How to modify/update the data atlas?

Feature is not enabled on all Enterprise systems.

The data atlas supports a variety of features that may be in use on your system, including modules on the landing page called "Headline Indicators", "Atlas Facts" (or similar), a list of key indicators for geographic regions, and more. Whether you want to update the topics covered, the specific indicators, or indicator descriptions, you will begin by accessing the atlas from Admin > Applications: Atlas >Topics tab.

WARNING! Before making any changes, download the metadata file. This will ensure that if you change your mind or make errors, you can always restore the existing settings.

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Managing Atlas Topics and Indicators 

To manage Topics, use the corresponding buttons below the topics dropdown list – add, delete, edit, or reorder. To add a new topic:

1. Click Add topic.
   
2. Specify the topic name. It must be unique from any other topic already in use.
3. If the topic is not specific to a subnational area, enable the Topic is regionless checkbox. For example, if this was for global commodity prices, click the checkbox.
4. Click Save to submit your new topic to the atlas.
5. To save all of your changes in the Atlas, click Save again.

To manage Indicators, use the corresponding buttons below the indicators list – add, edit, or delete. To add a new indicator:

1. Choose the desired topic in the dropdown list.
2. Click Add indicator.
3. Choose a dataset.
4.  Select elements in all required dimensions and click Save when finished.
   Note: here you can check if your selection contains some data or not by clicking on Preview ON  AND changing the time frame you want to show.
5. Specify the Name, Short name, Unit, Precision, and “Smaller value is better,” if applicable (e.g. a value of 1% for unemployment is better than 30%). You may also specify the decimal point precision that you want the data to appear within the user interface.
6. Click Save to submit your new indicator to the atlas.
7. To save all of your changes in the Atlas, click Save again.

Note: If a dataset does not include data for all necessary regions, you may choose to use two datasets (i.e. primary and secondary datasets) to avoid gaps. 

Under the Time indicator, you will be able to choose from five different time modes. Range, Individual members, Last N members, and Since modes have options to include both historical and forecasted data, while All data provides historical data only.

If you choose “All data” in the ‘Select mode” dropdown of the Time section, all historical data will be shown while any forecast data will be excluded. In this mode, when new historical data is added to the dataset it will be automatically shown in the Atlas. We recommend using this mode so that the Atlas always stays current, and it is selected by default in most cases.

If you select the “Range” mode and forecasted values are available for an indicator, all values till the selected end date will be shown in the Atlas. For example, if you choose a range from 2012 to 2050, all available data through this time range (both historical and forecasted) will be displayed.

The "Individual members" mode allows you to display all data up through a given year. For example, if you choose 2016, values for 2016 and all previous years will be shown.

Finally, if you select the “Since” or “Last N members” options in the “Select mode” section, all values (both historical and forecasted) will be shown in the Atlas.

 Note: After you save your chosen dimensions, the “edit indicator” page will appear. The “Time” field displays the last year of the selected time range. In the screenshot below, the time setting is 2020, which means that all available data for the “Volume of imports” indicator till 2020 will be displayed.

To add a secondary source for more comprehensive data coverage in the atlas follow these steps: 

1. Click Edit near Indicator name > click Add dataset.
2. Make the same selections as you did for the primary dataset. 
3. Click Save. Two tabs will now be available for the primary and secondary datasets. 
   

Note: Data from the secondary source will not be available in the ranking or map options of the atlas.

Note: The secondary source will be used on country-specific atlas pages if the primary source contains no data points for a selected country.

How can I update the data atlas? 

Usually, the data atlas updates automatically.  There are two scenarios, however, in which you will need to manually update atlas indicators. We recommend that whomever on your team is in charge of data health also review the atlas periodically to check for any required manual updates.

Scenario 1: Dataset was updated with a replacement dataset

Some indicators in the atlas are based on datasets that have been updated with replacement datasets. In this case, to update the data atlas: 

1. Go to Admin > Atlas > Topics tab.
2. Click Update indicators. 
   
3. Select Topic from drop-down menu.

If all the indicators are up-to-date, you'll see the message "Total number of outdated indicators: 0", as shown below.
If updates are required, you'll see a list of indicators awaiting updates:
Note: here you can select indicators one by one or Select all indicators and click the button Update selected indicators.

1. All indicators that can be updated automatically will be completed. If, however, a dimension name is changed or an indicator removed, for example, from your dataset, you'll need to update the remaining indicators one by one.

Scenario 2: Dataset structure has changed

1. Continuing from where you were in step 4 above, in this scenario, you'll need to click 'Back to topics'
   
2. Check each topic for any indicators that are not updated. These indicators will appear with an information 'i' at the far right of the row after the edit/delete options.
   
3. Click on the hyperlinked dataset Id in the column labeled Dataset and an old version of the dataset will open.
4. In the yellow message bar underneath the dataset title, you'll see a link to the new dataset version. Open and bookmark this dataset for easy access in the next step. 
5. Back in the Atlas editor, click the Edit button near the selected indicator, and choose Change dataset to replace the old version with the new one.
6. After you've selected the dataset, make your indicator selection, and click Save to submit your updated indicator to the atlas.
7. To save all of your changes in the Atlas, click Save again.

Why do I need to 'create new regional atlas'? 
Data Atlas can show data only for one level of region, for example, data by country, by division, by district, by county, etc. Each level should have a specific regional atlas.

A user opens the main page of the data Atlas of a particular country and sees on the left menu districts/regions/counties. When the user clicks the Region, for example, the list of available regions should appear. Clicking on a specific region will then open a separate data atlas with a list of topics/subtopics/facts related to the subregional level.

To add/manage atlas, please first read the Managing Atlas Topics and Indicators section of this article. 

 Note: If your system already has one atlas, after creating a second atlas, your editing page and you will first need to select which atlas you want to edit. 

Data Atlas FAQs

  Short names generate simplified indicator lists for users to more easily browse:

Long names display all details about an indicator and avoid misunderstanding and ambiguity. The long name appears as a title on an indicator page or in search results:

 What does "Smaller value is better" mean?
Enable Smaller value is better when you want to indicate that an increase in the value of your indicator has a negative effect (e.g. unemployment, crime, and mortality rates). As a result, the conventional color scale on maps from green to red will be reversed so that green corresponds to lesser values and red to higher.
Why should I use "keywords"?
Keywords are alternative names of indicators that help users to find the indicator through the data search.

 But if your atlas features region-level data for a particular country, a country will be selected (e.g. US) and "Show country profile" enabled to show the profile of the country as a whole in addition to the profiles of its regions (e.g. US states).

What are atlas "Country Groups"?

 If you do not want the portal's users to visit /apps/atlas directly and do not give links to it anywhere, then you can ignore this section. 

 Using this pop-up you can:  

1. Rename the topic.
2. Move it to another column (in the country or region profiles at /apps/atlas cop topics can be listed in several columns):
   
3. Set this topic as regionless by selection Indicators in this topic do not have a regional dimension. By doing so, you tell the system that the indicators in this topic are not bound to any geographical location. Examples of such indicators are commodity prices, stock market indices, and so on.