Live alerts, refreshes and map dragging

The Ukraine feed is collected into a shared server snapshot. New-alert collection runs before background indexing and historical repairs. A delayed source is labeled unavailable; sparse reports are not evidence that an area is safe. Refreshes recover recent alerts silently and retain known map positions.

Drag inside a theater map to pan after zooming. Use the drag handle in the panel header to reorder panels. Staff can check the ukraine-live and telegram-live jobs in Automation Health.

Warning posters and media cleanup

Decorative drone and missile warning posters are screened separately from real incident photos and videos. Uncertain images remain in Media Manager for Editor/Admin review. Removing a media file preserves its alert or assessment.

Updated screening revisits older automatic approvals in background batches. In Media Manager, the scan button runs another batch; the status reports remaining image checks and confirmed removals. Staff-approved evidence is retained. A scan starting does not mean all historical files have already been checked.

How are assessment locations chosen?

Dates and ordinary words can also be town names. A phrase such as “in August” is not enough to select August, California; a geographic qualifier such as “August, California” is required. Battle assessments prioritize the report's geographic context, while explicit targets across a border can still be placed there. Ambiguous locations stay in review.

A countrywide report may use a labeled capital-reference pin when no specific incident location is given. That pin does not mean the event occurred in the capital. Staff corrections and review holds are protected from automated reassignment.

Map borders, regional alerts and mobile chat

Country Activity changes activity shading and country-detail selection. Country, state and province borders remain visible in 2D and 3D. Day/night imagery is controlled separately.

Donetsk and Luhansk region alerts belong to Ukraine regardless of territorial claims in a source. Region-wide reports use approximate region references. Named Russian locations are not moved merely because their report mentions Ukraine; staff location corrections remain protected.

Open the envelope in the header to read conversations. Intel Report News · Notices contains read-only account messages; ordinary member conversations have a reply box. If loading fails, use Retry loading messages.

On a phone, staff can tap Moderation · slow mode, mutes & bans above chat to expand or collapse the controls. The mobile choice is remembered, leaving the conversation full width when collapsed.

Weather radar and report corrections

Use radar and warning polygons

Open Global → Filters & layers → Weather radar. Reflectivity and echo tops cover the continental US. Base and storm-relative velocity require a three-letter radar station, such as TBW, and a view near that station. Choose opacity or Off to remove the image. The retrieval time is not a verified scan time; blank imagery may mean missing coverage. Correlation coefficient is not supplied by this feed.

Enable NWS warning polygons under Display to show retained active polygons that match your alert filters. The list is capped at 300 recent records. Selecting an NWS alert still requests its boundary when this toggle is off; affected-zone boundaries may take longer to load.

Correct historical reports

Editors and admins can use Edit event in Weather History or Edit event and label in its globe detail panel. Incident labels can be corrected without changing the source. In the location-review queue, Move to damage assessments preserves the source and media while moving the report out of weather review. Assessment History has an Edit assessment action; existing links remain, and automatic reassignment is held after a staff edit. Alert History and Situation History retain their existing editing tools.

Multi-country weather posts with separate country-specific reporting clauses can produce separate records that share the original source. Combined casualty totals are not assigned to each country. Reports without sufficient location evidence remain in review.

Marker duration, heat and trajectories

Use Markers stay below each Theater Panel. Until expired shows active alerts; a numeric duration uses the original report time and can restore recent expired markers still in the loaded history. Until refresh retains loaded records. Changing the setting immediately reconciles icons, lists and heat. Heat is computed only from eligible located active alerts; retained expired icons do not imply a current threat. Type filters and paused theaters affect delivery. An unlocated report remains in the list without invented coordinates. A source-reported trajectory is indicative direction, not a measured flight path.

Alerts & time and map persistence

Open Global → Filters & layers → Alerts & time. Choose a region and alert type; a checkmark and high-contrast selected button identify the choices. Select status and the report window. Active warnings remain visible beyond a short report window while they are still active. Historical windows do not promise that a source provided every past event. Your browser restores projection, camera, filters and layers. Reset view resets the camera; Reset to defaults in dashboard customization clears preferences. Saved monitoring workspaces let eligible supporters name and switch monitoring configurations.

Forecast, sunlight and map movement

Storm details show reported strength and intensity-colored historical segments when supplied. Forecast controls independently show dates/times and intensity; cross-cone lines show forecast uncertainty at each lead time, not a guaranteed storm path. Day/night changes with the Sun and adds twilight and city lights where supported by the renderer. It is illumination imagery, not live cloud cover. Mouse-wheel zoom belongs to the map while hovered; drag pans or rotates. Arrow keys and plus/minus offer keyboard movement. Use 2D if native graphics cannot initialize. Compatibility 3D is a fallback and has different rendering limits.

Tsunami messages and wildfire evidence

Official NOAA NTWC and PTWC CAP bulletins enter the alert feed and Global map as weather advisories. Read the message level, expiry, affected area and source link; a bulletin reference point is not an evacuation or inundation boundary. Updates and cancellations supersede referenced messages. The wildfire layer combines GDACS reports, current US NIFC perimeters and worldwide NASA FIRMS thermal detections including Europe. NASA points are possible heat sources, not confirmed fires. Nearby thermal detections are grouped for display. Source coverage and timestamps explain incomplete coverage; acreage, spread and evacuations are not invented when unavailable.

Announcements and your reading space

Select Mark as read on each announcement. When none remain unread, the announcement panel disappears. Show read announcements restores your browser-local read items. An edited announcement becomes unread again. Empty source results hide the panel; a connection failure is not treated as a confirmed empty feed.

Alert IDs and finding a record

Global and Theater alert details and Alert History show an Alert ID with Copy ID. Staff forms accepting an Alert ID also offer a search field: enter a city, region, source, alert type, exact ID or report words, then select the correct result. Check its place, type and timestamp before changing it. Copying places the identifier on your clipboard; browser permission may require selecting and copying the text manually. The same ID connects evidence, assessments, corrections and incident timelines.

Media counts and delayed imports

The gallery counts unique indexed media assets. Report statistics count reports with media; these are different units and should not be compared as file counts. One file linked to multiple reports counts once in the gallery. New database media changes enter a durable index queue; historical records catch up independently of video downloads and content checks. Staff can inspect queue progress and review missing files. A transient fetch failure is retried rather than automatically hiding content as a moderation decision. Videos absent from public Telegram previews, deleted source files and provider limits remain genuine coverage gaps.

