In these short video tutorials you will follow one of our instructors to learn about Map Features, and how to set up in EarthRanger admin.
Introduction to Map Features
Learn how to create, organize, and customize map features in EarthRanger to enhance geospatial data visualization. This guided demo introduces you to map features, hierarchy levels, and tools for managing spatial data effectively.
Transcript:
Hello, welcome to the EarthRanger guided demos. My name is Camila, and today I will guide you through a demonstration of map features in EarthRanger. This will be a series of short videos demonstrating how to create, organize, and customize map features in EarthRanger. The goal is to enhance the presentation and visualization of geospatial data, ensuring that the information is clear and accurately reflects your geospatial data management in your platform.
We'll cover the following points in this demo. In the first section that you see in this video, we'll have an introduction to map features. In the second section, you'll learn about the hierarchy levels of organization, which includes display categories, feature classes, and features. In section 3, you learn how to add map features to EarthRanger. In these videos, we'll cover two ways to add map features: importing geospatial files and drawing map features in EarthRanger.
Section 4 is focused on map quick links, how to add map quick links to your EarthRanger map. And section 5 is related to feature groups. Let’s start with the introduction to Map Features. The map features are basically all the geospatial data you want to visualize in your EarthRanger map. They are customizable, and after adding the information to the platform, you can see the list of features on the left side of the screen, in the section called map layers.
This section presents not only the features but all the information visible on the EarthRanger map. It can include Events, Subjects, Analyzers at the bottom, and the central point of this guided demo, the features. I will turn the other layers off for better visualization of the features for this demo. The geospatial data can include vectorial data in three different formats: points, lines, and polygons.
This information can be organized at a hierarchical structure in EarthRanger. There are three levels of hierarchy: display categories, feature classes, and features. These names are all customizable. The display categories are the higher level of organization corresponding to the most comprehensive levels. They are groupings of layers. They appear as drop-down folders in the features section.
Inside the display categories, you can have multiple feature classes. The feature classes are drop-down subfolders inside the display category folders. They correspond to the layers. Finally, inside the feature classes, you can have the features, which are the geospatial elements themselves. There are many ways to organize the map features using the hierarchy levels. The most common one is organizing them by type of information.
For example, here we have a display category for the boundaries, another one for the points of interest, and another one for the roads. Inside the roads, we have two different feature classes: one for the secondary roads with this feature and another one for the primary roads with this feature. Here you can see two other examples of organizing map features in EarthRanger using the display categories and feature classes.
As you can see, there is no specific rule for the way you organize them. The most important thing is that the organization must accurately reflect your spatial data management and work for your needs. In the next videos, you will learn how to create, organize, and manage each one of these levels using the EarthRanger administrator interface. I hope you enjoy!
Map Features Hierarchy
In this video, you’ll learn how to organize and configure map features in EarthRanger.
Key Topics Covered:
00:00:06 – Introduction to the hierarchy of map features (Display Categories, Feature Classes, Features).
00:00:55 – How to configure Display Categories in the Admin Interface.
01:00:26 – Understanding Feature Classes: Geometry types and presentation settings (color, icons, transparency).
02:58:00 – Managing Individual Features and their properties.
03:43:00 – Demo: Creating a new Feature Class with custom icons.
04:45:00 – Previewing and saving configurations for real-world use.
Transcript:
Hello, welcome to the second video of the map features guided demo. In this video, you will learn about the levels of organization of map features in EarthRanger. In the previous video, you learned how to find the map features in the EarthRanger operators interface. We also mentioned that there are many possible ways to organize the map features in EarthRanger using the hierarchy levels of organization. In this video, you will learn how to manage the levels of organization of map features using the EarthRanger administrators interface. The administrator's interface is the place where you can configure everything that is visible on the operator's interface. So let's start with the demo.
There are three levels of organizations for map features in EarthRanger: the display categories, the feature classes, and the features. We will start with the display categories. I am using a demonstration site for this guided demo. Do you remember the site I showed you when I was showing how to find the features in EarthRanger map? This is the administrator's interface of that site. To find the map features configurations, you must scroll down to the section called Map Layers. This section includes everything you need for the map features configuration.
