User Guide

Table of Contents

  1. About m365maps.com
  2. Home page
  3. View diagram
  4. Saved diagrams
  5. Compare diagrams
  6. Feature matrix
  7. Settings
  8. M365 Maps for Teams
  9. Browser compatibility
  10. Contact
  11. Privacy policy
  12. Terms of use
  13. References

About m365maps.com

m365maps.com is my personal collection of Microsoft 365 Licensing Diagrams and reference material, regularly updated as product names, feature inclusions, and license types change.

Each diagram illustrates the key features and overlap between different license types. The diagrams load in your browser and you can click on the feature tiles to navigate to official online documentation. There are many more features to explore, described within this user guide.

You will also find the PDF, PNG, and SVG versions of the diagrams along with the Visio source files on GitHub or the Downloads page on this site. PDF, PNG, and SVG versions are also downloadable from their diagram view pages on this site.

I work for Microsoft Australia and I create these diagrams in my free time, so it goes without saying that this is not official Microsoft material. The site contains visual representations of the product licensing that I've derived from Microsoft's online and partner-facing resources. This site does not represent Microsoft, and no warranty is given or implied. You should always work with your Microsoft account team or authorised reseller before making a purchasing decision.

I try to carefully balanced the level of detail to ensure all the important features and license types are accounted for, but not every feature is present in these diagrams. There are just too many to include! So my offer to you is that if you see something missing and believe it should be there please contact me and I will do my best to build it in to a later release.

There are feedback and bug report forms in the contact section below. All feedback is greatly appreciated!

Feel free to connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn if you'd like to follow update announcements or discuss the project or Microsoft 365 licensing with me.

The m365maps.com web site is an enjoyable side-project as it allows me to have fun coding, which I no longer do as my day job. I decided I would maintain the site with very simple HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Everything is hand crafted without frameworks, libraries, or external dependencies of any kind.

I first started publishing these diagrams for free on Twitter, back in 2017. All along the way people have asked about how they could pay me back for the work I’ve done on them. I’ve put countless hours of my own time into maintaining and developing this collection and I know many professionals get daily use from these diagrams in their work. I use them myself every day too. In response to that regular request I’ve set up a page on PayPal where you can donate any amount you wish, if you feel that way inclined. If I can cover my domain registration and associated costs then I'll be really pleased! So if you’ve found these diagrams useful and you’d like to give something back then you are welcome to make a donation, but please understand that you’re not paying me for future work. I can’t promise I’ll always be able to keep these up to date, but I will for as long as I can. And I've made it open source on GitHub in the meantime!

Cheers,

Aaron.

Home page

The home page is the first page you reach when you navigate to m365maps.com.

When the site loads for the first time, and after each update on GitHub, it reaches out and caches all the core web site components and the full collection of diagrams (SVG format). This happens as a background task in your browser so you don't have to wait. Within a matter of seconds you can go offline and still have full access to every page and every diagram. It only does this once until the next time either the web site files or the diagrams are updated.

This all means that day-to-day there is very little traffic generated by the site and it remains fast to access and navigate. The entire offline cache to run the December, 2021 release of the web site (including diagrams) uses less than 3 megabytes of storage. So the site is not only fast, but also friendly to low bandwidth devices and networks.

Home page screenshot
Home page lower screenshot

View diagram - Page features

View diagram page screenshot

View diagram - Menu features

The collapsible menu in the upper-right corner of the view diagram page gives you quick access to a number of navigation options and other features depending on your device and the viewing mode you are in.

The standard menu arrangement, as pictured above, appears when you first navigate to a diagram. It is possible to set the menu to be automatically collapsed or open by default, this is detailed in the Settings portion of this guide.

Depending on your device and viewing mode the following actions may be available within the menu:

Icon Description
/
In all modes it is possible to expand or collapse the menu by clicking on the chevron at the start (left-most) of the menu.
All modes include the back button which returns you to the previous page. If your previous page was outside m365maps.com or you loaded from a bookmark then the back button will take you to the m365maps.com home page.
/
These icons indicate whether the diagram is flagged or not and can be clicked to toggle the flag on the current diagram.
Clicking Save will store a copy of the current diagram which can be retrieved later from the Saved diagrams page. Saved diagrams can be further edited, exported, or used for side-by-side comparison from the Compare diagrams page.
Opens and closes the image controls panel which allows for adjustments to the diagram brightness, contrast, hue, and saturation. There is more information on Image controls later in this guide.
This icon opens or closes the edit modes panel. There is more information on Edit modes later in this guide.
When viewing a diagram outside of edit modes the PDF and PNG download links will be available. These links will download to your device the latest version of the diagram in either the PDF or PNG format directly from GitHub. Whilst m365maps.com works fully offline, downloading is only available when you have an active internet connection.
When working in edit modes SVG and PNG export links will be available (varies by browser compatibility). These links export the version of the diagram you are working on, with your changes included, and downloads it to your device. The PNG export includes your current theme background colour. Exporting can be performed while your internet connection is offline.