Supporter monitoring toolkit

Open Monitoring to manage named workspaces and geographic watchlists, compare regions or periods, review changes since your last visit, replay historical windows, configure daily briefs, sound profiles and browser notification rules, bookmark records with private notes, export bounded CSV/GeoJSON data, and use presentation mode. Each tool states its provider-history, quota or permission limits. Approximate locations are labeled. Basic mute, public corrections, basic timelines, provenance and source-language comparison remain public. Notification permission and browser background restrictions can prevent delivery; a rule is not a guarantee. Supporter badges indicate financial support, not verification authority.

Staff operations and queued repairs

Editors and Admins use the unified Incident review desk. Operations holds incident lookup, evidence/recovery updates, facility duplicate review, outage advisories, historical repairs and usage diagnostics. Assessments, Locations and Damage intake tabs retain the specialized review forms under the same route. Old links redirect. Choose a repair batch once; queued requests persist through a busy period and the minute runner processes them. Refresh status distinguishes not run yet, queued, completed batch and error. Completion of one batch is not completion of the entire historical audit. Staff edits are protected; uncertain places remain for review.

Automation Health: interpretation and recovery

Check last success, next due, error, work counts and translation backlog. Wall-clock duration includes provider waiting and is not CPU or bandwidth usage. Independent feed requests can overlap; duplicate jobs use leases and bulk writes remain bounded. A recent real database error triggers a short cooldown; an ordinary running alert request no longer blocks every repair. Confirm the Worker minute cron, D1 migrations and DB, DASH_KV, AI and MEDIA bindings. Missing AI binding, incomplete translation and provider quotas have different remedies. Use Cloudflare metrics to inspect actual D1 rows/latency, Workers CPU, AI usage and provider 429s before changing plans.

Publishing, corrections and permissions

Newsroom is for evidence and article editing; publication time remains distinct from later substantive updates. Include source links and a visible correction/update explanation. Member annotations are private notes, not independently verified evidence. Correction subscriptions notify eligible readers where delivery is available, while the correction itself remains public. Moderator chat controls do not grant article or location editing. Editor/Admin review forms enforce server-side permissions. Admin-only account, deployment, source-secret and cost controls remain separate; tabs never bypass those checks.

Page and tool directory

Follow a page for its working controls. Staff pages require the corresponding account permission.

INTEL REPORT NEWS · HELP CENTER

Find your way.
Stay informed.

Step-by-step help for the website, desktop dashboard and mobile experience, with tutorials matched to your account permissions.

Checking your permissions…

Global map: 3D, 2D and your saved view

Choose Global, then use 3D or 2D. Both use the same alert, weather, traffic, facility and cyclone filters. The first Global visit opens in 3D; if WebGL cannot start, the map falls back to Canvas 2D with a notice. Your last projection, camera position, theater zoom, filters and layer settings return on this browser when you revisit. Clearing browser storage resets them; this is not cross-device synchronization.

Filters & layers groups controls into Alerts & time, Map display & navigation, Flights & marine, Facilities & airports, and Hurricanes & typhoons. Follow live is the single automatic-follow control. Turn it off or drag to keep your chosen view. Reset view is under Map display & navigation. Click a bottom-ticker alert to focus its marker and read its details without leaving Global.

My location asks your browser for permission, centers the map and leaves a location pin until you turn it off. Its last coordinates are saved in this browser and removed when switched off. No user-location profile is created on the server; normal map-layer requests may include the visible area after centering. The pin is a last fix, not continuous tracking.

Storm icons show TD, TS, C1–C5 for NHC hurricanes, or the regional agency's own classification. Past tracks change color using reported historical wind measurements; gray means unavailable intensity. Forecast points show valid date/time in your selected timezone. NHC/CPHC is preferred while current; JMA provides western Pacific systems around Japan, Taiwan and China, using its English fields, with GDACS as a wider regional fallback. JMA's 10-minute winds and TY/STS/TS/TD classes are not converted into NHC hurricane categories. Forecast circles/cones are uncertainty areas, not damage areas.

Your first five minutes

Set up your workspace
  1. Sign in with your existing Intel Report News account. On a shared computer, leave Stay signed in unchecked and sign out when finished.
  2. Open Live Dashboard. Choose a theater, then open an alert to inspect its time, original source, media and location.
  3. Set your preferred timezone using the site clock control. Check the displayed timezone when comparing dates.
  4. Open Filters & layers to choose the map information you want. Collapse the controls again to regain space.
  5. Choose your sound settings, then visit Profile and Chat. Use the guide for your role below for staff workflows.

An empty map or quiet feed does not establish that an area is safe. Check source times, coverage and official instructions.

Choose your platform

Availability and access
PlatformUse it forWhat to expect
WebsiteAll website pages and tools your account permitsHome and Alerts have public access; protected pages require sign-in.
Windows / Mac desktopThe live website in a dedicated dashboard windowVerified login required for dashboard access. Internet required. Initial installers are previews.
Mobile browserResponsive website, touch maps, chat and reportsUse the Fast text dashboard for a lighter, map-free feed.
iOS / Android native appMobile app workflows and optional phone push when released/configuredThis guide does not confirm an App Store or Google Play release. Native push is separate from website sounds.

Windows and Mac desktop app

Download, install and sign in
  1. Open Desktop downloads. Select Windows, Mac Apple Silicon, or Intel Mac.
  2. On Mac, use Apple menu → About This Mac to identify your chip. An M-series chip uses Apple Silicon; an Intel processor uses Intel Mac.
  3. On Windows, run the downloaded installer and follow its steps. On Mac, extract the ZIP and move Intel Report News.app into Applications.
  4. The initial preview has no Windows publisher signature or Apple Developer ID notarization. Your operating system may warn or block installation. Check the release notice before installing.
  5. Open the app and sign in. The native dashboard stays locked until the server verifies your session. Signing out locks it again. Account roles continue to apply.
Navigate the desktop dashboard
  1. Use the left navigation rail for your regular pages.
  2. Press Command + K on Mac or Ctrl + K on Windows to open the page finder. Type a page name and choose a result.
  3. Use Back and Forward for navigation. Use the browser button when a service needs your system browser.
  4. Use Command/Ctrl + plus or minus to change page zoom, and Command/Ctrl + 0 to reset it. Map zoom is separate.
  5. Use the account control to open your profile or sign out. A separate browser session may remain signed in after you sign out of the desktop app.
Understand updates and reconnection
  1. The dashboard loads the live Cloudflare website. Website deployments do not normally require a new installer.
  2. While signed in, the app checks loaded page files for changes every two minutes. It refreshes after a safe idle period; tracked edits, uploads and playing media can delay it.
  3. If Update ready appears, save your work before choosing Refresh. A full website update reload is separate from chat’s three-second message polling.
  4. If session verification cannot reach the server, reconnect to the internet and use Retry. The app does not provide an offline dashboard.
  5. Changes to Electron or the native desktop interface require a newly published installer. Native installer updates are currently manual.

