How to show data using an Interactive Map

A new interactive map that has plenty of useful applications for all types of communicators.

For example, you can visualize geographic data in the form of:

– A social and demographic trends map (statistics on population, area, race, language, crime, divorce, homicide, etc.)

– A comparative global map (the happiest countries in the world, the most empathetic nations, etc.)

– A regional trends map (countries with the highest rate of urban growth in South America, ethnic makeup of countries in Asia, etc.)

From the Editor window of your Project, select the Data tab from the left sidebar and click on Maps. Different types of Maps will appear for you to select from. Select the map you want by simply clicking on it. The map settings pop-up window will appear.

Or…

By clicking the Countries option, you will be able to add a map of a specific country to your project. A pop-up window will appear from where you can search for any country by either typing its name in the search bar at the top right or scrolling through the list. Click on Edit this Map to move forward.Once you’ve selected your country or region, you can then click on the Edit This Map option at the bottom right of the pop-up window tu customize the data of your map.

Under the Regions tab, you can also visualize major world regions, such as Africa or Asia.

When customizing your data, you’ll see that each state or country’s area is shown by default under the Map Data tab. You can either choose not to display it by simply clicking on the Eye icon of each area.

Hover over the column titles and click over the Edit button to rename a column with an appropriate title. To delete a column click over any cell in the column and then choose the Remove This Column option from the dropdown menu.

You can also click on the swatch under the Color column and choose previously used palettes under the My Colors tab or apply any of Visme’s 50 color combinations under the Presets tab.

You can insert your own information by clicking on the Add More Data button and then fill the cells with the information. You can also paste the data from Excel or Google Sheets into the column.

You can add as many columns of information as needed, just make sure to rename your column with an appropriate title by clicking on the cell and typing in the name

Tip: Before you copy data from Excel or Google Sheets, make sure it is in order according to the appearance of each country or state in Visme’s Map Data spreadsheet.

Note: If users add some map data but leave other cells blank, the map will only show the data you imput.

Under the Map Settings tab, you’ll find several options that will allow you to further customize the way you visualize your data.

Style Settings

For example, you can choose a Global Map Color (although the local colors you defined in the previous step will override this setting), or you can Show borders between states or provinces and set a color to them. You can also activate the Show Caption on Hover so that when the cursor moves over any state, the data inserted in the previous step is displayed. In order to create contrast with your global map color, you can choose a light or dark colored caption.

Data Settings

Next, you can display the data inserted under the Map Data tab by activating the Area Value Map setting. Once you do this, other options will appear, such as a drop down menu with the names of all the columns of data your created in Step 3. Here, you can choose which column of data you’d like to visualize.

If you’re dealing with numerical data, you can visualize the range of values in your data set through a corresponding range of colors. To do this, simply choose a Start and End color under the Area Value Colors setting, and the Map Engine will automatically assign a hue within this color range to each of your data points.

Also, you can activate the Show Legend option to display the colors that correspond with each range of values. From the drop-down menu, you can choose whether to display it to the right, left, top or bottom of the map. Depending on your background color, you can also choose to make the color of your Legend Text dark or light.

Tip: If your information is textual, not numerical, apply a color to each individual state in accordance with its category, following the instructions outlined in the previous step.

How to create an interactive map

Style Settings

Data Settings

Visme 101