The latest version of Polimapper includes a number of significant improvements across the front-end and content management system.
- PDF downloads
- PNG exports
- Data driven narratives
- Chart wizard
- Map key modifications
We will be taking a more in-depth look at each one of these in turn in the coming weeks, but below is a brief overview of the new functionality.
PDF Downloads
It is now possible to export printable one-page PDF summaries of constituencies, local authorities or other local profiles. This provides ready-made collateral that can be handed or emailed to political stakeholders after meetings. The summaries can be printed by visiting the local profile you want the data for, and clicking the print icon (figure 1) in the top right corner.
PNG Exports
National heatmaps can now be exported as PNGs for use in presentations, reports and as social media collateral.
Simply click the download icon (figure 3) on any page to download the heatmap currently selected for display.
Data Driven Narratives
We have introduced some additional functionality around the presentation and layout of local area profiles. There is now an optional text block that appears above the data so you can provide an introduction to the information you are about to present.
However, much more significant is the roll out merge tags to both the existing and new text boxes in local area profiles to enable you to insert data directly into the text.
This means you can now create templates which incorporate bespoke local area data, enabling you to shape a data driven narrative with lots of context and lead viewers through to a call-to-action.
Charts Wizard
We have made a number of improvements to the charts wizard, meaning this is now fully operational and ready for use.
A range of bespoke charts can be added to both the national and local profiles to help visualise key data points, and help viewers of your pages better understand the narrative you are trying to communicate through the data.
There are five different chart types available:
- Bar
- Line
- Column
- Pie
- Donut
The colours are fully customisable and independent of the default project colours, while it is also possible to toggle averages on and off.
Map Key Modifications
One of the biggest changes to be introduced is one that could go unnoticed to all but a power user. Map key creation has been completely revamped to provide a lot more flexibility in the way data is presented on a map.
There are now three options when creating a key:
- Equal ranges – this is the default setting. Each key category/colour will represent an equal sized range (e.g 1-100, 101 – 200, 201 – 300)
- Equal count – switching to equal count means each key category/colour will contain the same number of data points. This effectively changes the way values are distributed to percentiles, but means the ranges could vary widely in size based on the distribution of values.
- Custom – either of the above options can be edited further enabling you to create key values to suit your requirements. The Key Range switches to custom whenever you manually edit the values.
Display ranges
We have introduced a second Display Ranges box beneath the main key. This displays what will appear as the key on the map. It gives you the opportunity to independently tweak the display without altering the way in which the underlying ranges are calculated.