Phone, tablet and map gestures

Scroll the page without zooming the map
  1. Scroll over the margins outside the center control area of a map to move the page. The side arrows mark the scrolling margins.
  2. Inside the center control area, use the mouse wheel or pinch your trackpad to zoom. No Ctrl or Command key is required. Drag there to pan a theater map or rotate a globe.
  3. Each theater panel starts with its monitored area in view. Use the reset arrow to return to that theater overview. Reopening a hidden panel or resizing the window preserves a valid view. Use the map’s zoom buttons when available for precise changes. Drag the globe to rotate it; drag a theater map to pan.
  4. On a touchscreen, start a two-finger pinch inside the center control area to zoom. Swipe along either outer margin to scroll the page. A drag started in the center continues controlling the map until you lift your finger.
  5. Enable Lock view to stop automatic rotation. On the live globe this also disables Follow live. Deliberate dragging and zooming still work.
Use a lighter dashboard on a phone
  1. Open Fast text dashboard from More.
  2. Choose Region and either Active alerts or All recent reports.
  3. Tap Read report to expand a report, then follow Evidence and timeline or Full alert for context.
  4. Tap Refresh reports to check for updates and Load more for additional records. This view does not load the 3D map.

Flight, vessel and facility how-tos

Filter aircraft and hide grounded flights
  1. Open the live globe and expand Filters & layers. Enable the flight layer.
  2. Use the available flight search and category controls to narrow the displayed aircraft.
  3. Enable Hide aircraft on ground to remove flights reported as grounded. Aircraft with unknown ground status can remain visible.
  4. Select a flight for its available details and observed track. Clear restrictive filters if no aircraft appear.
  5. For a regional view, use the theater panel’s Traffic filters. Collapse the controls when finished.
Find ships and hide vessels at port
  1. Enable Vessels and open the marine filters.
  2. Search by vessel name, MMSI, IMO, callsign or destination. Apply any available vessel-type filters.
  3. Enable Hide moored / anchored for reported stationary navigation statuses, or Moving only (> 0.5 kt) for reported speed above the threshold.
  4. Unknown status remains visible under Hide moored / anchored; Moving only requires a reported speed. These are not geographic port-boundary filters.
  5. Open a numbered vessel badge to choose a ship. Review position and observation time. Show observed track displays saved samples, not a predicted route.
Inspect facilities without assuming complete coverage
  1. Expand Filters & layers and enable the facility categories you need.
  2. Select a facility marker to inspect its saved name, source details and any tagged website or photo.
  3. Review source information and dates. The bundled nuclear overview is a dated overview, not a live plant-status feed.
  4. If a category is empty, remove filters and check back after catalogue imports progress. Only administrators manage the import queue; visitors do not need to run an import.
  5. Close the details dialog with × or Escape. Its content scrolls independently above the map controls.

Read and participate in chat

Read older messages without losing your place
  1. Open the full Chat page and scroll up in the message list.
  2. Message polling pauses while you are away from the bottom. A request already in progress will not append results after you scroll away.
  3. Keep reading at your current position. New messages are fetched when you return to the bottom; you do not need to refresh the page.
  4. Scroll all the way to the newest messages to resume live polling. This behavior applies to the full Chat page in the browser and desktop app.
  5. A saved reading anchor is used after a page reload where the message remains available. Deleted messages or a changed returned history window can prevent an exact restoration.
Reply, react, mention or report a message
  1. Right-click a public message on desktop or long-press on touch. Keyboard users can focus the message and use Shift + F10.
  2. Choose Reply to keep context, or choose a reaction. Select your own reaction again to remove it.
  3. Type @username to mention a member. Use the GIF and emoji controls for supported content; GIFs are messages rather than reactions.
  4. Choose Report to staff for a concern. Describe the issue accurately; staff review it before deciding on enforcement.
  5. Click a name or mention to view the member card and available profile or messaging actions.
Manage private conversations and sounds
  1. Open Direct Messages from your account menu or a member card. Start a private conversation or group using the inbox controls.
  2. Use the composer’s formatting and media controls where available. Public chat treats typed HTML as text.
  3. The X beside a private conversation removes it from your view; the other person retains their copy. The X beside a group leaves that group.
  4. Use chat and mention sound controls independently from operational alert audio. Muting a sound is not the same as hiding reports.
  5. Check Account Status for restrictions and use an appeal where offered. Staff notices may be read-only.

What each permission level can do

Your verified account determines available actions. A badge, guide or visible link does not grant access; the server checks permission when you use a tool.

Role overview
RoleTypical accessLimits
Member (commenter)Protected reading pages, profile, chat, inbox, watchlists and applicationsNo staff moderation or editorial controls
SupporterMember features plus supporter identitySupporter status does not grant staff powers
ModeratorMember features, chat enforcement and permitted review queuesNo editorial publishing or admin-only settings; role hierarchy applies
EditorEditorial corrections, reviews, publishing tools and moderationNo admin-only role or release management
AdminUser roles, applications, site administration and desktop release publishingProtected-account and owner-only controls still apply

Owner-specific source installation and scan controls are limited to the authorized owner account. They are not unlocked for every Admin.

Media Manager: inspect, categorize and remove files

Editor or Admin: open Admin → Media Manager. Use format/category/attachment filters, preview the source and check the listed parent records. Select files and choose Change category, Approve selected review items, or Delete selected. Read the confirmation before deleting. Removing a file removes every attachment of that file but keeps alerts, assessments, reports and articles. Stored files can free bucket space; external links do not. If a storage deletion fails, its job remains queued for retry. Cron indexes old attachments and checks historical drone warning banners in bounded batches. Uncertain matches appear for review; approve a legitimate image after inspecting it.

