the app realizes you're not authenticated.
2. Community invitation (banner). Many public pages stay visible but show a "Join the Community" box in place of the reserved content. The banner shows:
   • the title Join the Community;
   • the text "Sign up to suggest new places, report changes and build your personal travel diary.";
   • two buttons: Create an Account (light blue) and Sign in.

This banner appears, for example, on a city page (in place of filters and grid), at the bottom of Elements and Flavors, and on the detail pages of elements and flavors, where you only see the title and cover image but not the description, votes and tracking.

A typical guest journey

1. Open the Home → you see the public landing.
2. Tap Start Exploring → you land on Explore.
3. Select a city → you see the header but, in place of filters and grid, the guest banner.
4. Tap Sign in → you go to the login page.
5. After signing in you return to the city and now see filters, the place grid, wishlist and tracking.

Creating an account

You can sign up in two ways: email + password or Google. In both cases you must accept the privacy policy before proceeding.

The sign-up page (/en/auth/register) opens full screen, with a Back button at the top left and the language switcher at the top right. At the top you'll find the 🧳 emoji, the title Join Locaria and the subtitle "Create your free digital passport".

A) With email and password

1. Enter your Email (field with placeholder "e.g. mario@email.com").
2. Choose a Password of at least 6 characters (placeholder "At least 6 characters"). Use the eye icon inside the field to show or hide it as you type.
3. Confirm password: repeat the same password in the second field (which also has its own eye icon).
4. Choose the app language by tapping Italiano or English. It's the language the interface starts in and the one your notifications arrive in; by default it matches the language of the page you're on.
5. Tick the privacy consent box: "I declare that I have read and accepted Locaria's Privacy Policy." (the link opens the policy in a new tab).
6. Tap Create Account.

Checks before submitting. If something is off, the app shows a red message above the form and blocks the submission:

Email confirmation (6-digit OTP code). If email confirmation is enabled, after tapping Create Account you don't get in right away: you receive an email with a numeric code and the same screen changes, showing the 📧 emoji and the title Confirm your email. At this point:

1. Type the code you received in the dedicated field (it accepts digits only).
2. Tap Confirm.

If the code doesn't arrive, use "Didn't get it? Resend" to request a new one. Once verified, you land straight in the Dashboard (in the language you chose). If the code is wrong or expired you'll see "Invalid or expired code. Check and try again."

ℹ️ If you never see the code screen and get in right after Create Account, it means email confirmation isn't required: that's normal and depends on the service configuration.

B) With Google

1. First tick the privacy consent (if you forget, the app shows "Please accept the Privacy Policy before continuing with Google").
2. Tap Sign up with Google.
3. Pick your Google account and authorize access.

You're redirected to the Dashboard without setting any password. On the web, Google sign-in happens in the browser; in the Android app Google opens in an external tab (Chrome Custom Tab) and the app comes back automatically when done — see Android app.

Signing in

To sign in open the Sign in page (/en/auth/login): at the top you'll find the 🌍 emoji, the title Welcome back! and the subtitle "Sign in to Locaria to use all the features." You can get in like this:

• Continue with Google — if you registered with Google, always use this method.
• Email and password — enter your email and password and tap Sign in.

On your first successful sign-in (and every one after) you're taken to the Dashboard.

If sign-in fails, a red box appears above the form:

⚠️ Account created with Google? You don't have an email password. If you try to sign in with email+password you'll see the error above: use Continue with Google.

At the bottom of the page you'll also find the link "Don't have an account yet? Sign up free".

Forgot your password?

If you don't remember your password, from the Sign in page tap Forgot password? (below the password field). You reach the recovery page, with the 🔑 emoji and the title Forgot password?

1. Enter your account email.
2. Tap Send reset link.
3. If it succeeds, the form is replaced by a green box: "Check your inbox! We've sent you a link to reset your password."
4. Open the email and tap the link: you reach the New password page (🔐 emoji).
5. Enter the new password (minimum 6 characters) and confirm it, then tap Update password.
6. On success you see "Password updated successfully! Redirecting you…" and after a moment you land in the Dashboard.

Special cases:

• Too many reset attempts: message "Too many attempts. Try again later." — the form stays visible, try again later.
• Expired or invalid link (e.g. opened after a long time, or a manually pasted URL): the New password page shows a yellow warning "Invalid or expired link. Request a new reset link." with the Request new link button.
• Invalid passwords on the New password form: "The password must be at least 6 characters." or "The passwords don't match."
• For security reasons, if the email isn't registered no error is shown: you'll still see the "check your inbox" message, but no email will arrive.

Changing your password (while logged in)

When you're already in and want to change your password, go to your Profile → Security section (🔒) → Change Password. The change happens in two steps with email verification, to prove it's really you:

1. Enter the New Password (min. 6 characters) and the Confirm Password.
2. Tap Send code: you receive a verification code by email. The message "📧 We've sent you a code by email." appears and the form moves to the second step.
3. Enter the code you received (digits only) and tap Confirm change.
4. On success you see "✅ Password updated!" and the form closes.

If you don't get the code, use "Didn't get it? Resend" (message "📧 New code sent."). If the passwords don't match or are too short, or the code is wrong/expired, you'll see a warning and can fix it without starting over. You can cancel at any time with Cancel.

Your profile (Settings)

The Profile page (/en/profilo) is your control center: it requires sign-in and opens with the heading Settings. From top to bottom you'll find the sections described below.

