National Community Schoolyards Tool

USER GUIDE

Getting there
Accessing the site
Navigating the map
Zoom & pan
Change the map background
Interacting with the map
Selecting features
Layers menu (transparency, layer swipe, metadata)
Interacting with the data
Query Data
Query by value
Querying example
Query by location
Additional tools
Google Street View
Draw
Measurement
Print (a custom map)
Get help
Getting there
Accessing the site
● Use the following link to connect to the National Community Schoolyards Tool
landing page:
○ https://web.tplgis.org/communityschoolyardsmap/
● Click on the Mapping Portal link to access the Natural Solutions Tool website.
Direct link is:
○ https://site.tplgis.org/nationalschoolyards/

Navigating the map

Zoom & pan
● On the left-hand side of the map, click the ( + ) sign to zoom in and the ( - ) to
zoom out.
● To zoom in to a particular area, hold down shift, click your mouse on one corner
of the desired extent, and drag your mouse to the opposite corner of the desired
extent.
● Click and drag your mouse to the right, left, up or down to pan around the map
(adjusting your view).

Note: As you change the viewer extent the map detail changes. As you zoom in the
map becomes more detailed.

● Click the button to return to the extent of the study area.

Change the map background

● Click the button to the right of the map. Then click the checkbox
next to the basemap you desire.

Interacting with the map

Selecting features
Most of the data layers included in the tool have attribute information that you can
access through the map.

● Turn on any layer(s) in the Layers section.

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● Click a feature on the map.
● An information box will appear that describes the feature(s) that you clicked.

● Note: If multiple layers are turned on, the one that is highest in the table of
contents will be identified first.
● If there is a in the info box title you have identified multiple features. Click
to view information on the other selected features.

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 ● Each symbol indicates that there are multiple layers grouped under that
heading. Click the to expand and see what layers there are.
● Click to show the symbology for an individual layer.
● Multiple overlay layers can be turned on at once.

Layers menu (transparency, layer swipe, metadata)

The layers menu provides tools that adjust the view of overlay data and analysis results
you see on the map as well as metadata that provides information about all of the data
included in the tool. There is an independent layers menu for overlay data and analysis
results. Click on the to the right of the Overlay Data heading to access the following
tools:

● Turn On/Off All Sublayers and Zoom to Layer: Turn on all the overlay sublayers,
turn them all off or zoom to the layers.
● Transparency slider: Changes the transparency of the overlay data so that you
can see mapped features underneath the overlay data. Click the rectangular tab
on the slider and hold the mouse button down to drag it to the left or right.
○ Experiment with different transparency levels. Notice that the
transparency level of all overlay data changes as you change the
transparency level.
● Layer Swipe: Provides the capability to use a slider to see what the map looks
like with a layer on or off.
○ If you click Layer Swipe you can choose either vertical or horizontal. A bar
will appear in the viewer and you can slide it up/down or right/left
depending on if you selected vertical or horizontal. Sliding this bar will
show you what the map looks like with or without the data.
○ To exit Layer Swipe mode, click on the button at the top of
the map.
● Metadata: Will take you to an Analysis Results spreadsheet.

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Interacting with the data

On the left side panel there are a number of “functions” available. Click on the to
open a tool if it is closed. This section will provide guidance for using each of the tools
listed on the left hand side of the screen.
Query Data
The query data function allows users to search for the characteristics required by a
specific project, interest, or proposal. All modeled criteria and important physical
characteristics of a site are tagged to schools and districts and available for export.
Users can either query by value (information tagged to the school or district) or by
location.

Query by value

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● Select the field you would like to query on from the “Select A Field” menu.
● Select the Logical Operator, enter Query Value and press “Add Condition.” The
condition will appear. You can remove it at any point by clicking .
● After you have added all the desired queries click “Run Query.”
● A table will open at the bottom of the viewer showing you the data that fits your
query. You can export this data as either an Excel or CSV file report.
● Note: You can clear a query at any point by clicking the “Clear Query” button.
● To further refine a query, you can add another condition. Perform the same steps
as above for any additional conditions you would like to include. Note: Make sure
and click “Add Condition” after you have set up your condition. Once this is done
a second condition will appear in your query conditions.
● The query above, for instance, will return the following results:

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Querying example

Example:
● Let’s say you wanted to find out which
minority-serving schools in Florida were suffering
from notable heat effects.
○ Under “Select a Layer:”, you would choose
“National Schools” as the dataset you wanted
to search.
○ You would then click on “Select a Field”,
followed by “School Info”, and then “State”
○ This would then let you choose “FL” under
“Query Value”. Clicking Add Condition, you
would see that you are now only selecting
from schools in the state of Florida.
○ Similarly, you would navigate through “Select
a Field” to add “Percent students of color” and
choose those >50, and “Degrees Fareneheit
over mean” >= 4.
○ When you have added your conditions, the
screen would look like that on the right:
○ Clicking “Run Query”, the tool would return
the 99 schools in Florida which match those
conditions and highlight them on the map:

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Query by location

● You can choose point, line, or polygon options to select features and define the
buffer of that geometry. Once you have chosen both the buffer and the geometry,
you will draw on the map defining the point, line, or area that you would like to
query.
● From here, this tool functions the same as Query by Value. When you click “Run
Query” a table will open at the bottom of the viewer showing you the blockgroups
that fit your query. You can export this data as either an Excel or CSV file report.

Additional tools
Google Street View
Users can see the street view image for anywhere on the map in two clicks.

● Open the Google Street View tab and zoom in to the area you would like to view.
● Click , then click the area on the map you would like to see in Google Street
View.

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 ● You can choose other locations to see in Google Street View by repeating the
process above.
Draw
The draw tool allows you to add graphics to your map.

● Click the Draw tab on the left panel to add graphics to your map.
● To sketch a polygon on your map, click the button.
● Begin sketching a shape on your map by clicking on your map. Double click to
finish the sketch.
● You can also add points, lines, circles, and freehand polygons to the map by
using the other draw buttons.
● If you want to change the graphics, use the button, and recreate the
graphics using the methods described above. Note: This action will erase all
your drawings.
● If you want to edit your polygon, click the Edit button and the vertices will appear.
Click and drag the vertices to edit the shape of your polygon. To stop editing,
click the button.
Measurement
The measurement tool allows you to calculate measurements by area, distance or
location.

Print (a custom map)

Users can print custom maps with a legend and title of your choosing that includes
analysis results and/or any overlay layers that match your interests or goals.
To print a custom map that reflects the data and zoom level that you have chosen
above, click the Print tab on the left panel.

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 ● Enter a title for your map in the space provided.
● Choose the format (JPG, PDF, PNG) and layout (Letter - Landscape, Letter -
Portrait, Just The Map, Tabloid - Landscape, Tabloid - Portrait) you would like .
● Click to make other adjustments to your printed map.

● Click to further refine your scale and print quality choices.

● Click the button once you have completed the above steps.
● Be patient while the mapping site generates a map for you. This process can
take up to a minute.
● A file link will appear in the Print tab once the export is complete. Click on the link
to open your map.
● An 8.5 X 11 formatted map will be displayed that you can print or save to your
computer hard drive to share with others.
● Close the export window to return to the original map.
Bookmarks
The bookmarks tab allows you to create bookmarks in the tool.

Get help
You can always click the button at the top right corner of your map for a copy of this
user guide and tutorial. Still need help? Send an email to gis.support@tpl.org

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