Building your own infographics template

This guide will show you how to build your own template from scratch, leveraging several advanced options in the process. See this step-by-step guide to learn how to select a ready-to-use starter template and quickly customize it to serve your needs.

Say that you are an analyst for a leading chain book store, and have been tasked with creating an infographic template that executives at your company can use to get quick facts for their stores, or their competitors, focusing on relevant demographic characteristics and book reading/purchasing habits.

1. Sign in to ArcGIS Business Analyst Web App. Go to Reports > Build Reports > Build Infographics.

   The Esri Templates tab is selected by default. You will be prompted to choose a template with which to start.

2. Click Blank Templates to design your own custom template.

   

   You will see several predefined options for a layout. You may select one of them, but in this walkthrough, you will define your own layout. You can create a custom template with grids or create a free form template.

3. Click Create a custom template with grids.

   

4. You will modify the layout from its default of 2 x 2. Move the pointer over the grid and click to select the 2 x 3 Table size. There are other controls to modify the default size of the elements (panels) in your template. Click Next.

   

   In the Adjust layout screen, there are several controls to adjust the layout further. The buttons at the top right allow you to add/remove columns to the layout and the same button in the bottom left corner allow you to add/remove rows. The button opens the Page Options dialog, which allows to modify the page size, orientation, and margins.

   

5. Move the pointer over the grid lines.

   The Merge button will appear.

   

6. Click Merge. The two cells are merged to create a larger cell.

   If you now move the pointer over the merged cell, the Split button will appear. Do not click it here.

   

7. Click Save & Open.

   The Save Infographic Template dialog appears.

   

8. In the Title field, change the name from the default to Quick Facts. Click Save.

   Your custom template Quick Facts will be saved and appear at the top of the list (under Blank Templates) and opened. There are several controls to adjust the layout further, and add content to the panels.

9. Move the pointer over the panel under the top left panel. Click Add.

   

   You want the top left panel to have a logo and some descriptive information about the panel. You can create this from scratch, but here, you will reuse a panel you previously created for another template (as done in the Customize a ready-to-use infographics template step-by-step guide).

10. Click Add panel from another template.

    

11. The Add Panel from Another Template window is launched.
    1. Click My templates.

       The My Book Marketing Profile template, created previously, is listed here.

    2. Move the pointer over it. Click Open.

       

       The template is opened.

12. Move the pointer over the logo panel in the top left. Click Add.

    

    The logo panel will be placed into the top left panel.

    

13. Move the pointer over the panel below it. Click Add.

    A list of elements is displayed. You may choose any element to insert into this panel.

    

14. Click Infographic.

    The Add Infographic Panel dialog opens with the Standard panels displayed. You may choose one of them or click Create infographic panel to create your own. You can switch to My Panels to select a custom panel you created or Shared Panels to select a panel shared with you by other users.

    

    Here, you will add an infographic that provides basic information on the education level of residents in the area.

    You may use the arrow buttons on the left and right to browse the available ones until you see a suitable infographic . Alternatively, you can search for panels by name by clicking theicon and Typing education in the search box to see a list of panels related to Education.

15. Click Add and choose the Education panel.

    The panel is added to your custom infographic. You will now look at options to edit the panel.

    

16. Move the pointer over the Education panel just added. Click Edit.

    The Create infographic panel opens with the Education panel in edit mode. You will choose a different layout for the panel from the several choices at the top. There are several other controls to modify the panel.

    

    • Expand the Selected variables dropdown to modify or remove any of the variables in the panel.
    • Assign a Background color to the panel, and select the checkbox to Show grid lines.
    • Click on an icon or text within the panel to edit the shape or text to resize it and enable Align dropdown options.

      Tip:

      Use Ctrl + click to simultaneously select multiple elements to resize and align them.

    • Edit the title or remove it altogether.

17. When done modifying the panel, click Save.

    The changes to the Education panel will be applied.

    Next, you will add content to the larger panel in the infographic, which will be suitable for adding a chart with information about book purchasing habits.

    

18. Move the pointer over to the large panel. Click Add and then click Chart.

    The Insert chart window opens with a data browser. Perform a search for variables related to book. Drag and drop six variables that convey useful information on book purchasing habits.

    

19. Choose the chart type dropdown and select Horizontal bar chart.
    • You can click Add series to add another group of variables to the chart.
    • You can click Edit chart data to modify the variables.

    You will adjust the visual display of the chart.

20. Click Chart options.

    The Chart options panel will open and the Chart section will be expanded.

