1. OPEN YOUR MAP
You can open your map by single clicking the name, double clicking anywhere on the row, or by single clicking on the row and clicking the “Open” button. If you don’t have a map created, click on the “Add New Items” button. Then select, “New Map” and give it a name.
2. CLICK ON THE DATASET MENU
To access the dataset menu, left or right click anywhere on the dataset name, or hover over the row and click on the “Menu” button. If you don’t have a dataset on your map, you can add one in seconds!
3. SELECT “HEAT MAP”
Once the dataset menu is opened, click on “Heat Map.” For a shortcut, once the Heat Map tool is added, you can access the menu by clicking on the arrows next to the map name, and then by clicking on the Heat Map icon.
4. CHOOSE THE TYPE OF HEAT MAP
Choose the type of heat map you want to appear on your map. The two options are “Area Around Pins” and “Overlapping Radius Areas.” “Area Around Pins” allows you to quickly see high density pin clusters. “Overlapping Radius Areas” allows you to see areas where there is a lot of overlap.
5. SELECT WHAT TO BASE THE HEAT MAP ON
The two options to determine which areas are “hot” is to use “Location Density” or “Dataset Values.” “Location Density” will color locations with a lot of locations as “hot” and areas with few locations as “cold.” “Dataset Values” allows you to choose a quantitative column from your dataset, and use that to determine what is considered “hot.”
6. CUSTOMIZE THE STYLE
Set the size of the heat map, and its opacity and blur. The higher the blur, the more the colors blend together. Check the box next to “Fade Edges” if you want the colors to fade as they get further from the center. You can also select whether or not to include a legend.
7. CLICK “OK”
After clicking “OK,” your heat map will appear. If you chose to have the legend, it will appear in the bottom-right corner of the screen. You can right-click on the legend and get options to rename or remove the legend. You will also get the option to edit the heat map.