Map labels, boundaries and scrolling

Zoom toward a country to reveal more cities, regions and county/district outlines. County-equivalent boundaries load on demand and are saved for reuse; close zoom renders the visible subset. Countries without a usable ADM2 source retain other geography. Pan, wheel or pinch inside the outlined center; use the outer margins to scroll the page. Facility markers open facility details; the underlying country panel should not open at the same time. County pins represent areas and do not identify a specific strike or impact.

What if assessment totals or reports do not load?

The archive loads records first and computes totals separately. Pending totals are not zero records. If totals fail, keep using the visible list; if the list times out, Apply retries the filters. After installing this release, run 025_RELEASE_INDEXES.sql in the existing D1 database before the matching Worker and website. Use bounded manual maintenance batches and check Map Layer Health. The included large-fixture tests validate query behavior locally; production D1 CPU limits still require a check on your actual dataset.

NWS warnings and their affected area

Official NWS warning, watch and advisory bulletins belong under Weather & Natural Disasters. County references are affected-area positions. Selecting an official-feed NWS record can show its saved warning polygon; no polygon is invented when geometry is missing. Older Telegram bulletins can lack official polygons. Reports without defensible geography stay in review. Historical repairs respect staff-edited records and unlink holds.

Publish headlines and inline article images

In Admin → Articles, feature the articles you want as homepage headlines. Two explicit headline slots are available. A third headline prompts you to replace one, publish without headline status, or keep editing. One headline uses the full lead area. Insert images with the image button, paste an image or drop files at the insertion point in the article body. Supported images keep their proportions and fit the article width. Review the preview and save/publish using the existing article workflow.

Your permissions and staff tutorials

Checking your account…

Start here

  1. Open the Live Dashboard for recent sourced alerts and the globe. Open a panel to inspect a specific theater.
  2. Use Alert History for earlier reports and its filtered history globe. The separate Weather & Disasters History tracks incidents and Weather Advisories.
  3. Use Assessments History for conflict damage, Statistics for recorded trends, News Briefings for the Daily Brief and automatically refreshed regional headlines, and the homepage for articles and market charts.
  4. Choose your timezone using the site time control. Displayed dates and clocks follow the selected zone. Check an alert’s source and timestamp before treating it as current.

Reported locations and labels may be corrected as additional evidence arrives. A report without reliable coordinates stays out of map markers until staff place it.

Map controls and traffic filters

Open Filters & layers above the global globe for alert, flight, vessel and facility controls. Collapse it to keep the map clear. Each theater has a Traffic filters menu.

Use Hide aircraft on ground, Hide moored / anchored, or Moving only (> 0.5 kt). These options use provider-reported status and speed. Missing status stays visible in the Hide options; Moving only requires a reported speed. Marine search matches ship names, MMSI, IMO, callsigns and destinations.

Drag theater maps to pan; pinch with two fingers to zoom around your gesture. On the globe, drag to rotate or use two fingers to zoom and rotate. Scroll or swipe in the outer map margins to move the page. Inside the center control area, scroll or pinch to zoom and drag to move the map; no modifier key is required. Manual globe navigation stops automatic following until you turn Follow live back on.

Admins can use Map Layer Health → Run import batch and inspect saved records, queue progress and source errors. The bundled nuclear overview seeds the database without downloading it from the website. Other facilities continue filling from the source in smaller areas. Retry areas are not completed coverage.

How automatic US and offshore location matching works

US city and county names are matched within their stated state, including postal abbreviations such as NM and AZ. Census place/county points are area references, not verified incident coordinates. One warning covering several counties remains one warning with a combined area reference.

Reported coordinates and official warning polygons take priority. Offshore reports use named marine zones or areas when available; a body-of-water-only report uses an approximate center. Gulf of Mexico and Gulf of America are recognized as names for the same body of water.

Admin → Alert Location Reviews shows background historical review progress. It advances on the Worker’s scheduled runs and preserves staff placements. Recover existing alerts runs the same review immediately. Global alerts with valid latitude/longitude no longer require theater X/Y values. Unresolvable reports remain available for staff review.

Theater maps have no zoom-area outline. Scroll or pinch near the center to zoom; drag with the mouse to pan left/right or up/down. Scroll or swipe in the outer margins to move the page.

Live dashboard, alerts, and maps

Regional panels

Open an alert to read the full English message, the retained original, sources, media, and any trajectory stated by the source. Zoom in for more city labels. District shading reflects recorded alert severity. When map markers overlap, the icon of the highest-severity active alert appears on top. A newer alert retires a prior All Clear at that location from the map while the All Clear remains in its feed and historical record.

Global 3D view

Inside the center control area, drag to rotate and scroll or pinch to zoom. Use the outer margins to scroll the page, or use the zoom buttons. Use status and time filters to distinguish active alerts from history. Toggle flights, airports, and facility icons; hover over a facility for its name and open it for OSM details, a tagged website and an available photo. OpenStreetMap’s public Overpass servers can be busy; the facility request searches a limited map area and may use cached results. Toggle sampled vessels to see received AIS positions. A zero count means the provider did not deliver a position in that window, not that a waterway is empty; check the source status and timestamp. Select a flight to inspect details and reported tracks.

Delivery and layout

Mute by alert type, theater, or globally; these controls stop associated audio. Hide a type or pause a region from the panel controls. Drag dashboard sections to arrange them for this browser. Refresh restores still-active, unmuted alerts.

Weather Advisory means an incoming or expected hazard was reported without a verified impact. Weather Event and Natural Disaster indicate a reported incident. An expired historical report should not trigger a live voice announcement.

Alert and assessment history

Search by place and filter by time, alert type, theater, status, media, and damage availability. Switch Alert History between list and 3D map. Map points require reliable coordinates; unresolved alerts await staff review. Open any record to read sources, linked all clear, retained original text, and expandable media.

Assessments History shows attached and unattached conflict damage reports. A pending assessment has not yet been reliably paired with an earlier alert. Several alerts may share an assessment when the source names multiple affected locations.

