Data Layers

The Data Layers tab lists all of the data layers that will appear under the "Overlay Layers" tab in the user view.

Note that this section will evolve over the coming months. right now, the only way to add Data Layers to your SeaSketch is by directly uploading files in the form of shapefiles, geojson, flatgeobuffs, and. geoTIFFs. In the near future, SeaSketch will support other formats and uploading map services such as Esri REST services.

Adding Layers

If you noticed the button labeled "Add data" and you might get the impression that this is the way to add layers. Some day, but not yet! This will be the mechanism to add map services once we have that feature enabled. For now, you need to upload vector data directly and apply styling to layers within SeaSketch.

The "add data" button, while appearing to work, does not actually work. Avoid this for now.

Prepare a layer for uploading to SeaSketch by ensuring that your data are in the WGS84 Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere project. (It is possible that SeaSketch can reproject your data from a different projection but to ensure accuracy, do this projection on your own before uploading.)

If you are using a shapefile, make sure that all of the necessary files are zipped up together and that no spaces occur in the file name. Here, I have zipped up the following files

• FSM_12nm_Territorial_Sea.cpg

• FSM_12nm_Territorial_Sea.dbf

• FSM_12nm_Territorial_Sea.prj

• FSM_12nm_Territorial_Sea.sbn

• FSM_12nm_Territorial_Sea.sbx

• FSM_12nm_Territorial_Sea.shp

• FSM_12nm_Territorial_Sea.shp.xml

• FSM_12nm_Territorial_Sea.shx

into one zip archive: FSM_12nm_Territorial_Sea.zip. If you wish to practice using this file, you may download it here.

To add your layer (a zipped shapefile, flat geobuff, geojson or GeoTIFF), simply drag and drop the layer onto the map. Depending on the size of your file, it may take a few seconds for it to upload, queue and tile. When complete, it will be turned on.

I have successfully uploaded the file FSM 12nm_Territorial_Sea as an Overlay Layer.

You can upload multiple files at once by simply dragging and dropping them all at once. If you are uploading shapefiles, each shapefile will need to be contained within its own zip archive.

Editing a Layer

To edit a layer, right click on the layer name and choose Edit. This will bring up a dialog box that lets you edit basic settings, interactivity and the layer's style.

Settings

Enter the name of the layer under Title. It's good practice to have a simple name, without underscores or unecessary characters, that is easy to read and understand by anyone without technical knowledge.

Enter a simple attribution that will show up at the bottom of the namep when the layer is turned on. This layer came from MarineRegions.org.

This 12 nm Territorial Sea shapefile came from MarineRegions.org

Access Control

These settings are used to control which users can see the layer. Here, I've set it so that anyone in the public can view the 12 nm Territorial Sea layer. When building and testing your site, you may find it useful for only Administrators to see it, then publish it layer for public viewing. If you're dealing with highly sensitive layers, you may want to limit its viewing to a selected group, defined under the Users & Groups tab.

Controlling access to a data layer.

Enable data download

This feature is currently disabled. Check back for future releases.

Source Information

At the bottom of the Settings tab, you'll find a lot of useful information about the layer you've uploaded. Of particular interest here are the list of attribute names in the Columns list at the bottom. You can make use of this in the Interactivity section below. Hover your cursor over the elipse (...) next to an attribute name to see a list of potential values.

Interactivity

The settings under the Interactivity tab give you some control over values that may appear when you click on a layer or hover over a layer feature. A Banner is short text that can be displayed toward the bottom of the map when the user hovers over features. Tootips are short text displayed next to the mouse cursor when you hover over a feature. Popups appear when you click feature.

Here I have entered "12nm Boundary" as a tooltip. Howevering my cursor over a feature in this layer reveals that text.

Note that Tooltips and Popups can be enhanced with simple HTML tags. We will provide more information on this feature in future updates to our documentation.

Style

Vector layers can be syled using MapBox GL Style Layers. When you initially upload your vector data, SeaSketch determines the geometry type (point, line, polygon) and applies generic styling. Click on the color boxes to change colors and edit the text for more sophisticated styling.

The style editor can be used to change how your layers look including color and opacity. You can even apply styles by attributes. See the MapBOX GL Style Layers documentation for more information.

In future releases, we may include templates for you to use with common layer types.

Ordering and Grouping

The order that layers appear in the list may be altered by simply dragging and dropping any given layer up or down the layer tree (i.e., list).

Click the "Add Folder", give your folder a name, and then drag and drop layers into the folder to add some thematic organization to your layer tree.

Access controls for folders work the same as layers. Right click on a folder and choose "edit" to see your options. Folders may accessible to the Public, Admins Only or by a Group that you have created in Users and Groups.

Note that folders can be configured such that layers may be checked-off only (i.e., so users cannot turn all layers on at once), or where the folder cannot be expanded to see individual layers (all layers are turned on at once), or such that only one layer within the folder may be turned on at once. Experiment with the various folder types to see how they work.

Editing a folder that contains multiple layers

Folders, just like layers, may be ordered by simply dragging and dropping them to different locations within the layer tree.

Z-order

The Z-Order refers to how layers appear on top or beneath one another. Click the dropdown list next to "View" to see the default ordering of your layers. To move a layer so that it appears on top of another one, simply drag and drop the desired layer toward the top of the list.

At the moment, end users cannot change z-ordering. This will change in in a future release.

Publishing Layers

Before end users can see the layers that you have added to your project, you need to "publish" the layers. Clicking the "Publish" button, you'll see this warning:

Publisihing Overlays

When ready, click "publish" and then return to the project view by clicking the "Back to Project" button to ensure everything looks good from the end-user perspective.

Note, you will need to refresh your browser after returning to the project view in order to see your changes!

Maps

In SeaSketch, "maps" refer to base maps that are authored in MapBox and then imported into SeaSketch. You will need to create a MapBox account, create Mapbox style, publish it and then add the URL to your SeaSketch project.

In Data Layers, choose Maps > Add New Map > By URL > and past the link below into the field that says Style Location.

mapbox://styles/seasketch/clhao1xum01w901qm2wkd06tc

Entering a custom MapBox style to use as a "Map". Maps are basemaps that appear underneat any data layers turned on.

Select an area of the map to create a thumbnail.

Selecting an area of the map to use as a thumbnail.

After capturing and saving the thumbnail, the new map will be viewable by all users. They do not require "publishing" as do data layers shown above.