Header: avatar, counters and sharing

At the top there's a colored card whose background changes with your role (blue for users, orange for editors, purple for admins). Here you'll find:

• Avatar on the left: tap it to upload a profile photo (the file picker opens). When done you see "Profile photo updated! 📸". If you're a Trusted user, the avatar has a golden glowing border.
• Your name and email, with the role badge (user / editor / admin) and, if applicable, the ⭐ Trusted badge.
• The three passport counters, in three pills: 🌍 Countries, 🏆 Visited, 🔖 Wishlist.
• The Share profile button (paper-plane icon, top right): it opens your device's share menu with the link to your public profile; if the device doesn't support native sharing, the link is copied to the clipboard.

Personal info

At first the section is read-only (it shows your bio and any social links). Tap Edit to open the form and enter or update:

• First name and Last name;
• Date of birth;
• Bio (a short introduction);
• Social & Links: one field per platform — Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Strava, Komoot, Wikiloc and Website. Enter just your handle/username (e.g. marco.viaggia): the app builds the full link for you. If you accidentally paste a full URL or an @, it's cleaned up automatically on save.

Tap Save to confirm (message "Profile updated! ✨") or Cancel to go back. All fields are optional: you can leave them empty.

Member since

A small box with the 📅 icon shows your sign-up date (e.g. "January 2025"). It's informational only.

Level and experience (XP)

A box shows your current level, accumulated XP and your progress toward the next level. To understand how XP and badges are earned, see Badges and passport.

App preferences (⚙️)

Tapping the ⚙️ App preferences icon opens a panel with 6 settings. Every change saves itself, with no "Save" button (like your phone's system settings); if a save fails, the app restores the previous value and warns you with a red message.

App permissions (🔐 — Android app only)

The 🔐 App permissions icon appears only inside the Android app, not on the web. From here you check the status of the 5 native permissions and request them when needed:

Each permission shows a status badge (Granted, Denied, To grant) and, when needed, a Request → or Settings → button. When you return from the system settings the status is re-checked automatically; at the bottom there are ⚙️ Open system settings and 🔄 Re-check permission status. On Android 14+ the "always-on location" permission may not open the prompt: in that case set it manually from the app settings. Full details in Android app.

Privacy

The "Show my trips on my public profile" switch decides whether others can see how many places you've visited:

• on → "🌍 Anyone can see how many places you've visited.";
• off → "🔒 Your trips are hidden from other users." (on your public profile others see "🔒 This user has hidden their trips.").

The change is immediate, with a brief confirmation message (Trips public 🌍 / Trips hidden 🔒). For the full picture on privacy and data see Account and privacy.

Language

Two buttons, 🇮🇹 Italiano and 🇬🇧 English: tap the one you want to switch the language. The choice is saved to your account and the page reloads in the new language (the URL goes from /en/... to /it/... or vice versa) — on your next sign-in you'll find the chosen language.

Where I am now

A box to declare and update your presence in the location you're in (handy for the Network).

• If you've never declared anything, you see "You haven't declared where you are yet." and the Declare where you are button.
• Tapping it opens a form where you choose the level (City, Division or Country), then the Country (with flag) and, depending on the level, the Division and/or City. You can set a time window (from / until) — both optional: if you leave them empty it means "from now, no end". Finally choose the Visibility: 🌍 Public, 👥 Friends or 🔒 Private.
• Tap Save: the box appears with the declared location and the Update button to change it later. End now removes the current presence.

If you try to save without choosing the country (or without a division/city when required, or with the end date before the start) you'll see a short error message below the form.

My data and account

At the bottom of the page you'll find four blocks, each separated by a line:

1. Export my data — tap 📦 Download ZIP to download an archive with all the data you've generated (profile, trips, routes, contributions…), in a format readable by Excel and by software. It's your right to portability (GDPR art. 20). Messages and other users' data are not included.
2. Offline downloads — a collapsible panel with the list of downloaded routes for offline use, with size and date; each entry has a Delete button (with confirmation). To download a route, open it and tap «Download for offline». See Routes and navigation.
3. Sign out (Logout) — see below.
4. Delete account — see Account and privacy.

Roles

Locaria has a role ladder that progressively unlocks more capabilities:

"Trusted" user

It's a separate recognition, not a role of its own: it's earned automatically after 10 approved contributions. You stay a regular User, but you unlock a golden ⭐ Trusted badge and — the main benefit — your future suggestions are published immediately, without waiting for moderation. Once earned, it's never lost.

Becoming an Editor

If you're a User, in your Profile you'll find the Community section with the "Become an Editor 🌟" card ("Help us moderate places and contribute to the growth of the map.") and the Send application button.

1. Tap Send application: the message "Application sent! 🌟" appears and the button becomes the "⏳ Request under review" badge.
2. An admin reviews the request.
3. You receive a notification in the bell with the outcome: if approved, "You're an Editor! ⭐ — You can now approve community contributions."; if not accepted, a notification telling you the application wasn't accepted for now.

When you're an Editor or Admin, your profile also shows a blue "Go to admin screen" button that takes you straight to the moderation queue. More in Contributing.

Signing out

From the profile, the Logout 🚪 button ends the session on this device (a direct action, no confirmation). Your data stays saved to your account and you'll find it on your next sign-in. Logout sits above "Delete account": first you leave the session, and only if you really want to wipe everything do you proceed with deletion, described in Account and privacy.

Next: Explore & map · See also: Account and privacy