MapBusinessOnline newsletter – February 2017

MBO News - TLS 1.0 Support Ends in February as MBO Implements TLS 1.1/1.2 Security Enhancement

MapBusinessOnline, in keeping with Cloud-based application software security requirements, is dropping support for TLS 1.0 and moving to TLS 1.1/1.2 - providing enhanced security for enterprises accessing MBO over the Internet. Some users accessing MBO through old browser versions may find the tool no longer works on their configuration. Please check this help article to see if your browser is up-to-date with security requirements or if it can be configured to provide a safe Web surfing experience.

MBO Discussion - Heat Mapping in MBO

Can you take the Heat? Lots of people can and they define heat maps in slightly different ways. In MBO we have a heat map button, the dayglow colored bullseye. It lets users access numeric data columns in their data and apply a heat map classification based on that data column to show areas of hot and cold activity. The tool requires numeric data - like sales figures or tracked counts. The tool will not generate a heat map on MBO demographic data.

Some people refer to color shaded county or ZIP code maps as heat maps. In MBO we just never thought of describing color shaded districts that way. So, if your boss wants a demographic heat map he may simply be referring to the ability to color shade ZIP codes by Median Income or Population. That we can do.

MBO Tips & Tricks

Latitude & Longitude - Although MBO is not a bulk Lat/Lon generation tool you can derive latitude & longitude coordinates by address. Import a dataset, key in your address in the address bar, or simply plot a point. With your data layer saved, in the Data Window look for your target record in the data drop down. Hover over the far-left column of the Data Window view and choose to Edit the Address or Location. Click or move that Map Point in the map view. Now look at the address match window. There's your Lat/Lon coordinate. Copy and paste to where you like. You're welcome.

Calculate that Data Column - Remember you can perform some math in MBO. Decide which geographic layer makes sense for your math - ZIP codes, counties, state. In Map & Data hover over that layer and click the edit gear. Under the General Tab choose that lower button - Manage Calculated Data Columns. Now choose Add Data Column. Name it, choose a format and select your data layers for your multiplication or division. You can pull in demographic data (use your Control key to select multiple layers), your own imported business layers. And remember, for multiple step formulas you can export your calculated data, reimport into MBO as a business layer, and then conduct more calculations on that data. Minds officially blown!

Lightning Video - Formatting Exported MBO CSV Files in Excel

If you're an Excel wizard, please move along. There's nothing for you here. But for us less technical people, sometimes you get tripped up using MBO Exported data. We export all data in a CSV file (.csv) format. So, when you go to use an exported file you may find it opens and needs to be reorganized for use in Excel. If you open a CSV file from within Excel choose the Data Menu and the function labeled Text to Columns. This opens a window many of us are familiar with. In that process choose Delimited, and then choose Comma. Press finish and you'll have a nice Excel file you can work with. Here's a video link.

MBO Feature of the Month - Color Code with Circles

MBO offers many options for symbolizing and classifying data. Color code by Circle lets you assign circles of varying size (not to be confused with rodents of unusual size) and color to your data. This is really nice for over or under emphasizing a data set value. You can control the size by one column, the color by another and the label by a third data column. Remember this option allows you to insert a value inside your symbol.

MBO Community - It's Personal

Do you use your MBO for personal stuff? I do. My wife and I are headed to Florida next week. First winter vacation in 30 years of marriage. Wish us luck. I used MBO to visualize Ft. Lauderdale hotel locations, mostly to gauge proximity to the beach and the airport. If I'm going hiking, I take a look at the target area using both topographic background map options and the aerial/satellite imagery. It helps me get oriented. And if I have to head across Maine for some reason I always check my route plan in MBO to get a time estimate and look for the most efficient route. Business maps - they're fun too.

Share Your Map Story

As always we are interested in ways to make MapBusinessOnline the best mapping software possible. Send us your business mapping software application examples. There are many map users who would like to learn about your application of business mapping.

Referrals

Referrals to friends, relatives or business associates are the highest compliments we receive from our clients. We appreciate your referrals.