Quick Tips: Mapping
Inspired by some recent support desk questions, this week’s SimplyMap report will provide some useful tips and tricks to help make the most out of your maps. Let’s get started!
First, let’s take a look at the map that we will apply changes to. This is a map showing Median Household Income for the city of Chicago:
At this level of zoom and geography, your map will display by ZIP Codes. If you’d like to see a more granular map, select a smaller geography from the View Data By dropdown in your map legend. The map below displays the data by census tract:
Next, when you create maps in SimplyMap, by default the legend values will use national figures. If you would like to see your map legend changed to reflect the underlying data specifically for the region shown on the map, try changing the classification method to be Quantiles Local. This option is found in the Edit Legend menu.
New map shown below with reconfigured break points:
The last tip we have here involves applying a location mask to your map. Doing so will remove the surrounding areas around your selected location. This feature is found in the Display Options dropdown located towards the top right of SimplyMap.
Final map shown below:
Our tips summarized:
1. Try changing the unit of geography for your map to be smaller from the View Data By dropdown in the legend.
2. Change the classification method of your map to be quantiles local. This reconfigures your break points to reflect the underlying data of your study area (we used Chicago).
3. Apply a Location Mask from the Display Options menu.
We hope you enjoyed these tips - stay tuned for more!
More from SimplyAnalytics
Posted on Dec 07, 2011 by Admin
We will be exhibiting at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting & Exhibition in Dallas this January. Visit us at booth 2513 for a demonstration and to have all your Simply...
Posted on Jan 08, 2018 by Admin
The SimplyAnalytics team will be exhibiting at ALA Midwinter in Denver February 9-12. Stop by booth 2152 for a visit and a tour of SimplyAnalytics, the best-in-class analytics and data vi...
Posted on Apr 17, 2018 by Admin
The SimplyAnalytics team would like to congratulate Rachel Holder, MLS candidate at Indiana University for being selected as this year's recipient of the BRASS Student Travel Award! ...
Posted on Nov 24, 2014 by Admin
In this week’s report, we research America’s most educated cities. SimplyMap contains a total of 111 educational attainment variables, including general population and by race. We used th...
Posted on Mar 21, 2018 by Admin
The Quick Report is one of the newest features added to SimplyAnalytics - let’s take a look at how it can support your research. This report instantly provides you with a curated list of ...
Posted on Nov 19, 2019 by Admin
Hello readers! Today we are bringing you a new blog entry inspired by a recent Help Desk question. If you ever have any questions about SimplyAnalytics, please do not hesitate to reach ou...
Posted on Feb 16, 2009 by Admin
Men's Health conducted their first survey of America's recycling habits, and used SimplyMap in their research. Here’s how the editors explain their methodology: To determine how well citi...
Posted on Jan 29, 2016 by Admin
In a previous blog entry, we highlighted the benefits of having multiple years of data available for the same variable. This allows users to identify trends over time. Keeping with the sa...
Posted on Nov 28, 2012 by Admin
Come visit the SimplyMap team at the ALA Midwinter Meeting, January 25 - 28, 2013 in Seattle, WA. We will be in Booth 1307, and as always we look forward to meeting with customers new and...
Posted on May 03, 2011 by Admin
The GRI team is very excited to announce the launch of SimplyMap 2.0! Completely redesigned, it is now easier than ever to access data and create professional quality thematic maps and re...




