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New map tutorials

A screenshot of using BatchGeocode to take a spreadsheet of addresses and turn it into a nice map. 

Over at Grid Chicago, my other blog that sucks all the time from this blog, I’ve recently written tutorials on how to create online maps, first with Google My Maps (which they renamed to My places) and secondly with BatchGeocode (which renamed itself to BatchGeo because it does more than geocoding now).

Google My Maps is primitive as far as map making goes, but it has the lowest learning curve and it’s easy: you just click on the map where you want something to go and fill in the info window. Read that tutorial.

BatchGeocode is slightly more advanced, but takes your tabular data (most likely from a spreadsheet) and throws it on a map you can embed on your website. They do have pay features. Read the tutorial for BatchGeocode.

I’ve written about BatchGeocode for QGIS, as it was once the only way to do geocoding in QGIS. But now BatchGeocode doesn’t give you a results table that has the latitude and longitude (apparently this is against Google Maps’s terms of service). But I updated the article to talk about using other methods for geocoding in QGIS.

I will be writing two more tutorials, one about GeoCommons and one about Google Fusion Tables.

Top keywords people use to find Steven can plan

Being a “webmaster” (should we retire that word?) is a lot of fun. There are so many tools that make being a webmaster easy and enjoyable.

The best tool ever – statistics! Also known as analytics. With statistics, you get to learn what words and phrases people searched for and found your website.

Day after day, the same keywords show up in my statistics:

David Bryne, Luann Hamilton, Randy Neufeld, and Jacky Grimshaw (in the back) were the panelists at “Cities, Bicycles and the Future of Getting Around: A Special Urban Sustainability Forum with David Byrne.”

How to geocode a single address in QGIS

Since the last time I wrote about how to use BatchGeocode.com to perform pseudo-geocoding tasks in QGIS, there have been considerable improvements in the multi-platform, free, and open source GIS software. Now, geocoding (turning addresses into coordinates) is more automatic, albeit difficult to setup. (Okay, this has been around June 2009 and I just found out about it in October 2010.)

Once you install all the components, you’ll never have to do this again.

This method can only geocode one address at a time, but it will geocode all of the addresses into a single shapefile.

  1. Download QGIS.
  2. Download and install Python SetupTools. This includes the easy_install function that will download a necessary Python script, simplejson. On Mac you will have to use the Terminal (Applications>Utilities). Email me if you run into problems.
  3. Install simplejson. In the command line (Terminal for Mac; in Windows press Start>Run>”cmd”>Enter), type “easy_install simplejson”.
  4. Download the GeoCode plugin by Alessandro Pasotti via QGIS>Plugins>Fetch Python Plugins. You may have to load additional repositories to see it.
  5. Install geopy. In the command line (like step 3), type “easy_install geopy”.
  6. Specify your project’s projection in File>Project Properties.
  7. Get a Google Maps API key and tell the GeoCode plugin about it (QGIS>Plugins>GeoCode>Settings). You will need a Google account. If you don’t have your own domain name, you can just enter “google.com” when it asks for your domain.
  8. Geocode your first address by clicking on Plugins>GeoCode>Geocode. Type the full address (e.g. 121 N LaSalle Street, Chicago, IL for City Hall).
  9. The geocoded address will then appear in your Layers list as its own shapefile. All addresses geocoded (or reverse geocoded) in this project will appear in the same layer (therefore same attribute table).

Once you install all the components, you’ll never have to do this again. Geocoding will be available each and every time you use QGIS in the future on that workstation.

Tips

  • When you’re done geocoding,  save your results as a shapefile (right click the layer and click “Save as shapefile”). Twice I’ve lost my results after saving the project and quitting QGIS. When I reopened the project, the results layer was still listed, but contained no data.
  • Add a “name” column to the GeoCoding Plugin Results layer’s attribute table (toggle editing first). You can then type in the name of the building or destination at the address you geocoded. Edit the layer’s properties to have that name appear as a label for the point.

A map I made with QGIS showing three geocoded points of interest in Chicago. Data from City of Chicago’s GIS team.

 

Manipulating geodata

If you’re a planner, a student, or an engineer, you will use geographic data. Sometimes you’ll require special skills to perform a task but more often than not you will need to simply convert or display the data. These tools (most of them online) will help you.

Shapefile (SHP)

Articles

Tools

Keyhole Markup Language (KML)

Articles

Tools

  • BatchGeocode.com – Forward and reverse geocode addresses and geographic coordinates. Input tabular data copied directly from your spreadsheet (in Microsoft Excel, OpenOffice.org Calc, or Google Docs). Download results as a Google Earth and Maps-compatible KML file or copy back into your spreadsheet. The web application even allows for simple grouping (to which it will apply unique map icons).

Geographic Positioning System (GPS)

Articles

Tools

  • GPS Visualizer – “A free, easy-to-use online utility that creates maps and profiles from GPS data (tracks and waypoints, including GPX files), street addresses, or simple coordinates. Use it to see where you’ve been, plan where you’re going, or visualize geographic data (business locations, scientific observations, events, customers, real estate, geotagged photos, ‘GPS drawing,’ etc.).”

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Alternatives to ESRI ArcGIS

  • QGIS
  • uDig
  • GRASS
  • GeoCommons – completely online.

Tips

Projection – Be observant of the project that data you obtained comes in. Then learn which coordinate reference systems and projections are common for that type of data and that location. For Chicago, you will most often use NAD83 / Illinois East (ftUS), with an EPSG ID of 3435.

    Geocoding in Quantum GIS – QGIS

    Geocoding is the process of turning street addresses into geographic coordinates. You can geocode easily in QGIS using several methods.

    If you just want to geocode and you don’t need to see the addresses plotted on a map in QGIS, then follow these instructions. If you don’t need to see them on a map nor do you need the geographic coordinates, then use BatchGeocode.

    If you only need to geocode a single address and get its coordinates immediately, use geocoder.us.

    An example geocoded address on the map using the “single address” method.