Creating and Sharing Platform Content

SUMMARY

This handout is to be used with the Technology Overview and Setup Module for understanding how to create, upload and share content in the Cadasta Platform. It follows instructions and the example from the demo on the same topic.

PREREQUISITES

Trainees have an understanding on how to log in to the Cadasta Platform and what are the different content types on the platform. Trainees have a copy of the sample shapefile on their desktops and have the Partner – Project Manager role in their user accounts.

CONTENT ON CADASTA’S AGOL PLATFORM

Content on the Cadasta Platform can be created by collecting data in the field using mobile devices, adding it from online resources, or uploading it from your computer. Uploading data from your computer is the most common way to create content and thus is the focus of this handout.

A common use case for adding content to the Cadasta Platform would be when you already have data collected in previous projects or from your archives. In most cases, data will be in a text file or an Excel spreadsheet. In some cases, it will be in a KML or shape file.

There are many different formats that can be uploaded but the common and most useful ones are:

• Comma-separated values (CSV) file (.csv)
• GeoJSON file (.geojson or .json)
• Keyhole markup language (KML) file (.kml, .kmz)
• Microsoft Excel document (.xls or .xlsx)
• Photos with locations (.zip)
• Shapefile (.zip)
• Tile package (.tpk or .tpkx)

See full list of supported file types here.

UPLOADING DATA USING EXAMPLE SHAPEFILE

At the beginning of the training, you should have received a sample shapefile. Though we refer to a shapefile as a single file, it is actually made up of several files. A shapefile file must contain at least the .shp, .shx, .dbf, and .prj files components of the shapefile.

First, you will need to compress the files into a zip file before they can be uploaded to the Platform. Save the zip file in a convenient location on your computer, we will need it in the next step. Next, go to the Cadasta AGOL home page and press the Content tab. To create content you first need to open the Content page in AGOL.

Next, press the Add Item button and then select the From your computer option. Navigate to the location of the zipped shapefile that you saved earlier and select it. Please note that the location of this file on your desktop may be different from the location on other people’s desktop.

In the Add items from your computer window, the Contents drop-down will show the different file formats that are supported by the Platform. Choose shapefile from the dropdown list.

Once you’ve selected the shapefile, the platform will try to automatically determine which file format is in the compressed file but always verify that the correct format was chosen. The data uploaded to the platform is by default saved in its original form.

There will be a checkbox option Publish this file as a hosted layer. Always publish the data as a hosted feature layer if you want to make use of the data in other items such as web maps, web apps, dashboards, etc.

You have the option to rename the data item. Then, you must add some tags before the data can be uploaded and published. For this example, rename the data item to Bangladesh Training Demo [your name] and replace [your name] with your first and last name. Add the demo tag. It is important to try and add tags in order to quickly find this item in the future.

Press the Add Item button for the platform to begin uploading and publishing the data.

In the new window that opens, you can find a new feature layer has been created and its new name is Bangladesh Training Demo [your name].

Copy the url of the new feature layer for use later on in this session.

VIEWING & SHARING THE DATA

After data has been published it is always recommended to review the data table and view the data on a web map if the data includes any geometry. Press the Data tab to review the data table. This specific dataset has only one record. Check that this record has been published correctly.

Review the geometry of this dataset by pressing the Visualization tab. This dataset included only one polygon. Check that the platform was able to upload the geometry correctly.

Press the Overview tab. After data has been uploaded and published, it is only visible by you. In order to allow other people to view it, it must be shared.

This graphic breaks down the different access capabilities by role:

Press the Share button and then press the Edit Group Sharing button. In the search bar, search for Demo and select the Demo Group – Project Managers group. Only users which have the Partner – Project Manager role can share content to groups

Cadasta trainers and support staff also have permissions to share content to the entire organization and publicly. If your organization would like to share content at a higher level, please reach out to the Cadasta team for assistance

Open an incognito window and enter the url for the feature layer.

By default, anyone wishing to view this layer needs to have a user account on the Cadasta Platform and be part of the group which the layer was shared to. If data is shared to the entire organization then the user does not have to be part of that group. If the layer is shared publicly, then anyone with the link to the url can view it.