FAQ

RPLS.com is an online resource for land surveyors and geomatics professionals, offering community forums, a private members’ messenger, a Find a Surveyor directory, job listings, classifieds, and advertising opportunities. We’ve been serving the surveying community since 1996.

No. “RPLS” is our heritage name — it goes back to 1996 — not a requirement. You don’t need a license, or any license, to be a member. RPLS.com is open to everyone connected to land surveying: licensed surveyors (RPLS, PLS, LS, and your state’s equivalents), party chiefs and field crew, CAD and office techs, students and instructors, retired surveyors, and folks in allied trades who work alongside us. If land surveying is your world — or you’d like it to be — you’re welcome here.

RPLS.com provides:

• Community Forums — discussions, questions, and knowledge-sharing among land surveyors.
• Members’ Messenger — private and group messaging, voice and video calls, and file sharing with other members.
• Job Listings — post and find surveying-related job opportunities.
• Classifieds — buy, sell, and find equipment and services.
• Advertising — options for businesses to promote through dedicated forums and banner ads.
• Find a Surveyor — a searchable directory where members list their surveying practice so clients and colleagues can find them.

Yes, completely. Every forum discussion, current and past, is free to read for anyone, no account and no paywall. We removed the old 90-day rule that used to keep recent discussions behind membership. Membership is now about participating — posting, replying, and the members-only rooms — not about access to reading.

For most of our history, RPLS.com ran on free access and optional donations. To keep the site healthy, independent, and here for the long haul, we’ve moved to a membership model — but reading stays free for everyone. Every discussion, current and past, is open with no account and no paywall. What membership covers is taking part: posting, replying, private messaging, the members-only rooms, and listing yourself in the boards. If you’ve been part of this community, becoming a member is what keeps it going.

Reading is free and open to everyone — every discussion, current and past, no account required. That’s the archive you’ll usually find through a Google search, and it stays open. Starting new topics, replying, and private messaging require a paid membership. A free account adds a profile, lets you follow topics, and lets you ask a question in Ask a Surveyor.

P&R stands for Politics & Religion. These topics have often proven volatile, so the P&R forum is members-only and opt-in: open only to members who specifically request access and agree to additional terms of use.

The P&R (Politics & Religion) forum is members-only, and opt-in on top of that. If you’re a member, you can request access from our Request Access to the P&R Forum page and agree to the additional terms of use — and opt back out any time. Free accounts don’t have access. (If you’re a member who opts in and later lapses, your P&R access simply pauses and comes right back if you rejoin.)

Please visit our Support page for details.

We offer one free tier and a few paid plans. Every paid plan includes the same full access — the higher tiers are simply about the badge you carry and the level of support you’d like to give:

• Free — $0. Read every discussion, browse listings, and ask in Ask a Surveyor.
• Standard — $10/mo or $100/yr. Full membership.
• Sustainer — $25/mo or $250/yr. Full membership plus a Sustainer badge.
• Sustainer Plus — $50/mo or $500/yr. The deeper thank-you tier.

Visit the Membership page to join.

Free = read the archive and browse. Member = read everything, post, reply, and list in every board.

A free account lets you read every discussion (current and past), browse the listing boards, ask a question in Ask a Surveyor, and keep a member profile. Posting, replying, private messaging, the members-only rooms, and listing yourself in the boards are part of paid membership. (Reading, by the way, is free even without an account.)

Every paid plan (Standard, Sustainer, and Sustainer Plus) includes the same full access:

• Start new topics and reply anywhere in the forums
• The members-only rooms — the Members’ Lounge and Politics & Religion (opt-in)
• The members’ messenger — private and group messages, voice and video calls, voice notes, and file sharing
• List yourself in Find a Surveyor
• Post in Classifieds, Surveying Jobs, and Want to Buy
• A Member badge on your profile and posts

The members’ messenger is a private, surveyor-only way to reach the rest of the community — on our own servers, with no ads and nothing tracked. Once you’re a member, you can:

• Message privately — one-on-one or in a group, with reactions, replies, and read receipts.
• Send voice notes and short video messages for when typing won’t cut it — with transcription on request.
• Call — one-on-one or group voice and video calls, right in your browser.
• Share big files — plats, drawings, PDFs, and photos, the kind email bounces back.
• Share a location — drop a pin on a job site or a meetup spot.

