# Share a mind map with your Jira project

Keep a map as a personal draft, or publish it for people working in the same Jira project. Publishing is permanent, so choose the map's visibility before you share it.

## Before you start

You need:

- Access to the Jira project where the map is stored.
- The map's **Edit** action if you want to publish an existing map.
- A decision about whether the map is ready to remain project-wide.

Follow your organization's Jira access and data-handling rules when deciding what to include in a map. A map's visibility is a collaboration choice, not a replacement for those rules.

## Understand the two visibility choices

| Visibility | When to use it | What you see |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Private** | The map is still a personal draft and has not been published to the Jira project. New maps start in this state. | A lock icon and the label **Private**. |
| **Project-wide** | The map is ready for licensed Mind Map Studio users who can currently browse the Jira project. | A globe icon and the label **Project** or **Project-wide**. |

Publishing changes the map's visibility inside Mind Map Studio. It does not grant Jira project access, change Jira permissions, create Jira issues, or change issue security.

## Create a project-wide map

1. Select **Create new mind map** in the sidebar.
2. Enter the map title and choose its folder.
3. Under **Visibility**, clear the selected **Private mind map** checkbox.
4. Confirm that the preview shows **Project** and review the project-wide warning.
5. Select **Create map**.

Create the map as **Private** instead if you are not ready for the project-wide choice to be permanent.

## Publish an existing private map

1. Open the map's actions in the sidebar.
2. Select **Edit**.
3. Under **Visibility**, clear the selected **Private mind map** checkbox.
4. Confirm that **Project-wide mind map** is shown and review the warning.
5. Select **Save changes**.
6. Check that the map now has a globe icon in the sidebar.

After publication, the visibility control is disabled. The map cannot be changed back to **Private**.

## Open a project-wide map

1. Open Mind Map Studio from the same Jira project.
2. Expand the folder that contains the map.
3. Look for the globe icon beside the map title.
4. Select the map to open it.

The account that created the map keeps its edit, move, and delete controls. Other project users open the published map without those editing controls.

## Check the result

The map is project-wide when:

- A globe icon appears beside it in the sidebar.
- Its sidebar label identifies it as a project-wide map.
- Opening **Edit** shows that it cannot be made private again.

If the map still shows a lock icon, it has not been published.

## Good to know

- Publishing is one-way. There is no unpublish or make-private action.
- Publishing does not enable real-time co-editing. Avoid editing the same map from more than one session at the same time.
- Moving a map to another folder does not change its visibility.
- Changing a map's visibility does not change its ideas, connections, or Jira-linked cards.

## Fix a problem

### Edit is missing

The current account cannot change this map. Open a map you created, or ask the map's creator to publish it.

### The map details were saved, but publication failed

Open **Edit** again and check the visibility. If the map still shows **Private**, clear the checkbox and select **Save changes** again. Do not assume the map is project-wide until the globe icon appears.

### You cannot select Private

The map is already project-wide. This choice cannot be reversed.

### Another project user cannot find the map

Ask them to open Mind Map Studio in the same Jira project and look in the map's folder. If it is still missing, confirm their Mind Map Studio license and Jira project access with an administrator.

## Related guides

- [Organize maps and folders](./maps-and-folders.md)
- [Save, recover, and export your work](./saving-and-exporting.md)
- [Solve common problems](./troubleshooting.md)