For the display categories configurations, you can click on display categories. It will open a list of all existing display categories of a site. Some display categories are created by default in all EarthRanger sites. Please note that if a display category is included in this list, it doesn't mean it necessarily will be visible on the map features list. It’s only visible if the feature classes inside the display category are visible and if there are features included in the feature classes.
Now let's talk about the Feature Classes. The Feature Classes are the second level of organization. They are groupings of similar spatial features. For example, rivers, lakes, villages, ranger camps. There are two important points about the Feature Classes: The first one is that each feature class can contain only one type of geometry (points, lines, or polygons). The second point is that the presentation configuration is defined by feature classes. All the features inside the same Feature Class will have the same configurations for color, stroke, transparency, and icons.
Finally, the Features are the individual geospatial elements. They can represent key areas, roads, points of interest, or anything else you want to visualize in the EarthRanger map. In the next video, you will learn how to add Features to EarthRanger by importing or drawing them. I hope you enjoyed.
Adding Map Features in EarthRanger
Learn how to seamlessly add map features to EarthRanger by importing geospatial files! This step-by-step tutorial covers file preparation (GeoJSON/shapefiles), coordinate systems, attribute tables, and uploading via the admin interface. Perfect for conservation teams managing spatial data, this demo ensures you’ll master:
- Key prerequisites for file compatibility.
- Creating Feature Classes and Display Categories.
- Troubleshooting imports and visualizing features.
Key Topics Covered:
- Introduction & Overview
- [00:00:06] Welcome and demo scope (importing vs. drawing features).
- Geospatial File Preparation
- [00:01:23] Using QGIS to validate files (single layer, geometry type, EPSG:4326).
- [00:02:52] Attribute table requirements (unique names column).
- File Import Process
- [00:06:51] Uploading via Admin Interface (Feature Import Files).
- [00:08:04] Creating a new Feature Class (icons, naming conventions).
- Verification & Visualization
- [00:09:35] Checking import success in Features list.
- [00:10:06] Viewing features in the Operator interface.
- Conclusion & Next Steps
- [00:10:37] Preview of next session (drawing features).
Transcript:
Hello, welcome to the third section of the Map Features guided demo.
In this section you will learn how to add Map Features to EarthRanger.
We'll focus on two options to add map features which are
Importing geospatial files and drawing Map Features in EarthRanger.
There is also a third option which is the integration with ArcGIS online.
If you are interested in this integration please contact the Support Team it won't be covered in this demo.
So let's start with the importation of geospatial files.
The process for importing geospatial files involves the following steps:
One, to prepare geospatial file.
Two, to verify and create the corresponding display categories and Feature Classes.
Three, add the file to EarthRanger.
Four, verify if the features are correctly imported.
Five, ensure if the features are visible in the Map Layers.
And six, customize the features as needed.
The points two and six were already covered in the previous video of this guided demo.
We will start with the preparation of the geospatial files.
To prepare your geospatial file we recommend you use a GIS tool which is a geographic information system tool.
There are many options of these tools, some are online others are offline.
In this case for this demo I am using the QGIS which is a desktop software.
This is my QGIS and I will open the geospatial file I want to import into EarthRanger.
Just to make sure if the configurations are compatible with EarthRanger.
This is the file, “Gates” it's a Geojson file.
Here you can see some important characteristics about this file.
As you can see my file contains only one layer called gates,
and this layer includes two features which are two points.
It brings me to some important prerequisites about adding geospatial files to EarthRanger.
When you import a geospatial file it's important that the file must contain only one layer,
but the layer can include multiple features.
This is exactly what we see here.
It has one layer and the layer includes multiple features.
It could be one feature or multiple features, it doesn't matter the important is that it has only one layer with the features.
Another important point is that each file must contain only one geometry type:
points, lines or polygons.
If you have different geometry types in the same file you must separate them into different files.
In this case here I have only points in this file, so it's okay to add them to EarthRanger.
Now let's check the projection, which is the coordinate reference system.
In EarthRanger we only accept the coordinate reference system EPSG:4326.
To check the coordinate reference system,
you can look into the properties of a layer.
Here you can see the coordinate reference system is EPSG:4674.
