PolicyMap News

With the helpful feedback from our users, PolicyMap has recently added a new printing option. The PNG (or High Resolution) option allows users to print an electronic copy that might be slightly larger in size but offers more detail and a finer quality. The JPG printout still provides a quick and easy way to share maps, tables, Analytics from PolicyMap, and a PDF (which uses the JPG images) is formatted perfectly so you can simply print and insert into handouts.

Here are side by side examples of a PNG printout and a JPG printout, and links to the original files.

(more…)

Interested in learning more about PolicyMap? Sign up for one of our free online orientation sessions. Contact us and let us know which of the upcoming sessions you want to attend. We will send you directions for accessing the session when we confirm your attendance.

We have created a Quick Start for those who wish to jump right into PolicyMap. You’ll learn how to search for specific addresses, locations or census tracts, find and add data to your map, use the identify tool to see the data behind the map and use the features loaded into the legend. Download the Quick Start guide here: Quick Start Guide v2.8.1

For a more complete guide to PolicyMap, check out our PolicyMap Primer which covers all features on PolicyMap including unique subscriber data. You can download it here: PolicyMap Primer v2.8.1.

Send an email to info@policymap.com with your requested time and date.

September 2010

October 2010

For additional questions regarding PolicyMap, please contact our support team at info@policymap.com or call us at 866-923-MAPS (6277).

Keys for editing the widget URL

What is a widget? Widgets are customizable instances of PolicyMap maps with dynamic features such as the ability to zoom into or pan across a map, click on an area to view the underlying data or toggle between additional data layers and points of data.

Each widget is completely customized to our users’ needs. Users can decide the default location, type of datasets to display, and boundaries to overlay. Within the URL of the PolicyMap widget, there are commands which allow some basic customization of the widget, and outside the URL are customizations for the frame of the widget. Some of these customizations are only available if the widget was originally designed to have the feature.

(more…)

Welcome to our series on helpful tips for PolicyMap. With over 10,000 data indicators and many online features, we hope our series can help users better utilize PolicyMap. For a complete training, please join a free online session here: Click Here

Did you know you can print a map of just your target area shaded and have the surrounding area clear?  We call this feature "island printing."  To use island printing:

Search for your default location.  Your searched location will be the area the map will shade by. (i.e. searching for Chicago will only shade the city of Chicago when you choose "island printing.") Create a map as normal with a data layer and  Add Sites. When you are ready to print the map, choose "only shade selected region."

(more…)

From data layers to reports to Analytics, PolicyMap offers many ways to interact with data. To help you become familiar with the system, we have created the PolicyMap Primer. This is a complete overview of all features and functions.

Download PolicyMap Primer

Updates to the Primer:

• March, 2010 – New ways to build custom regions
• April, 2010 – Interactive widgets
• May, 2010 – Make time series maps using Edit Ranges
• July, 2010 – Google aerial maps

At PolicyMap, we strive to continually improve our application and will keep you posted as we update data, add new datasets or introduce new functionality. The Primer will also be updated as new features are added to PolicyMap.

If you would like more information on various features or have any questions about PolicyMap, please join us in our weekly trainings (open calendar) or contact us at (866) 923-MAPS (6277) or info@policymap.com.

Welcome to our series on helpful tips for PolicyMap. With over 10,000 data indicators and many online features, we hope our series can help users better utilize PolicyMap. For a complete training, please join a free online session here: Click Here

Did you know subscribers can draw custom regions to aggregate data in reports and tables, and then quickly share those custom regions with any other subscribers? Custom regions allow a subscriber to draw their own boundaries that might not fit with pre-defined geographies.  Custom regions can cross county lines, zip codes, census tract, and more.  Users can aggregate data within a custom region in reports and tables, or add custom boundaries to maps and Analytics.
(more…)

Welcome to our series on helpful tips for PolicyMap. With over 10,000 indicators of data and many features, we hope our series can help users better utilize PolicyMap. For a complete training, please join a free online session here: Click Here

Did you know that clearing your computer’s temporary internet files can speed up your browser and also fix problems you might have using PolicyMap? Taking this simple step can eliminate issues on PolicyMap like maps not loading, not being able to search with the Set Location, or other odd experiences on PolicyMap?

Deleting temporary internet files is normally done by your network or computer during scheduled maintenance or a restart. But, if PolicyMap ever behaves oddly for you, this is a good maintenance step to take on your own and give your browser a fresh start to the internet. It will not delete any important files or information on your computer.

Depending on the browser you use, there are different ways to delete your temporary internet files (also known as “clearing your cache”).

• For Google Chrome – On the top right, select the wrench icon, and select Options. In the Personal Stuff tab, click “Clear browsing data…” in the Browsing data section. A new window will open, check off “Empty the cache” and select Everything for the period of time, and finally click Clear Browsing Data. Once complete, close all windows and the browser, and reopen Google Chrome.
• For Internet Explorer 7 & 8 – On the top of your browser, go to Tools and open Internet Options. In the General tab, click Delete in Browsing history, make sure Temporary Internet files is checked off and click Delete. Once completed, close and then reopen your browser.
• For Internet Explorer 6 or below – On the top of your browser, go to Tools and open Internet Options. In the General tab, click Delete Files, if a confirmation window comes up, click OK and proceed to delete your temporary internet files. Once completed, close and then reopen your browser.
• For Mozilla Firefox – On the top of your browser, go to Tools then Clear Private Data. Make sure Cache is checked off and click Clear Private Data Now. Once complete, close and then reopen your browser.
• MAC users using Safari – Click the Options icon and select Reset Safari. Once complete, close and reopen your browser.

And, of course, if you have any questions please send us an email or give us a quick call at 1-866-923-MAPS. Read our Quick Start Guide to learn the basics of PolicyMap and jump right into using the power of data.

If you wanted to know more about a feature or topic, send your request to info@policymap.com subject “Did you Know…”

Sincerely,

The PolicyMap Team

Welcome to our series on helpful tips for PolicyMap. With over 4,000 indicators of data and many features, we hope our series can help users better utilize PolicyMap. For a complete training, please join a free online session here: Click Here

Did you know subscribers can see where a geography ranks  in a dataset on PolicyMap. Want to see how your state ranks in the nation?  Or your city?  Or even your census tract? Rankings will let you see how your location compares and also show the top 10 and bottom 10 locations in that dataset.

(more…)

Welcome to our series on helpful tips for PolicyMap. With over 4,000 indicators of data and many features, we hope our series can help users better utilize PolicyMap. For a complete training, please join a free online session here: Click Here

You access See Values by:

• Select the Tables button on the top left. This step requires you to add location(s) and a data layer.
• Open from the identifier bubble on the map and select See Table. This step will pull all the geographies in the ID bubble into the table and the current data layer loaded.

(more…)

Steps:
 

1. Create the map you would like to share and click on the “embed” button that appears below the map. A dialogue box will appear, allowing you to specify the size of the map you’d like to embed*.
2. Select the dimensions you want. A new dialogue box will open with the html code for your map. Highlight the code and copy it.
3. Paste this code directly into the html on your website or send the code to your webmaster.
4. You are now ready to share the map you created.
5. To save it for later use or to preview your map, open a text application (Notepad, Wordpad, Microsoft Word). Paste in the code you copied and save the file with the extension of .html.

*Note: The embedded map will not include the title or the legend. However, when you click on the image it will take them to the live map, which has all of the information.

Please attend our free online training sessions to learn many more features on PolicyMap: Training Calender