Weather, disasters, and Impact Assessments

  1. Open Weather & Disasters History and choose List or 3D globe.
  2. On the globe, filter by event category, specific incident, country/region/city, source, date range, media, assessment availability, status, or theater.
  3. Click a point to read its event details, sources, images, video links, and Impact Assessments. Enable grouped markers when many events occupy one area. The globe does not invent positions for unplaced reports.

Impact Assessments describe effects of weather or disasters and are kept separate from conflict damage assessments. The Stats page summarizes recorded event types, incidents, countries, and media coverage. The country chart counts recorded weather events and responds to the active statistics filter.

Staff can search the country index when a weather report covers an entire country, such as Belgium. The report keeps the country name; its map pin uses the capital as a labeled reference point, not the incident location. If the capital has no verified point in the place index, leave the report in location review. Country and capital names are based on GeoNames country information.

Battle Assessments and Political Updates

Open Battle & Political Reports from More to browse sourced battlefield and political developments separately from active alerts, weather, and conflict damage. These are informational records without Active or Expired status; mapped records have distinct icons and tones on the dashboard and 3D globe, but do not raise operational tempo or heat tint. Select the third Stats tab for report counts, source, type, place, and 30-day trends.

How report classification and location review work

Staff can open Location review on this page to select a theater, search the worldwide place index, click a map point, edit a report, or remove it. The scanner revisits historical reports across configured public Telegram previews; the page need not remain open. A source can remain incomplete if Telegram does not expose posts from September 1 or translation is unavailable. Translation failures are queued for retry and the source scan shows whether the AI binding is missing or a model response failed. Historical Weather location-review items are rechecked in priority batches: battlefield and political reports move to their own review page, while genuine weather reports with no verified point stay for manual location review. Climate rhetoric and general weather outlooks alone do not create an incident. Conflict damage belongs in Assessments History; when a verified location has no safely matching earlier alert, the system creates a clearly labeled expired retrospective alert and links the assessment. Unverified locations remain pending for staff rather than receiving an invented position. If a source names several countries, the classifier checks the subject and explicit incident location before choosing a city. Old auto-located battle and political reports are rechecked in scheduled batches; uncertain cases move to Location review. Pending reports and unresolved conflict alerts are checked in priority batches as well; unambiguous places from the indexed gazetteer are assigned automatically, and linked damage reports follow the corrected alert location. The queue stays available while these checks run. A report with no verifiable place remains in staff review. In manual place search, type “city, country” to narrow results across the worldwide city index, or select a countrywide reference pin at the capital where verified.

All theater panels display alerts recorded from shared sources. The Poland/Baltics, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan panels show whether shared scanning is current; that indicator does not promise a dedicated warning feed for each country. Telegram public previews are scanned progressively back to September 1 where messages remain accessible. Ambiguous country or city matches stay in location review instead of receiving a guessed pin. Ukraine theater grouping follows the reported city or region even if a source describes occupied Ukrainian territory as Russia; the source wording stays visible in the alert details.

Weather statistics use full GDACS incident names such as wildfire, flood, tropical cyclone and volcano. GDACS headlines describe the incident, not a place. Remote incidents without a nearby verified city display the GDACS point’s coordinates and country, while historical GDACS records are corrected in scheduled batches.

Why is a Typhoon report classified as weather or military news?

The importer checks context around Typhoon: fighter jets, Eurofighters, RAF aircraft and combat activity are separated from storms. Procurement and diplomatic announcements can be political updates; operational aircraft reports can be battle assessments. Posts that also describe a real storm can still be weather reports.

Editors and Admins: open Assessment Review Desk and use the Typhoon history repair card to view progress or run the next batch. Background processing checks stored history without a date cutoff. Clear errors are corrected automatically; staff edits, explicit unlink decisions and conflicting records are retained for review. Historical corrections do not create new live warnings.

Articles and Media Gallery

Browse Articles to search published stories by keyword and saved article tag. Each article has a permanent shareable page with its full text, related reporting and reader comments below the story. The homepage story cards open those pages.

Open the Media Gallery for received photos and videos. Select Alerts & assessments or Newsroom articles, choose a count card to filter by media or record type, then open an item to view it full size with its linked report or alert. Editors and Admins can correct alert descriptions, incident types and assessment details in the side panel; verified map locations are changed in the location-review tools.

Live news, statistics, and markets

The News Briefings page contains the editorial Daily Brief and automatically refreshed Regional Briefing headlines. Its shared feed is checked hourly, shows saved headlines while loading, and filters malformed repeated Telegram posts. NewsData free-plan stories may arrive approximately 12 hours after publication despite hourly checks. The separate Live News player on the Alert Dashboard checks each configured channel’s live page and YouTube status for an embeddable broadcast. Choose a broadcaster and Play when a video is confirmed; if only its channel ID is known, try the channel player. Broadcasters can disable embedding, in which case use its YouTube link. Editors can add a direct live video URL in the Admin Panel if automatic detection fails. Statistics reflect records the site has ingested, not a complete count of worldwide events. Use date, region, and type controls to compare recorded patterns.

Global Economic Impacts uses line charts and source-labeled quotes for available stocks, commodities, and exchange rates. Click a card for its observed intraday line; green segments show increases between verified observations and red segments show decreases. Commodity percent changes use the provider’s comparable quote when available, or the change since the first captured source quote in that session (marked on the card). Currency percentages compare consecutive published Frankfurter reference dates, and each currency card shows its dated reference trend. A dash means no verified comparison exists. A one-day chart builds only as timestamped source observations arrive and will not invent trading during market closures. An older equity quote may be the last verified market close. WTI, Brent, natural gas, jet fuel, diesel, gasoline, heating oil and coal use OilPriceAPI when your account can access them. Add the API key as the dashboard Worker secret OILPRICE_API_KEY under Cloudflare → Workers & Pages → dashboard API Worker → Settings → Variables and Secrets; never paste it into the site. When a provider omits a product, the dashboard may show a clearly named FRED/EIA or IMF benchmark for WTI, Brent, Henry Hub gas, US Gulf Coast jet fuel, US retail diesel or gasoline, New York Harbor heating oil, or Australian coal. These are distinct regional benchmarks with daily, weekly, or monthly publication dates; check the exact source, unit and observation date. A newly added card that says Worker update needed requires the matching dashboard Worker deployment. Check the source date and remember market movement alone does not establish what caused a change.

