Blog Archives - Page 18 of 24

3 Reasons Why Simple Matters for Data Visualization

Written on December 7, 2016. Posted in Blog, Why Mapline.

At Mapline, we’re proud to say we have the easiest mapping software on the planet. You simply create an account with us, paste your Excel spreadsheet into our software and watch as it gets transformed into a powerful map you can use for data visualization – all in seconds! Sure, there are Mapline alternatives out there – so why does our simple approach beat out the competition?

Simple territory mapping software lets you do your job more efficiently. The less time you’re spending manually plotting data or trying to understand difficult software, the more you’re able to focus on what you actually need to be doing, which is analyzing the data at hand and making decisions based on your findings. Territory mapping software and data visualization should make your job easier, not add more complications to the mix.
Your brain power is freed up for more important things with easy mapping software. There’s only so much multi-tasking one person can do before it stops being a useful skill and instead slows you down. With Mapline, you aren’t distracted by a difficult program. In fact, our software takes little thought to use – just copy and paste your data and your map is created for you. Add and remove filters as needed to get a quick understanding of your data.
No one stays still anymore – simple makes analysis on the move easier. With Mapline’s digital mapping software, you can take your data visualization with you on the road. If you’re in the field, perhaps working out of your vehicle on a particular day, the last thing you need is a clunky program slowing you down. Pasting your Excel data into Mapline is easy when you’re on the go.

Ready to analyze your data? Discover Mapline’s features, how we help those in your particular industry and our plans and pricing so you can get started now.

New Features – Radius Mapping and Replace Dataset

Written on December 2, 2016. Posted in Blog, Updates.

Check Out the New Features to Our Online Mapping Software

Mapline is already the simplest mapping software on the planet, and now we’re introducing another batch of new features that will surely empower you to make mapping even simpler! Find out about how you can draw a radius circle on a map as well as how to replace a dataset with new spreadsheet data.

Creating a Radius Map

Radial Heat Mapping: Create a Radial Map

There are now 2 ways to create a radial heat map. To heat map:

Areas around pins – this allows you to quickly identify pins that are clustered together. This is the best heat mapping option to use if you want to understand accounts with large numbers of sales or customers.
Overlapping radius areas – this new type of heat map option enables you to identify areas with high density. This is highly recommended if you are looking for the right location for a new business, or if you want to know the high risk areas when planning for disaster management and recovery.

Find more information about viewing a radius circle on a map as a helpful heat map.

Replace DataSet

This new feature allows you to remove the dataset and replace it with a new spreadsheet data. This is usually used in situations where you are frequently changing the datasets of your maps. There are 2 ways to replace your dataset.

First Option:

Open your map.
Click the drop down arrow beside the dataset.
Choose “Edit Data” link.
Click “Replace” tab located on top of the page.
Copy your new spreadsheet data and paste it to the box provided.
Click “Continue.”

Second Option:

Click “My DataSets.”
Check the box beside the data set that you want to replace.
Click “Replace” tab located on top of the page.
Copy your new spreadsheet data and paste it to the box provided.
Click “Continue.”

Now that’s making mapping even simpler! They are now available to use. Go ahead, try them and see where your new mapping experience will take you.

New Feature: English Names for Foreign Territory Boundaries

Written on November 8, 2016. Posted in Blog, Updates.

So you want to map territories in a foreign country. Using a mapping software, you were so excited to start creating one. In minutes, you have your map ready – only to find out that you can’t understand the names of the territory boundaries because what’s showing is the local names and characters instead of the English names. How frustrating! Mapline is excited to announce a new enhancement that will make mapping more convenient and at the same time giving you less headache when it comes to reading territory names. We now bring you a feature where you can choose how to view your map – with Multilingual names or with English names! For example, when mapping Japan territories, your map would look from this: japan-local

… to this: japan-english

How to Use The New Feature

When creating a map, your map labels will appear in English by default. Easily choose from the top right corner the following selections:

Original (English)
Original (Multilingual)
Bright

The new feature will enhance not only the readability of your map. More than that, it will help speed up map analysis and data understanding. Try using the new feature now!

Mapline vs. Google Maps: GIS Maps for Your Business

Written on October 27, 2016. Posted in Blog.

