Brita Austin, Author at ZeeMaps Blog

IF Function in Excel – IFS Function in ZeeMaps

Posted on August 1, 2020 | by Brita Austin | Leave a Comment

A type of IF function in Excel is the IFS function in which you can input multiple conditions to determine cell values. The function is checked from left to right for the multiple conditions, and the value set for the cell is determined by the first condition that is met. IFS is a much easier way of testing for multiple conditions instead of nesting multiple IF functions.

This statement is extremely helpful when we want to make one field value dependent on another. For example, if the score is => 80, then the Grade is B; if the score is =>90, then Grade is A.

In this post we will show you how to assign different colors to pins or highlighted regions when you upload a spreadsheet. We will use a spreadsheet that has zip codes in the US with a column for number of dealers in that zip code. The sample spreadsheet is attached to the bottom of this post and has just two columns, ‘zip code’ and ‘dealers’. We’ll add a third column – ‘colors’.

Find the Color Name

First, for this task we need to take a look at the color options in ZeeMaps, which are listed here. All ZeeMaps users have access to 32 colors and users on our Enterprise plan have access to 72 colors. To use the extended color palette, please see our blog post.

Color Name for Excel IF Function

For our IF Function, we will need to assign different color values based on values in a given column of our spreadsheet, e.g., number of dealers, grades, etc. For this purpose, note the Color Name in the color list. Use this as the color value in your expression.

If Function Excel Color Choices — IF Function in Excel Color Choice Example

How to write the Excel IF Function

Generally, the syntax for the Excel IFS function is:

=IFS([Something is True1, Value if True1,Something is True2,Value if True2,Something is True3,Value if True3)

The Excel IF Function allows you to test up to 127 different conditions.

Note that the conditions need to be entered in the correct order, and can be very difficult to build, test and update if you have entered a large number of conditions.

The Expression – Excel IF Function

We entered the following Excel IF Function expression for our example below. Since our spreadsheet column B contains the number of dealers, we’ll enter an IF Function expression in cell C2 as follows:

=IFS(B2 <= 5, “Green”, B2 <= 10, “Light Yellow”, B2 <= 15, “Yellow”, B2 <= 20, “Red”)

If Function Excel Expression — **Excel IF Function Spreadsheet Exampl**e

Then, we copy the formula to the rest of the column C and voila, we have colors for each of the zip codes! You can find our example spreadsheet at the end of this tutorial

A look at our IF Function Map

For more info on IF Function Excel visit Microsoft’s detailed instructions for some helpful tips.

Example Data Download

Click the download button below to view our example data excel spreadsheet

IF Function Example Data –Download

Zip Code Look up & Other Region Search Tools

Posted on July 14, 2020 | by Brita Austin | Leave a Comment

In this blog, we show you how to perform a quick zip code look up in your map, if you have pins representing the zip codes and areas highlighted for your search geography. Start by adding pins and highlighted area(s) on your map.

There are many useful applications for looking up points that fall within a zip code or region.

For instance, you could look up all your customers within a zip code or other boundary outline. Alternatively, you could look up how many service stations are in your state or zip code. In the end, it comes down selecting and summarizing map points inside of a boundary. Essentially, any point feature and any boundary will work. You can even draw your own!

In an earlier post, we had detailed the ZeeMaps search feature that allows you to perform extensive searches for the pins on your map.

The detailed search dialog allows you to search for points based on field values. As well as, combine them with distance or geographical search. The geographical search includes searching within a highlighted region.

We’ve now added the ability to quickly do a look up search within a region by simply right-clicking on the region.

To start the search, just right-click on any highlighted region (boundary) and the display will limit itself to the points that fall within regions of the same color. To reset the search, right-click on the region again.

Once you have started the search, you can get a list of points that match your search by doing a Map -> Save as CSV.

For example, we are going to work with look up for a sales territory map that shows the sales territory zip code for three salespersons of a company. Each sales person covers roughly 2-3 zip codes. Each sales persons territory highlighted in different color.

As an example, we are going to work with a look up sales territory map that shows sales zip codes for three salespersons of a company. Each sales person covers roughly 2-3 zip codes.

We’ve added a list of potential customers to this map, with different customer types in different colors. For example, customers not contacted are red, while those contacted are green.

To get an overview of all the customers that have already signed-up, we can use the legend at the bottom of the map to view just the customers who are shown with green pins. But, how do we see all the green customers for Sales Person A?

Of course, that is where the new feature comes in handy. Now, simply right click on a colored territory area (zip code) for Sales Person A (pink). Notice the look up view of pins is limited to customers that fall within that sales person’s territory. Now, right click again to undo.

Simply right click on a colored zip code for Sales Person A and the look up view of pins is now limited to the customers that fall within that sales person's territory

Moreover, we can also get a list of the customers by exporting a CSV file from Map -> Save As CSV.

we can also get a list of the customers by exporting a CSV file from Map -> Save As CSV for zip code look up

If you have any issues opening the .csv in excel try following these steps.

