| Quick Guides - Uploading My Data | |
The data uploading tool allows you to upload your own data into the DataPlace mapping and charting system. With this versatile and powerful tool, you can:
- Upload your spreadsheet files in standard .xls (Excel) format.
- Generate point maps from addresses, thematic maps, charts, rankings, and scatterplots of your data.
- Choose who will see your data. You can share your data and maps with all DataPlace users, with a group or groups, or keep your data private for your use only.
How does it work? After you upload your spreadsheet, the
data uploader looks for geographic locations in each row of your
spreadsheet table. These locations can either be individual points on a
map, such as street addresses, or regions, such as cities, counties,
census tracts, zip codes, states, or metropolitan statistical areas.
The data uploader next looks at the columns in your table to see if
they can be turned into indicators for mapping or charting. It then
combines the geographic information and indicator data into your own
data maps.
To get started, go to My DataPlace www.dataplace.org/userpref/ and scroll down to My Dataset Projects.
Here are some tips to make the process go as smoothly as possible.
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| Step 1: Prepare Your Spreadsheet for Uploading | |
Format your spreadsheet:
- The first row of your spreadsheet tells us what you are trying to
upload. For instance, if you want to upload data about the number of
people in your organization in a particular city, the top row should
include descriptive column headings like "Full Name," "Street Address,"
"City," "State" and so on. The rows following the first one should have
data like "Tom Jones," "123 Main St," "New York," "NY" and so on.
Again, the first row tells us what your columns are about, and the rows
following the first row contain the data you're uploading.
- Include address and/or region information in every row.
Every row in your spreadsheet should have either a full street address or region information (such as a city or county name), or both. Regions can include: cities, counties, states, zip codes, census tracts, or geographic regions you have custom-defined within DataPlace.
- Addresses & regions can be in either single or multiple columns (with the exception of counties, see below). So, the data uploader will recognize your addresses, for example, if your street address, city, state, and zip code information is entered in a single column, or entered in adjacent columns.
- Be sure addresses & regions are in typical mailing address order: For example, 'City' should go before 'State,' and street addresses should precede cities. "Wisconsin, Madison" may confuse the system; best to stick to "Madison, Wisconsin."
- County Names: To code data by county, be sure to include "county" within the region cell, for example, "Los Angeles County."
Check region names:
- The data uploader currently cannot recognize neighborhood names or informal
place names (e.g., "Noe Valley, San Francisco," or "East Village,
Manhattan"). It can recognize cities, counties, census tracts, zip
codes, states, or metropolitan statistical areas. However, some very
small places can't be found in the system, despite your ability to find
them on a map (i.e., Pistol River, OR). We hope to provide the ability to recognize these places in the future.
- Remember that many locations share names. For instance, there are many cities named Troy throughout the United States. If you have a particular Troy you'd like identified by the system, you'll need to be sure that the state associated with that Troy is close by. Unique names, like the city of Truth or Consequences, need not have the associated state (NM) to be recognized. The preferred format is City Name, State (e.g., Troy, MI).
- Geography Recognition Tip: Sometimes DataPlace will not recognize places you
think it should know, or will get it wrong. If you want to ensure
DataPlace is putting in every place you want to upload, try going back
to the auto-complete function in the search box on any DataPlace page
and look for clues to how DataPlace names places. For instance, "Ft
Lee" will not be recognized in DataPlace, although we have two places
that are so named, but in a more full way -- "Fort Lee, NJ" or "Fort
Lee, VA". If you're loading places just in Virginia, you might not know
Fort Lee, NJ exists, but DataPlace will. So, be sure to try to match
the auto-complete names found in search as best you can when choosing
region or place names for uploading.
Clean Tables Work Best:
- Consider saving a cleaned-up or stripped-down copy of your spreadsheet just for uploading.
- Look through your table and delete any incidental marks or notes in data cells that might confuse the uploading system (e.g., cells with asterisks or question marks).
- Comments and Title Text: If you have comments and title text above or below your spreadsheet table, the uploading system may be able to handle them. Your best bet for a trouble-free upload, though, is to delete everything above the column header row and everything after the last column row in the table.
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| Step 2: Create a New Project | |
To begin the uploading process, click on the "My DataPlace" link near the upper-right corner of the DataPlace screen. Data uploading is available to all registered and logged-in users. Registration is free and takes just a few seconds.
At the bottom of your "My DataPlace" page, click on "Create New Project" to the right of the row labeled "My Data Set Projects."
Enter a name that describes the general topic area covered by your data, for example, "Elementary Education" or "Foreclosures." For each project you create, you will able to upload multiple files, and create multiple datasets.
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| Step 3: Upload Your Data File(s) | |
Browse to your spreadsheet file on your computer, and click "Upload File."
After uploading, your file should be listed on the page, along with several options. You can delete the file, preview the file, download the file (e.g., to another computer), replace the file with a more recent or revised version, and "Extract Tables."
Preview the file to be sure that the uploader has read your spreadsheet correctly.
If you spot any errors, go back to the spreadsheet to see if it can be further cleaned for a second attempt at uploading.
If the preview looks good, click "Extract Tables."
If your spreadsheet contains multiple worksheet tables, the extractor will separate them into individual tables. After extracting, you again have the option of previewing the tables to be sure they have been read correctly.
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Enter the name, description, date range, and source of your dataset. Click "OK."
This information will be especially useful if you plan to share this data with others, or if you are working with multiple datasets.