It all works right in your browser, on your desktop or your phone, with notifications so you don’t miss a reply. Messaging and calls are part of any paid membership.

Yes. A free account is always available — read every discussion, browse listings, ask in Ask a Surveyor, and keep a profile. And reading is free even without an account. When you’re ready to post, reply, and get into the members-only rooms, any paid plan unlocks full participation. Create a free account.

They all unlock the exact same access — the difference is the badge and the level of support:

• Standard is the everyday membership.
• Sustainer and Sustainer Plus add a Sustainer badge and help keep rpls.com/ independent and ad-light.

Pick whichever feels right — your access is identical either way.

Yes. Students and apprentices in a surveying, geomatics, or related program can join for $25 a year — full membership with a Student badge on your profile. Instructors and program faculty get it free.

Student membership covers everything a regular membership does except a Find a Surveyor listing, which is reserved for surveyors who are practicing and taking work. Both go through a short application with proof that you’re currently enrolled, and a person reviews every one. Have a look at the Student Membership page.

Your membership is a single plan at a time. A Vendor (advertising) account is separate, though — if you advertise your business and want a personal membership, you can hold both at once.

You can view and manage your membership — including switching plans or cancelling — from your account dashboard. If you run into any trouble, just contact support.

To keep spam out of the community, the first few posts from a new member are reviewed and approved before you’re able to post and reply freely. It’s a quick, one-time step — thanks for your patience.

The one-time Supporter plan has been retired. Its place is now filled by Standard membership (the everyday plan) and the Sustainer tiers (for members who’d like to give a little more). If you were a Supporter, you’ll find the same spirit — and more — in those plans.

The Marketplace is where the surveying community does business: Surveying Jobs, Classifieds (buy and sell equipment), Want to Buy, and the Find a Surveyor directory. Anyone can browse every listing; posting or listing requires a membership.

Members can claim their Find a Surveyor (Pro Directory) profile from your account page, so property owners, attorneys, and firms can find them by state and specialty.

Members can post an opening on the Surveying Jobs board in just a few minutes — start from your account page and follow the links. Job postings are part of membership.

Members can list equipment for sale in the Classifieds at no charge — just follow the links from your account page. Each listing requires a verification photo, so buyers know the equipment is real and in hand.

A Vendor membership lets you advertise your products and services directly to surveying and geomatics professionals. Vendors get a dedicated business forum, special posting privileges, and a footer logo ad with detailed statistics. Additional plans add banner-ad placements throughout the site. See our Advertise page for details.

We receive a lot of traffic from many sources. Most of our visitors arrive through Google search — they’re finding answers to their surveying questions right here at RPLS.com. You’ll find more statistics on our Advertise page.

The base Vendor Membership is $95/mo — your own vendor forum, a footer-logo ad on every page, and 24/7 ad stats. Premium banner zones (Leaderboard, Large Leaderboard, Medium Rectangle) are $75/mo each, or bundle: base + one $170, + two $245, + all three $295 (saves $25). A one-time $250 design fee applies only if we create or resize graphics; footer logos are designed free. Full pricing information is on our Advertise page.

Yes. The base Vendor Membership includes a footer logo, and additional plans open up banner zones such as Medium Rectangle, Leaderboard, and Large Leaderboard. For details, visit our Advertise page.

Vendor sign-up is personal — reach out through the inquiry form on our Advertise page (or click Become a Vendor) and we’ll get you set up.

Absolutely, and thank you. You can make a one-time donation any time using our donation form — whether or not you’re a member. Donations are separate from membership, so a donation won’t change your account features or access. If you’d like to give ongoing support and enjoy full access, consider a Sustainer membership.

If you prefer to send a check, please make it payable to Five Point Web Solutions and mail to:

RPLS.com
c/o Five Point Web Solutions
P.O. Box 824
Middleton, Idaho 83644

Please write “RPLS.com support” in the memo so we can direct the funds appropriately.

Yes — becoming a member is the biggest one, since it directly funds the site. Beyond that, we occasionally offer other ways to help; keep an eye on the forums and our blog. And if you visit with an ad blocker, whitelisting rpls.com/ is a small, free way to help.