    

21. Click Bar Chart to expand that section's options.
    1. Select the Show Bar icons checkbox to enable adding of icons for each variable.
    2. Click the + button next to each variable to choose an icon.

       Click Browse for image to upload your own custom icons.

    Tip:

    You can use several image formats— for example, PNG for custom infographics. You can also upload your own custom SVGs. The benefit of using SVG graphics is that they scale well and their style and color can be customized with the rest of the infographic.

22. Click the Data Labels section.

    

    1. Select the Show Data Values checkbox to show the value to the right of every bar in the chart.
23. Click the Legend section.

    

    1. Select the Show legend checkbox.
    2. Click Bottom for the legend position.
24. Click the Vertical axis section.

    

    1. Uncheck the Show Axis checkbox to hide the vertical axis and variable names.

       This will give the chart a more visually pleasing appearance while the icons and legend provide explanation.

25. Select the Horizontal axis section.

    

    1. Uncheck the Show Axis checkbox.
26. Select the Compare with geographies section.

    

    1. Select the Show comparison with geographies checkbox.
    2. Beside the Show as: option, select Bars.
    3. Click Change comparison geography levels.

       The Select Comparison Geography Levels dialog opens.

       

    4. Select only the ZIP Codes checkbox and click Save.
27. Select the Chart section.

    

    1. Enter a name for your chart in the Title field. In this case, Book Sales Trends.
    2. Click Change font to modify the title text font, size, and attributes.
28. Click Apply.

    The chart is added to the larger panel in your infographic template.

    

29. Move the pointer over the lower left panel. Click Add, and select Infographic.

    This Add Infographic Panel dialog opens.

    

30. Click Create infographic panel.

    The Create Infographic Panel window opens.

    

You will create a custom infographic with information on sales of books by category.
31. In the Data browser, perform a search for book.
32. Select the desired variables, and click Next.

33. 

    Click the + buttons to upload icons for each variable. When finished, click Save.

    The Save Infographic dialog appears.

    

34. Modify the Title, if desired.
    • Click Show Infographic Metadata to edit metadata fields.The resultant dialog is displayed.

      

      When finished modifying the information in the other fields, click Save.

    Your custom Infographic is saved under the My Infographics tab.

    

35. Move the pointer over your new infographic. Click Add.

    Your custom infographic gets added to the template.

    

36. For the last remaining panel in the bottom right, click Add.

    

    Note:

    You can add another Standard panel, such as a contact information panel that displays contact information about your company or organization. You can also add any of the other type of elements: Map, Table, Image, Text, or Chart. Below, the Streets map is selected.

    

37. To modify the theme settings of your template, click the button on the upper left.

    The Infographic Template Theme dialog opens.

    

38. You will make the following changes:
    1. Click on the Background color thumbnail, and change its color.
    2. Click on the Highlighted icon color thumbnail, move the pointer over brown, and click to select it.

       On the right side, you can see a preview how the selected colors will change the appearance of your custom infographics template.

    3. Click Save theme.

39. The Save Theme dialog appears.

    

40. Enter a name for the theme. Click Save.

    The custom theme is saved and selected in the Used saved themes dropdown.

    

41. To apply this theme to your custom infographic template, click Apply.

    The theme settings will be applied to your custom infographic template.

42. Change the title in the top left panel. Move the pointer over the panel and click Edit.

    

43. Change the title, text size, color, etc. Click Apply then click Save.

    

    The Save Infographic Template dialog appears. You may click Show Infographic Metadata to modify additional fields (optional).

    

44. When done, click Save.

    The template will be saved, and a confirmation dialog will be displayed.

    

45. Inside the Infographic Saved dialog, select the Set this as the default infographic in the site details popup window check box. Click OK.

    The custom infographic template will be saved under My Templates.

    

    Now you will use this template to run an infographic for a site.

46. Go to the Maps tab, and from the Project panel, load any site on the map which can be used as a book store site. On the site details popup window, click Infographics.

    

    Since you set it as the default, your custom infographic Book Sales and Relevant Information will be displayed.

    

    It has the site details in the top left panel, map of the site area in the bottom right panel, and all the other information for the site in the chart and infographic panels.

47. Click Export.

    The Export Infographic dialog opens.

    

48. Perform the following:
    1. Click the Export as drop-down menu and select Dynamic HTML.

       The Export Infographic dialog changes:

       

    2. Select the Enable interactive experience checkbox.
    3. Click Create HTML.

       Open the HTML after it is exported. Since the interactive experience was enabled when exporting it, you will also be able to see additional information for the data in the panels and charts— for example, when you move the pointer over the chart element for the digital books variable, a popup opens with easy to ready summary of the data.