View diagram - Edit modes

There are six different edit modes available to help you customise visualisations to communicate licensing details and opportunities to your colleagues or customers, or just for your own reference. Clicking the edit icon on the main menu will expand or collapse the edit modes menu shown above.

Icon Description
With Highlight mode enabled your mouse clicks will no longer open the tile links but instead will highlight elements within the diagram. Your first click will apply the highlight colour, click again on the same tile and it will remove the highlight. Hold Shift + Click and your first alternate colour will be applied. Hold Ctrl + Click and your second alternate colour will be applied. And holding Shift + Ctrl + Click will apply your third alternate colour. You can customise your highlight colours on the Settings page.
Draw mode applies free hand drawings (mouse, touch, and pen compatible) on top of a diagram. Ctrl + Click to draw straight lines. Shift + Click to automatically close the drawing shape. Click a drawing to cycle through colours. Right-click a drawing to remove it. You can also Click + Drag to move an existing drawing item within the page.
Text mode allows you to add your own text labels on top of a diagram. Click anywhere in the page and you will be prompted for text and given the chance to choose a colour for the text. Hold Shift + Click and Drag to rotate (Shift + Click without dragging to step the text at 90 degree increments of rotation). Hold Ctrl + Click and Drag to resize your text (Ctrl + Click without dragging will reset the text to its original size). Click any text you've added to modify the wording or change the colour. Right-click text to remove it.
Image mode allows for the insertion of pictures, diagrams, and images into the diagram you are editing. With Image mode enabled click anywhere inside the diagram and you will prompted to either select from the built in range of common diagram annotations or upload an image from your computer. The built-in images are fast and pre-formatted to fit well with the diagrams. Further, the built-in images all scale without quality loss. When uploading an image from your computer you may use any JPEG, PNG, or SVG file. This means you could embed a logo, picture, or even a diagram you had downloaded from m365maps.com, into the diagram. Hold Shift + Click and Drag to rotate (Shift + Click without dragging to step the image at 90 degree increments of rotation). Hold Ctrl + Click and Drag to resize your image (Ctrl + Click without dragging will reset the image to its original size).
Link mode lets you add a hyperlink to any image, text, or drawing that you've added to a diagram, and can also modify or remove links from existing diagram feature tiles. When in Link mode you can click on a diagram element and you will be prompted to add, modify, or remove the hyperlink for that element. This can be useful for linking to your own project status reports, intranet pages, or preferred online documentation.
Notes mode gives you a way to add your own text notes to any element of a diagram. Notes then show up when you hover your cursor above that element in a classic 'tooltip' format. To add a note simply click the element you wish to annotate and then add or update the note in the prompt that displays. This can be useful for adding pricing or project planning notes to the diagrams without adding visual clutter.

Tip: Whilst in the Highlight, Draw, Text, or Image edit mode you can Left-click and Drag to enable the mode-specific eraser (). Dragging the eraser over an item of that mode will erase that item. For example, whilst in Highlight mode if you Left-click and Drag you will erase any highlight you pass your cursor over.

Diagram editing screenshot

Your edits can be stored by clicking the save icon () and then providing a name for your diagram. Diagrams you've saved are accessible from the Saved diagrams and Compare diagrams pages.

View diagram - Image controls

Image controls screenshot

The image controls menu allows you to control the brightness, contrast, hue, and saturation of the diagram you are viewing.

The Reset button () reverts all image controls to their default values.

The Save button () commits the current image control levels to memory and uses them on all diagrams from that point on.

Tip: If you've saved a set of image controls and would no longer like them to apply, click Reset and then Save.

Compare diagrams

Compare diagrams screenshot

The Compare diagrams page lists all the included diagrams and any saved diagrams, allowing you to compare a combination of two diagrams side-by-side. Simply select the two diagrams for comparison and then click the Compare button at the bottom of the page.

Comparing diagrams screenshot

After clicking compare you will be taken to a modified view page with a slider at the bottom to drag between the two diagrams you selected. Zooming and Click-to-Drag moving features still function, but no edit menu features are available from the comparison page.

Feature matrix

Feature matrix screenshot

The Feature matrix page lists all the features from the license diagrams in a table layout, allowing you to compare a combination of license types side-by-side.

Select license types to compare with the checkboxes at the top of the page and filter the feature list by typing into the search box.

When selecting license types using the checkboxes the feature list automatically filters to show only the features relevant to your selection.

When searching for features using the search box, all features that match your text will be shown even if they are not part of any of your selected license types.

Tip: The page address is updated with each change of license type checkbox selection, allowing you to bookmark the selection in your browser.

Tip: An Excel version of the Feature Matrix is available on the Downloads page.

Saved diagrams

Saved diagrams screenshot

The Saved diagrams page provides a list of all the diagrams that you have saved from the View diagram page, sorted in the order you saved them.

Clicking on the saved diagram name will take you to the View diagram page. From there you can review your edits, make new edits (including removing existing highlights), and save over or create a new copy of the diagram.

A number of actions are available against each saved diagram from this page as follows:

Icon Description
Clicking this icon allows you to rename a saved diagram. When clicked a dialog will appear prompting you for a new name.
Clicking this icon will delete the saved diagram.
These links export your saved diagrams to SVG or PNG files for download to your device (availability varies by browser compatibility). The PNG export includes your current theme background colour. Exporting can be performed while offline.