Money from memberships, donations, advertising, and other sources goes right back into keeping rpls.com/ running. Our hard costs come first: server expenses, security, software purchases and renewals, domain registration, email delivery, legal expenses, and other unavoidable costs. After that, funds go toward the time it takes to manage the server and security, install and configure software, moderate the site, support members, and handle marketing. If little or nothing remains after all of that, we cover the rest with our own time and money.

When that’s happened — and it has, several times over the years — we’ve had to decide whether to weather the storm and fund it out of our own pockets in hopes it gets back on its feet. There were moments we considered shutting it down completely. Moving to a membership model is, in large part, about making sure that question comes up a lot less often.

Two simple plans, plus a custom option:

• Essential — $199 setup, then $49/mo. A polished one-page, mobile-first site with local SEO and a quote form.
• Premium — $599 setup, then $149/mo. Up to 10 pages with service pages, a project portfolio, and a secure payment page — everything in Essential, expanded.
• Custom — tailored pricing for multi-office firms and specialized needs.

Your monthly covers hosting, security, maintenance, on-page SEO, and unlimited content updates — plus your RPLS.com membership and a done-for-you Find a Surveyor directory listing. One subscription keeps the whole thing running and current.

DIY builders like Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace mean weeks of your time learning a platform that keeps changing under you. Cheap templates still leave you doing the work, and custom agencies run $3,000–$6,000+ with opaque pricing. With an RPLS.com website plan you get a done-for-you site — transparently priced and actively maintained by people who’ve spent decades in surveying — so you can stay focused on your business.

No — no contracts and no obligation, cancel anytime. The one-time setup fee covers building your site, and the monthly subscription simply continues for as long as you’d like us to host, maintain, and update it. The setup fee is not refundable.

Your domain is yours, and so are your text, photos, and logo. We’ll send you copies anytime. Your site stays up through the end of your paid period. After 12 months with us, we’ll also give you a full copy of the site to take elsewhere. Before 12 months, that copy is available in exchange for the remaining months of your first year.

You don’t have to. Membership is included in every website plan, so just ask and we’ll stop your separate membership billing. Some members keep it anyway to support RPLS.com, and we’re grateful when they do.

Yes, by rebuilding it. We don’t move existing sites over; every site is rebuilt in our system, which keeps it fast, secure, and easy to maintain. Your current text and photos are a great starting point, and we’ll reuse whatever still works.

Yes. You register it in your name, so it’s always yours. If you don’t have one yet, we’ll point you to an easy registrar and help you connect it when your site launches.

Most sites launch within about 2 weeks. Review time is the biggest factor: once we send your draft, you have 5 business days to look it over. If we don’t hear back, we launch it, and you can still request changes anytime.

We do. AI drafts your pages from the details you give us, someone who knows surveying edits every page, and you review it all before launch.

Yes. Request as many as you like — text, photos, phone numbers, hours, or a new portfolio project — we handle them one at a time, about 30 minutes each. Brand-new pages and larger custom work are quoted separately, but day-to-day updates are included.

Absolutely. You can move from Essential to Premium (or to a Custom build) whenever you’re ready — we build out the added pages and features, and your monthly adjusts to the new plan. Because there’s no contract, you can scale back anytime too; we’ll just walk through any content that would come off with fewer pages.

Building a website is a big expense for a small firm. Instead of charging thousands up front, we charge a modest setup fee and spread the rest over a monthly plan that also covers hosting, maintenance, and updates. There’s no contract; the plan simply continues for as long as you’d like us to run your site. That keeps things predictable for you and sustainable for us — no surprise bills, and no need to pad the price to recover a big one-time build.

Sign in at your account page with your username or email and password. You can also use the one-click Magic URL link, or sign in with Google or Facebook.

The first step is to clear your browser’s cache and delete any cookies associated with RPLS.com — both can be done in your browser settings. To automatically delete your RPLS.com cookies and try again, use this link: https://rpls.com/?delete_cookies=1. Note: this clears any cookies associated with your rpls.com/ account and returns you to the homepage, so you’ll need to log in again. If you still have trouble, please contact us.

Once you’re signed in, head to your account page and open the Change Password tab. Enter a new password, confirm it, and save — you’ll stay logged in, no need to sign back in.

If you’ve forgotten your password and can’t sign in at all, use the lost password link on the login page to have a reset emailed to you.

If the layout looks strange and things aren’t displaying or behaving normally, the first thing to try is clearing your browser’s cache. That’s the fix about 95% of the time. If you still have trouble, please contact us.