Chat and direct messages

Sign in to read and participate in chat. Type @username to mention a member. Right-click a public message to reply or react with one standard or uploaded emoji. In direct messages, right-click a message to react. On touchscreens, long-press; on a keyboard, focus the message and press the menu key or Shift+F10. Hover over a stacked reaction to see who reacted. GIFs and emoji are available in the public chat, inbox composer and floating direct-message composer; GIFs can be sent as messages, not reactions.

Click a member’s name or @mention for their card, online status, profile link, and direct-message button. The inbox supports new private chats and groups. To remove a private conversation from your view, click the X beside it in the inbox list; the other member keeps their copy. The X on a group leaves that group. Individual private messages cannot be deleted. Blocking another member hides their chat messages for you and prevents private messages; staff accounts cannot be blocked. Chat sounds, mention sounds, and operational alert tones have separate settings. Chat follows new messages while you remain at the bottom and stops auto-scrolling when you read older posts.

Account, status, and applications

Click your name in the site navigation for Profile, Edit Profile, Direct Messages, Account Status, and Sign Out. Your profile can show an image, bio, location, links, role, and indexed article comments. Use the password-reset request page if you forget your password; its emailed link opens a separate screen for setting a new password.

Apply to join the team

  1. Open the Moderator / Editor application page, also linked under your name in the navigation menu if your account is eligible.
  2. Enter your name, Discord username, age, country or region of origin, and select your time zone. Only Admins reviewing the application see these answers.
  3. Answer the questions for your chosen role. Moderators cover OSINT experience, community commitment, the unpaid role, impartiality, and what they would contribute. Editors cover source methods, languages, bias, News Director audits, community oversight, skills, and the rule against using AI for reporting and sourcing.
  4. Read and acknowledge the notice before submitting. Only one pending application is allowed per account. Admins review the full answers and send a read-only decision notice to your inbox. Supporter status cannot be requested through this form.

Your Account Status page shows active warnings and sanctions, with appeal options where available. A warning must be acknowledged before continuing in chat.

Research Desk, evidence and source coverage

Open Research Desk under More. Source Health shows the feed information your role can access, including official USGS, National Weather Service and GDACS checks. Detailed Telegram scan progress is owner-only. Failed checks indicate that collected reports may be incomplete. Coverage Gaps counts stored alerts and reports needing placement by theater. An empty area does not mean it is safe.

  1. Open an alert from Alert History using View evidence, or enter its alert ID in Research Desk. Compare the evidence confidence label with the separate severity label; neither proves an incident independently. Official weather area centers are approximate and the feed retains its original geometry where provided.
  2. Review the chronology for the first report, assessments, linked all-clear, source evidence and published corrections. Follow original source links and verify them independently.
  3. Set a member watchlist for a theater, type or city. Select Read digest to review matching reports since the last read; Mark digest read advances that watchlist. Digests are opened manually and do not send email or push notifications.
  4. Use the Incident workspace to read editorial groupings and download a JSON or CSV snapshot; JSON contains the linked alerts, recorded evidence and corrections. Snapshots may age after download.
  5. For a faster, map-free experience on a phone, open the Fast text dashboard from More and choose region and active or recent reports. Use Refresh to check again.

Editor and Admin workflow

In Research Desk, create an editorial case, link existing alerts by ID, write a sourced summary, and set its status to developing, confirmed or resolved. Open an alert to add sourced evidence or publish a correction with a reason. Changing its place label clears earlier coordinates until you place it again from Alert History. Check Source Health before relying on a silent feed. Editors and Admins can request one official-feed refresh every ten minutes. Automated scans run only while the dashboard Worker cron is configured; source failures remain visible until the next check.

Announcements

Editors and Admins can use Admin Panel → Announcements to post an announcement with a subject and formatted body. Select body text and use Bold, Italic, Underline, Link or List; preview before posting. Links must start with HTTPS. Long announcements wrap in the dashboard banner. The public banner shows the posting time without an author byline.

iOS and Android native app guide

Release-dependent: These instructions describe the mobile app workflow when a signed build is supplied and its backend services are enabled. No public App Store or Google Play availability is confirmed here. Until then, use the mobile website or Fast text dashboard.

Install only a signed build supplied through the official release channel when available. Sign in with your existing site account. The Overview gives a fast recent alert list; the bottom tabs open the live maps, Alert History, chat, and inbox. Tap More for News Briefings, weather, assessments, statistics, Research Desk, account controls, and every staff page your role permits. The app requires connectivity to verify your account and load current reports.

Phone alert notifications

  1. Open More → Notifications. Check Notify me and choose at least one region and one alert type, then save.
  2. When your phone asks, allow notifications. You can turn them off from the same screen or your phone settings. Only new alerts that match both your selected region and type trigger a phone notification; clears and retrospective imports do not.
  3. For the daily recap, enable the 10:00 a.m. Daily Brief. Its time follows your device's local timezone (including daylight saving). Tap its notification to open the saved report with 24-hour alert counts and source-linked headlines; choose regions to filter the alert counts or leave them unchecked for global totals. Delayed or missing source headlines are labeled rather than invented.
  4. Open More → Daily Brief to read today's saved edition. Your first edition appears when the next 10:00 a.m. scheduled send succeeds. Live push needs your device online, working Apple/Google credentials, and the dashboard Worker cron.

Push messages are optional, and the app doesn't replace emergency alerts from official agencies. On app sign-out, your phone's push registration is disabled. To request permanent account deletion, open More → Delete account in the app, or use the website deletion request, and confirm your username. Push stops immediately; the newsroom privacy owner processes account and associated data removal manually within 30 days.

Ships, map facilities and stationary globes

View controls: The live Global map uses Follow Live in Filters & layers. Turn it off to stop automatic following; dragging, zooming and deliberate navigation remain available. Dashboard settings & saved views groups section visibility, ordering, search and reset controls.

Ships: Enable Vessels. Boat badges with numbers open a list; select a ship to see the MMSI, coordinates, observation time and available AIS particulars. Show observed track draws saved samples from up to two hours. Long gaps and implausible jumps are not connected. History starts with this release. Unreported fields stay unreported.

Location: Ship markers use AIS latitude and longitude, not vessel names or port names. Inland vessels may use rivers and lakes. Theater maps include more detailed, but still generalized, water geography. Use Check reported coordinates for a close OpenStreetMap view. AIS positions can be inaccurate; this map is not a navigation chart.