Tip: PDF exporting is not available on m365maps.com but many devices now support "Print to PDF". The menu and offline/online indicators will be hidden in print outs, printing only the diagram.

There are three buttons at the bottom of the saved diagrams page:

Tip: Saved diagrams are stored by your browser and can be easily lost, so it's a good idea to export important diagrams every once in a while. That way you can import them back in if you need to.

This page has a Home page link in the top-right corner.

The menu actions available when viewing a saved diagram are slightly reduced from the normal view diagram experience. Diagram flagging is not available for saved diagrams.

Settings

Settings page screenshot

The Settings page allows you to customise some of the web site features to your preference.

Setting Description
Highlights
Customise your highlight colours for use in highlight edit mode on the View diagram page. A standard Left-Click will use the first colour, Shift + Click uses the second colour, Ctrl + Click will use the third colour, and Ctrl + Shift + Click will use the fourth colour from this setting. Default colours are pictured in the screenshot above.
Menu
This setting controls the default position of the menu on the View diagram page. The options are "Open" (default) or "Closed".
Theme
Set the site theme from here. Options include "Light" (default), "Dark", and "System". The "System" setting will dynamically change the site theme based on the browser or operating system theme settings on your device. All pages and diagrams inherit the theme throughout m365maps.com.
Zoom
Configure the default image zoom level for the View diagram page here. The options are: Clicking the middle mouse button or scroll wheel on the View diagram page will reset the diagram zoom to whatever setting you have defined here.

There are three buttons at the bottom of the settings page:

This page has a Home page link in the top-right corner.

M365 Maps for Teams

Teams app screenshot

The Microsoft Teams app brings m365maps.com directly into your Teams client as a personal tab app. All the site functions are available directly inside Teams, with some user interface streamlining to make the experience more suited to the Teams interface.

M365 Maps for Teams does not connect with the Teams SDK, so there is no exchange of personal information or user tracking of any kind. I've deliberately kept the app simple to make it easier for organisations to choose to allow the app to run in their environment.

Users can self-install the app using the instructions below, or have an organisation administrator load the app for all users within the Teams tenant to access. Microsoft publishes generic administrator installation instructions are here: Link

Teams app manage apps screenshot

To add the M365 Maps for Teams app to your own Teams environment, first navigate to the Apps side tab and select "Manage your apps" from the bottom of the store panel, as pictured above.

Teams app upload screenshot

You can then choose to either add the app to your own environment, or submit it for inclusion in your orginizations app list. For these instructions we will focus on uploading for your own personal use, to do so select "Upload a customised app", as pictured above.

After selecting the M365 Maps for Teams.zip you will be presented with further information on the app and be able to add it to Teams.

Add a Teams app screenshot

The Add App process will provide app and publisher details, as well as required app permissions. Please note: Whilst Teams will advise that the app has access to receive messages and data you provide it, M365 Maps will not ask for data or interact with messages. Also, the permissions set will advise that M365 Maps will have access to your profile information, M365 Maps will not access this information as the app does not utilise the Teams SDK or APIs. This can all be independantly verified by examining the open source code for m365maps.com and M365 Maps for Teams on GitHub.

Pin a Teams app screenshot

After uploading the M365 Maps for Teams app you you will be taken to the app. If you want to keep quick access to M365 Maps you can pin the app by opening the left-click context menu and selecting "Pin".

Browser compatibility

m365maps.com targets the same mainstream web browsers that Microsoft 365 supports: Edge, Firefox, Safari, and Chrome.

Internet Explorer, out of date builds of mainstream browsers, and any other niche browsers are not targeted for compatibility or tested. Your experience may vary.

If you have a particular device or browser scenario you'd like me to try to support then please contact me to discuss.

Known issues

Contact

Aaron Dinnage

If you'd like to provide feedback, report an error / omission, ask a question, or discuss an idea, then please use LinkedIn or Twitter to connect. Licensing can be complicated which often means a conversation is needed to process feedback effectively.

Privacy policy

m365maps.com does not request, collect, store, process, or manage any personal information.

Use of third party services linked from m365maps.com is subject to the privacy policy and terms of use of those services.

m365maps.com is hosted on GitHub Pages. IP addresses are logged for security purposes as described by GitHub.

Terms of use

Your use of m365maps.com depends on your acceptance of the following terms:

References

The information contained within the diagrams on this site is sourced from a variety of references. If you'd like to see where this information comes from I've listed those sources below. Whilst a lot of the modern licensing resources are very good at a high level, it's often the case that some of the finer detail is in the deeper, longer form documentation. I try to capture some of that detail in my diagrams when I think it's particularly relevant.

Public

This material is publicly accessible on the internet without the need to sign in.

Partner

This material is accessible by Microsoft partners and Microsoft staff after signing in.

Microsoft

This material is accessible only to Microsoft staff after signing in. I won't provide links for these resources, just names, so if you're a Microsoft staff member you'll be able to track them down.