Geogram is a free service to share and document adventures in semi-real-time. It helps adventurers to locate themselves in relation to each other. It enables followers to experience the adventure through map tracking, photos, and comments posted by adventurers.
Follow an adventure
- Geogram's homepage lists ongoing adventures (Archives past adventures).
- Once an adventure is selected, for example 727, a map indicates the adventurers' last known position, identified by their username if defined, otherwise by their name/first name.
- Before the adventure starts, the adventurers may be scattered across the country. Zoom out to find them.
- When clicking on a tag, the adventurer's name is highlighted in the list (and vice versa).
- For each adventurer, the distance traveled since the start and the elevation climbed are displayed (calculated data based on the displayed route on the map).
- If an adventurer has posted a photo or a message following their last geolocation, icons indicate this in the list.
- In the list, clicking on the + to the left of the adventurer's name takes you to their history (example). You can discover their geolocations, messages, and photos in reverse chronological order. Clicking on an icon has the same effect.
- An adventure story is generated from the published information (example), supplemented with automatically downloaded data (name of paths, streets, cities, weather, etc.).
- On iPhone, this link creates a quick access shortcut to Geogram. Once the shortcut is created, it can be edited by clicking on [...]. Clicking on Geogram adds the shortcut to the home screen. On Android, open Geogram in Chrome, then click on the 3 dots and select Add to Home Screen.
Join an adventure
- Install Telegram on your mobile phone (a messaging app similar to WhatsApp, but open-source, and free to integrate with other services).
- Create a Telegram account and associate it with a mobile number. To remain anonymous, use a pseudonym as your username.
- If you set a profile picture on Telegram, it serves as a cursor on the map, otherwise a simple colored dot is used (profile picture changes are counted once per night).
- On Telegram, join the adventure group (if it's private, the organizer provides a link that should not be shared).
- Mute the group to avoid being alerted for every message posted (open the group and click on its name at the top to access the option).
- Pin the group to keep it at the top of your contact list.
- In the group, occasionally post your geolocation. Click on the Paperclip on the left side of the input field, then click on the Location icon and choose Send my current location. Note: it takes a few seconds for Telegram to locate the phone. Do not publish the geolocation too quickly, otherwise it will be inaccurate.
- You can post even if your phone is not connected. Telegram will send messages when the phone will find a network.
- You can geolocate once every 30 minutes (if you geolocate more often, posts will be deleted). Warning: you can geolocate in real time for up to 8 hours, but it will drain your phone battery (and the Telegram real time mode is not very effective).
- The photos and texts posted are associated with the last geolocation. You can post multiple photos at once, preferably in landscape format. Videos are not supported.
- Within ten minutes of publication, the GeoBikepacking bot retrieves the messages and makes them public.
- Geolocation messages are automatically deleted to avoid cluttering the group. Other messages remain visible and allow adventurers to exchange messages.
- The command "/delete" removes the adventurer from Geogram by deleting all his messages.
Add your own adventure
- First you must create a Telegram account.
- On Telegram, create a group for the adventure, adding GeoBikepacking bot as the first member. Name the group explicitly.
- Make GeoBikepacking bot a group administrator (open the group, click on the group name, select Edit Group, then select Administrators, and add GeoBikepacking).
- Post an initial geolocation. Within ten minutes, the new group will appear on the homepage.
- Associate an image with the group. Within ten minutes, it will identify the group on the homepage.
- Optional, but far better. Post the GPX track of the adventure in the group. Within ten minutes, it will be displayed on the map. Repost the GPX to update the route. Warning: only the first track in the GPS will be proceed. No more than 30,000 points in the track.
- Share the Telegram group link with participants to invite them to join the group. They can start geolocating before the start of the adventure.
- The command "/imperial" displays units in miles and feet.
- The command "/metric" displays units in kilometers and meters (default).
- The command "/start 2023/5/30 08:00'" sets the start time (optional). It is possible to launch the adventure on the fly with "/start now". Without this step, it is impossible to calculate the time spent on the track.
- The command "/stop" stops the adventure. No more messages will be considered. The GPX track is deleted from Geogram, but not from the map. The adventure is archived.
- The command "/description blablabla…" describes the adventure on the homepage.
- The command "/link" displays the Telegram group link on the homepage (useful for public adventures in individual time trial mode). Repeat the command if the affiliation link on Telegram is modified.
- The command "/reset" destroys all messages from a group and therefore removes it from the list of activities until new messages are posted. It also remove the GPX file from database, but not from the map.
- The command "/purge" retains only the last message from each of the group's contacts (useful after a testing phase and before starting an adventure).
- The command "/clean" deletes all messages before the start of the adventure.
- The command "/time" adjusts the timezone (normaly not usefull).
- To allow non-adventurers to chat with adventurers, share the group's link with them. These observers should not geolocate.
- An inactive adventure for more than 10 days is automatically archived. GPX is removed from the database.