Facilities: Layers read a shared saved catalogue. The initial global import runs in the background, resumes after failures and splits crowded areas. New visitors do not repeat the import. A dated nuclear overview is included immediately and imported into the shared catalogue by the background job. Timed-out areas split into smaller queries; Admin Map Layer Health shows source errors and the overview’s date. Admin → Map Layer Health shows saved records, pending areas and Pause / Resume controls. The initial fill can take days under source limits; keep the existing cron running. Saved records remain usable during outages, and completed areas are scheduled for refresh after 30 days. Map counts describe saved matching records, not proof of complete real-world coverage.

Details: Flight, vessel, country and facility information opens in one scrollable dialog above map controls. Close it with × or Escape to return to the map.

Monitoring toolkit: watchlists, replay, briefs and notes

Save cities, counties or a drawn area
  1. Open Monitoring Toolkit with a Supporter, Moderator, Editor or Admin account.
  2. Choose a time window of up to seven days, region, alert type or reported place text. City/county matching is text-based and approximate.
  3. Use Draw area to add boundary vertices, or enter longitude/latitude vertices with the keyboard. Use at least three points and split areas crossing the date line.
  4. Name and save the watchlist. Its counter covers the loaded window, capped at 1000 records.
Replay, compare and see changes since my visit

The event-clock slider reveals retained reports by first-seen time. It uses current corrected text and coordinates, not reconstructed historical versions. Enable Side-by-side comparison for independent regions and time windows. Select a saved watchlist or existing map workspace, choose Changes since last visit, and mark the loaded view read when finished. Changes are limited to seven days.

Daily briefs, private notes and corrections

Daily brief uses the primary view's filters and reports updated during the last 24 hours. It is a deterministic summary with source links and corrections, limited to 12 generations per UTC day. Bookmark alerts, articles, assessments and facilities by record ID. Notes are private account annotations, not verified evidence. Subscribe to alert corrections to see recorded corrections and incident/assessment updates in the in-site inbox; no email or background delivery is promised.

Sound, notifications and presentation

Delivery settings let you set local-time quiet hours, minimum severity, region/type rules and region tones. Basic mute is free. Browser notifications require permission and the Alerts dashboard to remain running; browser or OS restrictions can prevent delivery. Presentation mode enlarges the monitoring view, optionally hides controls and rotates saved geographic views. Escape or Exit presentation returns to the normal view.

Exports and coverage

Exports contain selected retained USGS or NOAA/NWS metadata with attribution, capped at 1000 records over seven days and five exports per UTC day. Third-party text, media and private notes are excluded. Source Status separates last attempts, successful checks, recorded timestamps and coverage gaps. Outage advisories require staff-reviewed official sources and rights references; no automatic live utility feed is configured.

Public evidence, recovery and article updates

Open an alert's Timeline, provenance & recovery link. Official advisories, source claims, recorded corroboration and explicit staff verification are separate. Relief, restoration and revised impact updates remain public. Article publication and content-update dates are separately labeled; older articles with no recorded publication time show First recorded. Substantive edits require a public update or correction note.

Supporter monitoring & personalization

Customize my dashboard and theme
  1. Open Profile → Edit your profile → Your dashboard & appearance.
  2. Preview a theme, select whole sections or theater panels to hide, then Save preferences.
  3. Uncheck a hidden panel in the same menu to restore it. Your settings follow your account.

Supporters, Moderators, Editors and Admins can save these preferences. Commenters can explore the benefits on the Support page.

Use market history and weather filters

On Alerts, use the Global Economic Impact timeframe slider. Source cadence and history coverage are labeled; stock history depends on the configured provider plan. Flat extensions hold the last reported price and are not new trades. On Global 3D, open Filters & layers → Weather alert types to choose warning/watch/advisory products, or enable Hurricanes / typhoons to inspect available storm products. These controls require Supporter+.

Publish or replace a headline

Editor/Admin: check Headline article in the article editor. If both slots are filled, choose Publish without headline status, replace one existing headline, or keep editing. Replaced stories stay in Latest News and article search. Set your public article byline to account name or username under Profile → Privacy.

Import facilities while Overpass is unavailable

Admin: deploy the matching files and SQL 027, then open Map Layer Health → Packaged facility sources → Start / resume. Each batch preserves its cursor. The scheduled Worker also advances this separate queue. Source attribution and historical limitations appear in facility details and the coverage manifest. Completion means the packaged records were processed, not that every real-world facility has been mapped.

Saved monitoring workspaces

Supporters, Moderators, Editors and Admins can open Saved workspaces above the Global map controls. Set the region, alert types, map view and traffic layers, enter a name, and choose Save current view. You can keep up to 12 account-saved views.

Choose a saved name to reload the dashboard in that view. Update view replaces its filters and position. To rename, enter a new name in the name field, then choose Rename beside that workspace. Delete removes only the preset. Your location pin is not uploaded; themes and sound settings remain separate.

Troubleshooting and common questions

I cannot sign in or my session cannot be verified.
  1. Check your connection and retry. Use the password-reset request if you forgot your password.
  2. If you reset your password or your session expires, sign in again. Desktop access remains locked while verification fails.
My map is empty or a report is missing.
  1. Clear type, status, date and traffic filters, then check the relevant history page.
  2. Some reports have no verified coordinates; others are expired or outside the selected range. Review source health and timestamps.
My mouse wheel changes the map instead of scrolling the page.
  1. Move your pointer to a map’s outer margin to scroll the page. Scrolling inside the center control area zooms the map without holding a key.
  2. Reload the page or reopen the desktop app if it is still using an earlier website version.
Chat is not showing new messages.
  1. Return to the very bottom of the full Chat message list to resume polling.
  2. If you are already at the bottom, check your connection and account status. Save any draft before manually reloading.
I cannot find a staff tool.
  1. Check the verified role shown at the top of this guide. Staff tutorials below are selected using that role.
  2. Admin-only and owner-only actions are separate. Contact an administrator if your assigned role is wrong.
Phone notifications or the 10 a.m. brief are missing.
  1. These require a released/configured native mobile build, notification permission, saved preferences and functioning delivery services. Website sound settings do not enable phone push.
  2. Check the app’s region/type selections and local timezone, plus your phone notification settings. Delivery is not guaranteed at the exact scheduled minute.
A live news video opens YouTube or will not play.
  1. Choose another configured broadcaster or follow its source link. A broadcaster may restrict embedding or stop a live stream.
  2. An Editor can update a direct live video URL where authorized. A channel being live does not guarantee embedded playback.
An app download is blocked by Windows or Mac.
  1. The initial desktop builds are previews without publisher signing or Apple notarization. Read the download-page notice.
  2. Use the website if you do not want to install the preview. A signed production build is the public-release goal.
Do I need to reinstall after a website update?
  1. Ordinary website updates load into the desktop app automatically, with safe refresh checks.
  2. Native shell and Electron updates require new installers. Follow the release instructions for those versions.
How do I find the original source or report a problem?
  1. Open a record and follow its source link; compare the original with its English text and recorded time.
  2. Use Contact for site problems. Include platform, page, steps and the error text or screenshot, without passwords or login tokens.

