The original version of this document is located at https://docs.qfield.org/get-started/tutorials/advanced-setup-qfc

Advanced setup guide

Supported vector providers

Currently, QFieldCloud supports GeoPackage and PostGIS layers for collaborative editing.
Other formats supported by QGIS should also work but are not officially supported.

Working with GeoPackages

Using GeoPackages is usually the best choice for a simple setup to centralize data collected by your QField users to one single file.

If you would like to set up a relation, it is recommended to add a UUID field and to use that as the primary or foreign key.

Example workflow (GeoPackage)

🖥️ Desktop preparation

1. Create a new project.
2. Create GeoPackage layers, save it in the same folder than the QGIS project.
3. Set the GeoPackage to “Offline editing” in the QFieldSync plugin.
4. Upload the project to QFieldCloud.

📱 Fieldwork

1. Sign in to QFieldCloud and download the project to your device.
2. Collect and edit some data and upload the changes.

🖥️ Desktop

1. Using QFieldSync, download the updated files (the GeoPackage file should have changed).

PostGIS

Using PostGIS layers is a good choice if your data should directly be editable for multiple users through QFieldCloud when they sync their work without any further steps.

It requires your database to be publicly accessible, and credentials must be saved unencrypted in the QGIS project.
Please be aware of the security implications of such requirements, and remember to have backups.

Example workflow (PostGIS)

🖥️ Desktop preparation

1. Create a new project.
2. Create add a PostGIS layer, making sure to store the credentials in the project.
3. Make sure the PostGIS database connection is publicly accessible (public IP or domain name, it will not work with 127.0.0.1 or localhost).
4. In the QFieldSync project settings, set the GeoPackage to Offline editing if your QField users will not have a reliable internet connection in the field or Direct database access.
5. Upload the project to QField cloud.

📱 Fieldwork

1. Signin to QFieldCloud and download the project.
2. Collect some data (and upload the changes once back at the office if you were using Offline editing).

🖥️ Desktop

1. All changes should be directly visible inside the PostGIS database.

You can find more information on QFieldCloud technical reference.

Restricting Project Files Modification to Administrators and Managers

To prevent any modification to the core QGIS project file, the project administrators can restrict the access to these files.
This can be achieved under the settings section in QFieldCloud.

Restricted Files

When enabled, the following files can only be modified or uploaded by a user with an “admin” or “manager” role for the project:

• The primary QGIS project file (e.g., my_project.qgz).
• The attachments zip archive associated with the project (e.g., my_project_attachments.zip).
• QGIS auxiliary data files that store information like label positions (e.g., my_project.qgd).
• QField style files (.qml) that share the same name as the project file.

How to Enable Restriction

By enabling the Restrict project files, you activate this administrative control.
Once set, only administrators and managers will be able to push changes to the files listed above.
Other project collaborators can still upload and modify other project files, such as data in GeoPackages, but they cannot alter the main project file or its core components.

Enabling automatic pushing of changes to QFieldCloud

With this functionality, users and managers of QFieldCloud projects can enforce automatic pushing of pending changes to QField devices in the field, as well as specify the interval in between automated pushes.
The functionality is activated through a project setting, allowing remote activation.

🖥️ Desktop preparation

1. Access Project Settings: Navigate to the QField panel in the Project Settings dialog provided by the QFieldSync plugin.

2. Enable Auto-Push: Toggle the “Automatically push pending changes on the following interval” option and establish your preferred interval.

Create a project in an organization

How to create a project in an organization:

Option 1: Directly convert your local project to an Organization QFieldCloud project:

1. Follow the steps configure your cloud project, until you get to the “Project details”.

2. Change the owner of the project to your Organization.

   

3. Click on “Create” to start the conversion and synchronization.
   When finish you will see the project is in your Organization in QFieldCloud.

   

Option 2: Uploading directly to the organization:

1. Select your organization.

   

2. Once you get into the organization, click on “Create a project”.

   

3. Select “Create a new empty project”.

   

4. You can see the new project in the overview.

   

5. On QGIS in QFieldSync, you will see the new project listed, click on “Edit Selected Cloud Project”.

   

6. Choose the folder where you want to save the project.

   

7. In the selected folder, you can either paste an already worked-on project or save a new one.

   

8. Once the folder contains the project, you can synchronize it.

   

9. Finally, push the changes to the cloud.

   

10. You can verify that the files are present in the Organization project.

    

Option 3: Moving the project from your own account to the Organizations:

1. If you already have a project in QFieldCloud (refer to configure your cloud project).
   In the project, click on “Settings” and select “Transfer ownership of this project” to choose the desired Organization for the transfer.

   

2. A pop-up window will appear to confirm the transfer. To proceed, you will need to type the requested text and click “Transfer project”.

   

Activate email notifications for QFieldCloud changes

1. Access the Settings of your account.

2. Navigate to the Notifications section.
   Here, you can customize the frequency of notifications you wish to receive at the email address registered with your account.

   The events you get notified about are:
   - User created
   - Organization created
   - Organization deleted
   - Organization membership created
   - Organization membership deleted
   - Team created
   - Team deleted
   - Team membership created
   - Team membership deleted
   - Project created
   - Project deleted
   - Project membership created
   - Project membership deleted

You will receive notifications for events in which you are not the actor.
These notifications are specifically for events that are initiated by other members of your organization or collaborators on your projects.

Enhance your project with the “Optimized Packager”

We recommend using the new “Optimized Packager” over the deprecated “QGIS Core Offline Editing” for all your projects.
Set the packager under “Packaging Offliner” in the “Settings” tab of your project.

The “Optimized Packager” supports consolidating filtered layers of same datasource into a single offline layer, respecting distinct symbology but also using less storage.
Here is an example to illustrate this feature:

Example Configuration:

• Layer 1.1:
• Data Source: layers.gpkg
• Table: layer1

• Filter: id % 2 = 1

• Layer 1.2:

• Data Source: layers.gpkg
• Table: layer1
• Filter: id % 2 = 0

Result:

For the new offliner:
- A single layer is generated in the offline geopackage, combining data from layer1 with the specified filters.

For the old (QGIS) offliner:
- Two separate layers are created, each representing the filtered datasets:
- Layer 1: Filtered with id % 2 = 1
- Layer 2: Filtered with id % 2 = 0

On-Demand Attachment Downloads

For projects with many attachment files, you can enable on-demand downloading in QField.
This is useful for saving storage space on field devices and reducing data transfer over limited network connections.

To enable this feature:

1. Navigate to your project on the QFieldCloud web platform.
2. Open the project’s Settings tab.
3. Enable the On demand attachment files download option.

Connect to a custom QFieldCloud server in QField and QFieldSync

QField and QFieldSync connect to the QFieldCloud service on app.qfield.cloud by default.

You can modify the default QFieldCloud server QField and QFieldSync connect to:

1. Open the login screen in QField or QFieldSync.
2. Double-tap on the Nyuki icon (the blue bee QFieldCloud logo).
3. This action will reveal a field where you can enter the preferred QFieldCloud server address.
4. Enter the details of the desired server in the provided field.
   (Leaving the field empty will connect to the default QFieldCloud server at app.qfield.cloud.)