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| Step 5: Configure Dataset | |
This is the heart of the data uploading system. Here, you tell the uploader which of your table columns you want to use as indicators, which columns contain geographic information, which columns contain other details about a location, and which (if any) columns should be ignored. You can also tell the uploader to subtotal data in particular columns, or to group data according to year. The system makes an educated guess about how to process your spreadsheet, but on this page you can control these settings.
Notice the Status Box to the lower right of your screen. Here, the data uploader flags potential problems.
Click through each row listed on the page. Each of these rows
corresponds to a column in your dataset table. When you click on a row,
you will see options for telling the system how to handle that column
in your table. You can also edit your column names.
Edit Column Names, if necessary. Be sure to enter and descriptive clear column names. These names will be used to label your indicators, and good names will make it much easier to find the indicators you create. If you plan to share you data with others, try to avoid using cryptic acronyms or abbreviations; "Percent Enrollment in Individualized Education Programs" will probably be clearer than "pctIEP," for example.
Look over the five "Purpose" checkboxes. Here, you tell the uploader the purpose of each table column. If you want the uploader to ignore a column, leave each of these boxes unchecked. Here is a quick rundown of the "Purpose" checkboxes:
- Part of Region: If your table column contains region information that you want to system to code -- for example, counties, states, or zip codes -- then the "part of region" box should be checked.
- Part of A Street Address: If a column is a street address, or part of a street address, check "Part of a Street Address." This information will generate points on a map.
- Indicator: this is the data you want to see mapped or charted.
- Group by Year of this date: if your table column includes dates, the system can group indicator data by the different years that appear in this column.
- Subtotal by these values: a table column with a limited number of repeated values -- such as the names of different program areas funded by an organization -- you can direct the uploader to subtotal your data by these values.
If, for example, you want the data in the first column of your dataset table to serve as the region information, click on the "Part of Region" check box. The uploader will immediately attempt to recognize the geographic information contained in this table column, and provide feedback in the Status box.
If you want the uploader to ignore a column in your table, click on that row, and make sure all boxes are unchecked. As soon as you do this, the Status box provides updated feedback.
Look over the Units and Decimal Places information below the "Purposes" checkbox. Here, you tell the uploading system what type of data you have in each table column. The options here include: People, Dollars, Count, Average, Text, Percentage or Ratio, or Year. Again, the uploader will make an educated guess as to what kind of data you have in column cells. If it is mistaken, you can change the settings here.
The "Decimal Places" box allows you to specify how many decimal places you want to have show up on maps or charts. For percents, 1 decimal place means one digit to the right of the decimal in a percent. For instance, 1 decimal for 97.6459% would read 97.6%, 4 decimals would read 97.6459%. The number of decimal places you choose will depend upon the kind of data you are mapping.
Review your table configuration: Has each row been configured the way you want it to be? To quickly see which of your table columns will be read as indicators, or as geographic information, or subtotaled, and so on, click on the "Region, Address, Indicator, Subtotal, Group by Year" tabs running across the top of the page. If everything is as you expect, you're ready to map your data.
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| Step 6: Generate Indicators | |
Click on the "Generate Indicators" Button in the lower right corner of the screen.
A progress bar will appear as the system processes your dataset. Depending on the size of your dataset, processing can take a few seconds or several minutes.
When processing is complete, you will see a list of any errors encountered during process, a status summary, and a list of your new indicators.
Check for errors. To review any errors that occurred during processing, click on "View Log." The log can provide useful troubleshooting tips. If necessary, use these tips to go back and look through your original spreadsheet with an eye to making revisions for another attempt at uploading.
Preview your indicators. Options for previewing maps, charts, and rankings of your data can be found to the right of your new indicators. If things look as you expect, congratulations! You can now choose to publish the data for others to see. Your dataset will remain private, for your access only, if you choose not to publish.
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| Step 7 (Optional): Publish Your Dataset | |
If you would like to make your dataset publicly available, click the "Publish this dataset" link at the bottom of the "Dataset Processing Details" page. Again, your dataset will remain private, for your access only, unless you choose to publish it.
Fill out the publication information form. You are required to enter your full name, phone number, organization, title, dataset name, dataset description, the range of dates covered by your data, and the date of publication. Boxes are available to enter information about the source of the dataset, and notes about the accuracy of the datasets, and notes about access constraints and use constraints.
Share your dataset with your groups. This is a new feature on KnowledgePlex and DataPlace, so if you don't have a group already, please feel free to make one. If you are a member of any DataPlace or KnowledgePlex groups, a list of groups will appear allowing you to easily share your dataset with the groups of your choice. By checking these boxes, your dataset will appear among the list of uploaded datasets accessible to group members. If you are not a member of a group, consider starting a group on the topic for which you have collected data. Groups are fast to set up, and are an easy way to connect with others who share your interests.
Terms of use agreement: Prior to publishing, you will be asked to agree to the DataPlace and KnowledgePlex terms of use. The complete terms are available via the "Terms of Agreement" link next to the checkbox. Please review the terms carefully. We require this agreement in order to maintain the integrity and security of our web site. If you do not agree to these terms, your dataset will remain private, for your use only.
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| Step 8: View and Share Your Indicators | |
Your "My DataPlace" page includes a list of the datasets and indicators you create. To view your indicators, you can always visit this page.
If you choose to publish and share your dataset with a specific group, your dataset will appear among that group's list of uploaded datasets. Also, if you publish your dataset, other DataPlace users will be able to search and browse for your dataset via the Indicator Chooser.
If you have questions about data uploading that are not answered in this document, or if you would like to exchange ideas and notes about uploading with others, visit the "Uploading My Data" group. If you experience further problems, please use the feedback link found at the footer of every page on DataPlace except Map pages.
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 Available Help Pages
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