Not seeing what you’re looking for?

Submit a question to the team for consideration for the FAQ, or open a private help ticket. Your ticket is visible to you and Editors/Admins. Suggestions are reviewed before any FAQ content is published.

Replies appear here. Email and push notifications are not sent for these tickets. Do not include passwords, login tokens or payment details.

My tickets

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Map geometry, imports and tropical cyclones

How do I track hurricanes and typhoons?

On Alerts, switch to Global 3D, expand Filters & layers, then enable Hurricanes / typhoons. Select a hurricane icon or choose a reported system from the list. The details panel provides source, advisory time, position, sustained wind, pressure and motion when supplied. Toggle forecast track, past track, forecast cone and wind extents separately. Expand the track table for historical and forecast positions and strength.

NHC/CPHC data and NOAA GIS products cover their basins; recent GDACS reports extend global coverage. Regional products differ. Unavailable data remains labeled unavailable. A forecast cone describes track uncertainty, not a damage boundary. GDACS wind zones are modeled impact areas. Official products, aircraft observations and NOAA model guidance are linked from the panel.

Why does an NWS alert show zones instead of a warning polygon?

Some official NWS products supply a polygon; others identify affected forecast, county, fire or marine zones. The site uses the supplied polygon or retrieves the referenced official zone boundaries. All zones must load before the combined affected area is displayed. Large zone sets load over several small requests. Retry official geometry if a source request fails. A state-wide heat tint is not an official warning outline.

How do city, county and capital labels work?

Labels follow the camera. City labels receive collision priority over subdued administrative-area labels. More places appear at closer zoom. County-equivalent boundaries load where the source offers ADM2 coverage. Gold labels identify national capitals; cream labels identify indexed administrative seats. Newly imported GeoNames role data improves seat coverage. Administrative reference pins are not exact incident locations.

Why can a facility category still be empty?

Map Layer Health now lists saved counts for all eight groups. The importer processes categories separately, divides dense requests and preserves saved records during outages. Pending and retry areas are unfinished. Completed jobs do not prove OpenStreetMap contains every real facility. Background import must be enabled and the existing scheduled trigger must run.

Can I attach and search media locations?

Editors/Admins can select media, choose a location from autocomplete and save it. This adds media location metadata without changing parent alert coordinates. Both Media Manager and Media Gallery have location search. Parent alerts retain their own reviewed location.

What should I do if the globe graphics stop?

A graphics interruption hides floating labels and displays a recovery message. When the graphics context is restored the layers refresh. Use Reload map if recovery does not occur, or use Theater Panels. The map renderer is bundled with the website, reducing dependency on third-party script delivery.

Source coverage, repairs and environmental maps

Why might an alert or video be missing?

Telegram public previews can be delayed, restricted or omit media. Source Status and staff diagnostics show reported scan errors, queued posts and catch-up progress. A quiet map does not prove that no incidents occurred. Translation and location work can remain pending; unlocated reports are not placed at invented coordinates.

How are historical locations and media repaired?

Editors and Admins can open Admin → Incident review → Source coverage and historical repairs. Small batches compare source text with the place index, retain staff corrections, log changed locations, and return clearly mismatched automatic assessment links to review. Historical media refresh attempts to recover exposed Telegram files. Completion counts refer to examined records, not proof that every location or video was recoverable.

Where are the old review pages?

Saved location, damage and assessment-review links redirect into the unified review desk, preserving search parameters. Use its Locations, Damage intake and Assessments tabs; the working forms and permissions remain available.

How do I view wildfires and outages?

Open Global → Filters & layers → Storms, wildfires & outages. Enable the desired layer and select its marker in either 2D or 3D. Wildfire details use GDACS reports, acreage when supplied and provider fire/impact geometry. These polygons are not evacuation zones; global spread-rate, movement and evacuation information are not supplied by this feed. Outages include staff utility advisories and, when configured with permission, Cloudflare Radar Internet disruptions. A country-reference marker does not locate a specific utility outage.

Are all Telegram videos hosted here?

Exposed direct video files can play here and are queued for background archiving. Restricted posts, unavailable source files, provider limits and videos omitted from public previews can still require the original Telegram post. Large-file capture is best effort; missing files are labeled rather than shown as unexplained broken media.

New map, audio and history controls

The Live monitoring toolbar combines view selection, Alert filters and Dashboard settings. All alerts checks or clears the full type list; a partial checkbox means some types are selected. Severe weather products follow your selected individual map/theater or shared scope.

Operator badges now live in each map’s aircraft filters. Helicopter, lighter-than-air, glider, unmanned and other received categories are recognized. Feeds cannot guarantee every aircraft or balloon. Hide Global Alert Picture with its X; restore it under Filters & layers → Map display & navigation → Show Global Alert Picture.

Open Alert filters to choose individual map/theater settings or shared settings. Shared mode hides duplicate theater controls. Aircraft operator badges display provider-reported operators; missing ownership is not guessed.

Meeting mute silences site alerts, chat and native media. It cannot isolate your microphone from speaker sound; use headphones or your meeting app’s audio controls.

Market timeframes persist in this browser. Percentage changes describe observed prices within the selected period; incomplete history is labeled.

History now contains Alerts, Weather, Assessments, Battle/political reports and Media tabs. About & Help contains Methods, Source status, Change log, FAQ and Contact. Old links still work.