Mapping Data Tutorial

As some of you may have noticed, I now have the mapping tool on BalancedCommunity.com so you can upload your own data and start making maps! As promised, here is a step by step tutorial on using the tool.

Choose your map title. This will appear at the top of the mapping screen.

Enter your starting longitude and latitude to center the map at this point.  The default is set for Downtown Boulder, CO. BatchGeo is a useful site for geocoding addresses. You can give it up to 500 addresses at a time it will return the longitude and latitude for each.

Choose your default map type. The choices are the basic choices for viewing google maps.

Set your default zoom level. Depending on the geographic distribution of your data set, you can choose the initial zoom level for when the map is opened.

Upload your CSV file. There are seven fields that the mapping program needs.  Below is an example of the fields and the data formats.

1. The DATE field should include at least the month/day/year but it can also include the time of day.
2. The BALOON field is the text that appears in the baloon when you click on it.  Any f0rmatting in this column needs to be in html.  For example, using <br>text will put the text on a separate line.
3. The COLOR of the baloons needs to be in HEX format but exclude the # sign.  There are numerous websites to help pick colors, Febooti has a pretty good tool.
4. The ALPHA column sets the opacity of the marker.  This is represented as a number (.40=40%). For my example, I set the older records to have a higher opacity than the newer records.
5. The BOARDER_ALPHA field sets the opacity of the marker outline.
6. Finally, the LAT and LNG columns give the geographic location of the point.  You can upload a file with additional fields, however they will be ignored.