Here we collect answers to question which come up very often.
We will start of with this one page, maybe restructure it into sections, or even more pages if needed
If you are trying to download QGIS and nothing seems to happen, please consult the download manager of your browser. It can usually be found as an icon (based on arrow, stop-watch or pie-chart) at the top-right corner of your browser window. Click on the icon to see the download progress or cancel the download. The normal procedure with downloads in the browser is such, that it first asks you where to save the file (with a file browser dialogue) and then you have to wait until the download is finished. Because QGIS install packages, depending on the operating system, can be rather large you have to be patient. The download size can be anywhere between several hundred megabytes to sometimes more than one gigabyte (in case of MS Windows MSI packages). Depending on your download speed and the QGIS server load, downloads can take from several minutes up to several hours.
This is a misconception that we hear from time to time, but it is not true. Donating to QGIS is optional. After downloading QGIS, there is a message appearing, reminding that you can optionally donate to QGIS. However, you can press “Close this message” and continue downloading without any problem. We want QGIS to be accessible to anyone, no matter how your financial situation might be. If you are a first-time QGIS user, we recommend that you download, install and test QGIS first and find out if the software is useful for the tasks you want to solve. Only if you like QGIS and it substantially helps with your business, tasks or processes, you should think about donating towards QGIS or supporting it as a sustaining member.
If you are going to ask QGIS related question via the mailing lists, please provide enough information to help others easily understand what your problem is. Without a clear and precise question, it is very hard to answer for anybody or takes just too much time because the answer will be a question to you etc etc. You may provide information such as:
preferably a descriptive title for your email
which QGIS version you used at that moment (exact)
what are you expecting to get
if applicable, what have you tried and the result you got
if your question is about something broken, you may also provide:
what exactly is the error (if possible: screendump, stacktrace, copy of error text)
which Operating System and version
how you installed it (osgeo4w? standalone-installer? own build?)
at what time did it break (reinstall, new install, system update, project changes)
Keep in mind that the more precise is your question, the quicker and more accurate can be the answer.
Note
In case of a broken function, you may give a look at QGIS issue tracker before mailing to the list. More information at Bugs, Features and Issues.
After a successful developer meeting in Zurich (Switzerland), we decided that the next release should be related to it. Since then, all releases have been named after locations of our developer meetings.
To cite QGIS in your piece of work, or for an assignment, please use citation type that can be more helpful:
Cite the QGIS project in general
QGIS.org, 2024. QGIS Geographic Information System. QGIS Association. http://www.qgis.org
Cite the QGIS Developers Manual
QGIS.org, 2024. QGIS 3.34. Geographic Information System Developers Manual. QGIS Association. Electronic document: https://docs.qgis.org/3.34/en/docs/developers_guide/index.html
Cite the QGIS Installation Guide
QGIS.org, 2024. QGIS 3.34. Geographic Information System Installation Guide. QGIS Association. Electronic document: https://github.com/qgis/QGIS/blob/master/INSTALL.md
Cite the QGIS User Guide
QGIS.org, 2024. QGIS 3.34. Geographic Information System User Guide. QGIS Association. Electronic document: https://docs.qgis.org/3.34/en/docs/user_manual/index.html
Cite the QGIS Server Documentation
QGIS.org, 2024. QGIS 3.34. Geographic Information System API Documentation. QGIS Association. Electronic document: https://docs.qgis.org/3.34/en/docs/server_manual/index.html
Cite the QGIS API Documentation
QGIS.org, 2024. QGIS 3.34. Geographic Information System API Documentation. QGIS Association. Electronic document: https://qgis.org/pyqgis/3.34/index.html
Preferred format: BibTeX
Example BibTeX entry:
<pre>
@Manual{QGIS_software,
title = {QGIS Geographic Information System},
author = {{QGIS Development Team}},
organization = {QGIS Association},
year = {2024},
url = {https://www.qgis.org},
}
</pre>
There is no requirement to mention QGIS for maps produced with it. It is of course really welcome if would like to add a note saying that the map was produced with QGIS. “Made with QGIS” or “Map created using the Free and Open Source QGIS” are good examples of such a note.
Note
Do not say ©QGIS as QGIS does not hold copyrights on your work.
Yes you can… BUT depending on your Operating System, it is more or less difficult.
If you are under Windows and are using the OSGeo4w installer, it is included.
If you are using macOS, you can find the ECW plugin and install instructions at https://www.kyngchaos.com/software/frameworks
For other instructions, eg look here: https://www.faunalia.eu/en/blog/2019-05-21_ecw_support
Yes, compiling QGIS from source is possible whatever OS you use (Windows, OS X, Linux). Please read Building QGIS from source