Creating Maps

In this section, we’ll create a Map using some uploaded datasets, combine them with some other datasets from remote web services, and then share the resulting map for public viewing.

In order to create new maps you can use:

  • The Create map listed after clicking the Add Resource button on the All Resources list page.

    ../../_images/create_map_link.png

    The Create Map from All Resources page

  • The New button after clicking the Maps button on the menu bar.

    ../../_images/new_map_link.png

    The Create Map from Maps page

  • The Create map link in the Dataset Page (it creates a map using a specific dataset)

    ../../_images/create_map_button.png

    The Create map from dataset

The new Map will open in a Map Viewer like the one in the picture below.

../../_images/map_viewer.png

The Map Viewer

Using the Add dataset link, you can add a layer by clicking on one of the layers listed in the catalog. In the upper left corner the TOC button button opens the Table of Contents (TOC) of the Map. It allows to manage all the datasets associated with the map and to add new ones from the Add dataset. The TOC component makes possible to manage datasets overlap on the map by shifting their relative positions in the list (drag and drop them up or down in the list). It also allows to hide/show datasets ( show_button and hide_button ), to zoom to datasets extents ( zoom_to_dataset_extent_button ) and to manage their properties ( dataset_settings_button ). Once the map datasets have been settled it is possible to save the Map by clicking on the Save as under the Resources link in the map toolbar.

If you followed the steps above, you have just created your first Map. Now you should see it in the Explore Maps page, see Map Information for further details.

We will take a closer look at the Map Viewer tools in the Map tools and configuration section.