Google Maps is the go-to mapping software when it comes to getting driving directions, and that’s great if you’re planning a family road trip. But when you’re looking to visualize and analyze data for your business, is Google still the best service to turn to? We take a look at the features of both Google Maps and Mapline to show Mapline’s superiority when it comes to mapping software for your industry. Plotting Multiple Locations Google Maps: Sure, you can plot multiple locations within Google Maps – as long as all you want to see is how to get from one to the others. For distance between several points, you need to enter in each starting address and destination address, note the distance, and then start over for as many data points as you need. Mapline: With Mapline you get the whole picture. Upload your Excel sheet with hundreds of locations and view them simultaneously as pins on a map. Easily visualize the distance between any of the addresses while still being able to see each of your pins and take in the big picture.

Data Analysis

Google Maps: Google offers no analysis of your data. Aside from determine exact driving distance from one point to another, you’re unable to draw any conclusions from entering addresses into Google Maps. Mapline: You can obtain a wealth of information from viewing your pins in Mapline by using our features such as sublayering, radial mapping and territories.

Sublayers

Use Mapline’s sublayers to group your pins according to customer segments, location types or other differentiators. The color coding of sublayering lets you quickly see patterns and trends in your data such as clusters or outliers. There is no equivalent feature in Google Maps.

Radial Mapping

There are two radial mapping options within Mapline: Areas Around Pins and Overlapping Radius Areas. The first allows you to view high-density pin clusters as well as high-value pins, based on data amounts included in your Excel spreadsheet. The second radial mapping choice gives you the option to set a distance for the radius and will present a heat map around each pin, showing you where pin radii overlap. There is no equivalent feature in Google Maps.

Territories

Mapline’s territories feature offers dozens of existing territories that you can overlay on your data. Choose from territories delineated by zip codes, area codes, DMAs and so much more to put your data in perspective and understand the story it is telling. Google Maps does show state boundary lines, but only in relation to distance between two or more addresses.

The Bottom Line

We highly recommend you continue using Google Maps to plan your trip to your vacation house, but for everything business related, Mapline is the clear winner for GIS maps.

Mapline Makes a Difference: The New Jersey Mock Election

Written on October 26, 2016. Posted in Blog.

We’ve been having some fun behind the scenes at Mapline this election season. We’ve teamed up with the New Jersey Center for Civic Education and the New Jersey Social Studies Supervisors Association to power maps for their mock election for students.

How the Mock Election Works

The mock election covers the presidential race, as well as New Jersey congressional seats and two “yes or no” issue questions: whether the state’s gasoline tax should be raised 23 cents per gallon to fund repairs and improvements to New Jersey’s roads and transportation infrastructure and whether term limits should be imposed for members of Congress. Educators simply determine their Congressional District and download the appropriate ballot for their students, who are then able to cast their votes either on paper or electronically. Voting opened October 10, and all results must be submitted by October 25.

Mapping the Results

After the votes are in, our Mapline team will power maps that will plot a variety of different data for students and educators. A total of 77 maps will be available as PDF downloads representing combinations of 4 overarching variables: candidate, issue, grade level and political region. Mapline’s territory heat map overlays will color code territories in order to differentiate voting patterns. In addition to the PDF maps, Mapline is also providing 4 aggregated maps to be embedded in the site that students and teachers can manipulate. These live, interactive maps will represent voting results across all grades by Congressional District. A map will be dedicated to each candidate and issue variable. Students and teachers can zoom in and out on these maps and can perform searches for specific cities or addresses to narrow down the data.

Increasing Civic Awareness

Students from grades 5-12 from more than 300 school districts in New Jersey are expected to participate in the mock election, generating a wealth of data on student political opinion. It’s a fantastic educational opportunity for teachers to show students firsthand how democracy works and to lead them in analyzing voting patterns across districts. We’re honored to be a part of such an endeavor, and can’t wait to see the results come in! Check out other ways Mapline can be used in the classroom and beyond.

Customize Map Labels with Images

Written on October 4, 2016. Posted in Blog.

Easily organize and distinguish pins on your map

Let your map tell your stories for you! Mapline enables you to upload images so you can create custom map labels. Easily add your company or customer logo and assign it to the appropriate locations. This is especially helpful when you have large data sets and it is hard to differentiate between all the different pins on your map. Sometimes colored pins aren’t enough to easily visualize your data with your team. By being able to upload your own images, you can easily distinguish between location sets when you plot pins on your map.

Steps to upload custom images for map pins

Open your map.
Click the pin icon in the left sidebar next to your dataset name.
Select the “Custom Image” tab.
Click “Upload.”
Select the image you would like to upload. It can be any .JPEG or .PNG file.
Once uploaded, click the same image to use as the marker.
Choose the icon size.
Click the “OK” button.

That’s how easy it is to add custom labels to maps. Sign up now to give it a try!

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