Blog Archives - Page 19 of 25

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!

2015 Mapline Voyage

Written on December 31, 2015. Posted in Blog.

We came, we saw, and yes, we so conquered 2015 with flying colors! Thanks to all of you, our valued Mapline customers and users, because you made another mapping year with us truly awesome! 2016 is just around the corner – yup, another meaningful year peeking at a distance. But for now, we thought it would be nice to reflect back on some of the best accomplishments of Mapline for the past 365 days. 2015 Mapline Voyage

Here are some of the ways you made the difference in mapping with us:

The new Mapline site. Just click the link and you’ll know what I’m talking about. Need we say more?
Add competitive datasets
New or improved features:
- Clustering
- Radial Heat Mapping
- Territory Reports
- Sublayers
- Distance Calculation – We now offer midpoint and center of minimum distance
- Formula-based filters
- New Sidebar Features for easy user interactions:
Training videos via YouTube
New territories added

These will not be possible without your continuous feedback and allowing us to help you achieve your mapping goals. What’s in store for Mapline in 2016? We can only expect better victories ahead for all of us. And we can’t wait for all that we have in store for this year. So bring it on, 2016!

How to Map Sales Territory Reports

Written on September 21, 2015. Posted in Blog, Features and Training, Getting Started, Support, Use Case Scenarios.

Increase Visibility into Your Sales Performance

Sales territory reports provide full visibility into your sales performance you don’t get when looking at numbers in a spreadsheet. Sales summary maps created with our territory mapping software include:

Measurements – the shape of the territory, number of sides, area, and center coordinate
Summary of All Data – summary of all data sets inside the territory which include name, location count, midpoint, and center of minimum distance. If you have sales numbers in your pins, then you can see the total or average sales for each territory.
Export option – to download the territory report.

Steps for How to Create a Sales Summary Map

Creating a sales summary map is easy. Just build your map and place your sales data pins on the map. Then, overlay the territory you would like to view. To access the territory report:

Hover your mouse to a specific territory and click it.
Your territory report will appear.
Click the “Download” link.

That’s how easy it is to see territory performance reports! You can also create a heat map of your territories to visualize the performance.

Start Mapping Today

Segment Customers with Excel Data

Written on September 14, 2015. Posted in Blog, Use Case Scenarios.

Excel Mapping for Customer Segmentation Data

Customer segmentation has never been easier than with Excel mapping. By mapping with Excel data, you get a clear visual representation of information that was previously only available in spreadsheet format. With Mapline you can segment customers based on any data you have in an Excel spreadsheet. Let us give you an example. Let’s say you want to be able to segment and differentiate your customers based on which policy they buy. First you need to map Excel data. Once you have all your locations mapped, you can use the Segment tool to group your pins by any column from your spreadsheet. So, just click on the layers options and select the segment option. Then you can choose the Policy column from your spreadsheet. Done! You can see trends on where certain policies are being sold to help you segment your customers and enhance your marketing efforts. That’s how simple it is to segment customers by mapping Excel spreadsheet data. Market segmentation data can be invaluable for understanding what’s happening with your business and getting a leg up on the competition. Decide on the right plan and pricing for you and try it out for yourself.

How to Create a Map with Segments

Written on September 14, 2015. Posted in Blog, Features and Training, Getting Started, Support.

Group Pins on Your Maps for Better Insights

Specifying locations with pins helps you identify trends and outliers, but what if you’re looking at too many locations at once? All that data viewed at once can get confusing and start blending together. With the segment feature, you can categorize your pins and narrow in on what you actually want to look at. Follow our step-by-step instructions to add segements to your maps where you can visualize customer segments, location types, regions, and more.

Steps to add Segments to your map

Create a new map and add a dataset on your map.
Click layer options menu next to the layer on your map.
Select the “Segment” option.
Click the “Add tier of segments” button.
Select the category from your Excel spreadsheet that you would like to use as categories on your map.
Click Done.

That’s all it takes to group your pins and assign different icons for different groups of locations! Sign Up Today

Give us a call. We'd love to talk!