Continental Divide – Splitting Regions Map

Posted on July 10, 2020 | by Brita Austin | Leave a Comment

Frequent ways of dividing large areas of land in the United States, or across the world, is by grouping them into regions according to their geographic position on the continent. Perhaps, the Northeast, Southwest, West, Southeast, or Midwest. Another, is to split the areas of land, such as with continental divide maps.

Continental Divides in North America.
Map: Wikipedia

A continental divide is a natural (i.e. not man-made) boundary separating precipitation. Essentially, rivers, rainfall, snowfall, etc., water that flows into two oceans. Therefore, divides are the barriers that prevent rivers, etc on one side from flowing into oceans on the other.

Next, we see still another example when we look at state boundaries. Splitting areas of land, like with the continental divide trail map, can be extremely useful.

Perhaps you would like to make a map visualizing regions or splits, such as those with geographic position or continental divide map.

Here we show how to split regions within ZeeMaps.

Split a region in three steps:

Divide continents, regions, or any other map boundary!

Step 1: Select the region. For large regions, as with continental divide or region maps, the setup for this might take a while, as we change the entire boundary to be editable.

Select the region. For large regions, such as continental divide, the setup for this might take a while, as we change the entire boundary to be editable.

Step 2: Next, mark the vertices for the start and end of the split on the selected region

Next, mark the vertices for the start and end of the split on the selected region, or continental divide

Step 3: Last, connect the split vertices by a new polyline edge

For connecting the two vertices with a new edge, start by a single click and then click for each step. At the final step do a double-click. Use the Select button to initiate the first step.

Remember to do the steps in proper sequence. If regions are not grouped, the original highlighted region will be removed.

Connecting Trail Routes or Lines

Design your own Continental Divide Trail Map!

Connecting two markers with a line or route tutorial gives direction on how to create a trial or route, such as those seen in Continental Divide Trail Maps, as show below:

To connect two markers with a route or trail between them, please do the following:

Click on the first marker to open its information balloon.
Click on the third icon of the four icons to the right bottom of the information balloon. You must have unlocked the map as Map Admin for the icons to show.
This should result in a dialog box for the connection. Customize your connection, e.g., whether it is a route or straight line, etc.
Click on the second marker for the connection.
Hit Submit.

For connecting another set of two markers, please close the connection dialog and repeat steps 1 through 5.

Finally, we challenge you to create your own continental divide trail, re-write the map! How to you think regions should be split, what trail looks like a great hike? Use your imagination and be creative!

Don’t forget to tag @zeemaps in your social media posts!

Create a map with expiring map pins for your online map. Upload a spreadsheet with an expiry column, or set a expiry date on individual map pins.

Map Pin with Expiry Dates for Online Maps

Posted on July 3, 2020 | by Brita Austin | Leave a Comment

ZeeMaps allows you to create maps with different colored markers, in different colors, shapes, and sizes. You can also upload your own image to replace the standard map pins offered through ZeeMaps. Sometimes, however, we want to mark locations on maps that have a deadline associated with them, for example, a service may be available on a certain location only for the next few days, or an event is happening on a location for a specific date.

Until now, you would manually remove these markers from maps once the date for which they were valid had expired. Not anymore!

Setting Expiration for Map Pin

ZeeMaps now allows you to specify expiry for markers on your online map. You can specify the expiry of your marker in one of the following two ways:

1. When uploading markers through spreadsheets, add a column called Expires. In the column you can specify the number of days until the marker for that row should stay on the map. The pin will expire after the number of days has elapsed when the map pin was added.

2. After adding a map pin, you can double-click on it to make changes to it. In the resulting dialog, use the Admin tab to enter a date when that particular marker will expire.

Since ZeeMap allows markers to be pins or highlighted areas on map, e.g., circles or zip codes, this feature will work for both map pins and highlighted areas.

Adding an Expires column to spreadsheet uploads

When you upload a spreadsheet, for example a Microsoft Excel file or a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file and hit submit, there is a confirmation step when we assign columns to designated map fields. The dialog below illustrates this confirmation step:

Confirm column mappings for Las Vegas zip codes upload — Confiirmation step for Spreadsheet uploads

If you click on the Advanced tab, there will be a column assignment for the Expires field. Make sure that the column in which you have the expires values for your map pin is assigned correctly in this tab.

Column assignment for the Expires column

Adding an Expires values by editing a map pin

When you edit a map marker, by double-clicking on it or by clicking on the name in the information bubble, you get an edit dialog:

Go to the Admin tab within the edit dialog. If you have a paid plan with ZeeMaps, you can find the Expires setting for this map marker in the Admin tab: Select the Expire date.

Map Title
Description
Admin Password		Again
Starting Location