Your trail users see problems before you do
They ride your trails every day. When a tree comes down, they know that same morning — while your crew will find out next week. The obstacle was never their goodwill: it was the form. Remove the account, the password and the email, and the reports start coming in. Then tell them what happened to theirs, and they do it again.
What is a public report?
It is a problem reported by one of your trail users from the mobile app, without an account: a photo, a GPS position and an optional description. The report lands in an inbox separate from your tasks, where a member verifies it and decides what happens to it — then the reporter is notified at every step, right up to the confirmation that it is fixed.
- Replaces
- The Facebook page where complaints pile up unsorted, the generic email nobody triages, and word of mouth that loses the exact position.
- Where it happens
- Sending happens on the user's phone, with no account. Triage happens on the web or on mobile, by a member of your team. The follow-up goes back to the reporter's phone, under "My reports".
One photo and two taps. That is all we ask for.
The trailhead QR code identifies your network with no connection at all. The user photographs the problem, adds a word if they want, sends. We ask neither the problem type nor their email: classifying is your job, and a mandatory email drives half of them away.
- Three paths to your network: the trailhead QR code, a six-character code, or position
- Photo required, at your option — a report without a photo is almost always unusable
- First name optional, never an email or a password
- With no cell coverage, the report goes out on its own when the network returns
A report is not a task. It is information to verify.
If every report became a task, your board would fill with duplicates and false positives. So they arrive in a separate inbox, with three outcomes: turn it into a task, attach it to an existing task, or refuse it and say why. Nothing enters your planning until you decide it should.
- Three views of the same content: list to triage, board for the season, map to spot clusters
- Status reads as a step bar: received, accepted, in progress, resolved
- The task form opens already filled — position, trail, description and photos
- The refusal reason can be shared: "this trail is not ours" prevents the next five
Three people, one tree, one task.
A tree across a busy trail gets reported three times before noon. When you create the task, Sentinel shows you the reports received at the same spot and lets you check the ones describing the same problem. Nothing is pre-checked: two reports twenty metres apart can be a fallen tree and a rock, and including the wrong one would announce "resolved" to someone whose problem is not.
- A deliberately narrow window: within 40 m, less than 72 h old
- Only untriaged reports appear
- Every reporter in the group follows the task's progress
- Available from the field too, on mobile
The person who reported it is not forgotten.
This is what decides whether they report a second time. Every time the file moves, they get a notice on their phone: the report was accepted, the team has started, it is fixed. And in "My reports", a four-step tracker shows them exactly where theirs stands — without ever opening your planning.
- Three notices that go out on their own: "Report accepted", "Work under way", "Report resolved"
- The last two follow the task's real status: the moment a member starts it or finishes it, the notice goes out
- If you close the report, you can attach the reason — it appears under "Team response"
- The tracker shows the step reached and the next one, never your assignments, your discussions or your other tasks
Why teams turn it on
A hundred pairs of eyes
Your network is travelled every day by people who notice what you cannot inspect every week. Mobilising them costs nothing.
A filter before your board
A separate inbox, three outcomes, and nothing entering planning without a decision. Public volume does not pollute the crew's work.
The loop is closed
The reporter gets a notice when it is accepted, when work starts and when it is fixed. A four-step tracker shows them where their report stands. That is what makes them report a second time.
Frequently asked questions
Do trail users need an account to report a problem?
No, and that is the heart of the feature. The user opens the app, takes a photo and sends: no account, no email, no password. The form is exactly what stops people from reporting. You receive the geolocated report with its photo, and the user can follow its progress from their device.
How do you avoid receiving junk?
Four safeguards. Photos can be mandatory, which removes most of the noise. A daily cap limits submissions per device. Your network's visibility has three steps: by QR invitation, on site only, or publicly listed. And above all, a report is not a task: nothing enters your planning until you have triaged it.
What happens if three people report the same tree?
When you create the task, Sentinel shows you the reports received within 40 m over the last 72 hours and lets you check the ones describing the same problem. One task is created, and all three reporters each receive its progress. Nothing is pre-checked: two nearby reports can be two different problems, and you are the one who decides.
Does it work with no cell coverage at the trailhead?
Yes. The trailhead QR code identifies your network with no connection at all, and the report is queued on the device with its photos. It goes out on its own as soon as coverage returns. The user sees right away that it is saved.
Does the user know what happened to their report?
Yes, and that is what makes them report a second time. They get a notice when you accept the report, when work starts and when it is fixed. If you refuse, you can share the reason. They have no access to your planning, assignments or discussions though: they only see where their own report stands.
How it's done, step by step
The documentation articles covering this feature, written for the person who uses it.
- 01Let trail users report a fallen tree or a broken plank, with no account and no email — and choose what they can consult in return.WM
- 02Verify what the public sends you, turn it into a task or refuse it, and group in one go the reports describing the same problem.WM
Your trail users have already seen the problem. Let them tell you.
Turn on public reports, print the QR code for your trailhead sign, and see what comes in — with your trails, during your 30-day trial.