We will need to change the coordinate reference system of this file.
We can do it by exporting the file into a different coordinate system, let's do it.
I will use the same name, Gates, and will only add 4326 to better recognize it.
And I will export it in this coordinate system which is 4326.
Okay, now I have the same features and the same layer into a different coordinate system,
and I will remove the other one.
Now if we check the coordinate reference system of this layer,
we can confirm it's the correct one 4326.
The one accepted in EarthRanger.
The last thing we need to do to prepare our geospatial file
is to ensure the attribute table includes a column with unique values to name each feature.
The attribute tables are part of the geospatial files.
We can open the attribute table here by clicking on open attribute table.
And here you can see a table where each line corresponds to each feature.
And each column corresponds to an attribute of this feature.
In this case we need to identify a column that contains names for each feature.
For example, here we can see there is a column called “Gate” under the line “Name”.
And it includes a unique name for each feature.
This is the column we will use in EarthRanger to name each feature also in EarthRanger.
If you had empty values in this column,
you will need to fill them out before importing the geospatial file into EarthRanger.
The last thing that is important to note before importing the geospatial file
into EarthRanger is the file type.
EarthRanger only accepts GeoJSON or shapefiles.
In this demo we are using a GeoJSON file.
When using a GeoJSON file,
you have only one single file that can be directly imported into your EarthRanger.
However you can also use shapefiles.
Shapefiles are actually collections of files that store geographical information.
So when you use a shapefile, besides the .shp file,
you need also all the other files with different extensions.
Given this, before importing a shapefile into your EarthRanger, you must compress the files
into one single zip file.
You can only add a shapefile if it's compressed into a zip file with the other additional files.
Now that we’ve checked and confirmed our file matches all the prerequisites to be imported into your EarthRanger,
we can finally import it.
To import a geospatial file into EarthRanger,
you must go to the administrator's interface.
Scroll down to the Map Layer section.
And click on Feature Import Files.
Here you will see a list of all previously imported geospatial files.
To add a new one you must click on Add Feature Import File.
In this page, you can define all the configuration to import your geospatial file.
In file type you can choose if it's a shape or a GeoJSON.
Please remember that when it's a shapefile you must upload a ZIP file.
In this case we are using a GeoJSON.
The ID is automatic and created by the system.
The spatial file name and the description are optional,
you can use them for future reference.
In the data you can select your file to upload it.
I will select the file called Gates_4326,
and I will also paste the name here for future reference.
The Feature Type is exactly the same as Feature Class.
Do you remember? The second level of organization which are responsible for the Features presentation.
If you already have a Feature Class in place for the Features you are importing,
you can select it on the list.
If not, which is my case.
You can create a new one by clicking on the green icon.
It opens a new page where you can create the Feature Class.
I will name it as Gates.
I will add it to the Display Category called Points of interest.
And for the presentation, since the Features are points,
I will choose the default points presentation.
Now, I will choose the icon to represent the Features that will be included to this Feature class.
In our support portal, we have an article called “Feature Classes.”
There you can find a list with all the currently available Feature icons on EarthRanger.
I will choose one of them for the Gates.
I’ll copy its name and paste it here. Done.
Now, we will save the Feature Class.
Grab the names to name each Feature.
In this case the column was called gate_name.
You don't need to care about the ID,
and you can already save it to import your file.
After importing it, it's important that you go back to the Feature Import File page.
And check the feature load status.
It will tell you if the features were successfully imported.
As you can see, they were.
Now, we can go to the Features page.
By going back to Map Layers,
Features,
And look for the features we imported.
They should be called Gate A and Gate B.
Here they are.
Gate A and Gate B added to the Feature Class called Gates.
And linked to the Spatial File called Gates_4326.
Now, let's see how they look like in the Operator’s interface.
You can go directly to that page by clicking on the View Site.
We can go to Map Layers,
Features,
Look for the Display Category called Points of Interest,
And the Feature Class called Gate.
And here we can see the two Features we added from the Geospatial File.
If we jump to this location, we can see the icon we choose for their representation.
And here we have the two Features we imported.
I hope you enjoyed this session.
In the next one you will learn how to draw Map Features inside EarthRanger.