Core concepts
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Map | One network: a set of nodes and the connections between them. A map belongs to an organisation. |
| Node | Something on the map: an organisation, a person, an idea. A node belongs to one map. The same organisation on two maps is two separate nodes. |
| Connection | A link between two nodes, saying one thing about them. Two nodes can have any number of connections. |
| Connection type | What a connection says, such as “funds” or “shares a board member”. Each connection type has a direction, and can record a number for each connection, such as a grant’s amount. |
| Note | Free text on a single connection, for when you don’t know its type yet. A connection has a type or a note, not both. |
| Undefined connection | A connection with neither a type nor a note. It’s drawn grey and dashed. |
| Measure | A number recorded on nodes so you can compare them: members, budget, reach. |
| Tag | A label a node either has or doesn’t: funder, campaign, active. |
| Tag group | A set of tags where a node can have only one, such as “Type”: Person or Organisation. Make them in the editor’s Tags card, or from imports and the API. |
| Property | A name and value kept on one node or connection, for things you won’t compare, such as an address. |
| Saved view | A saved way of looking at a map in Visualise mode. |
| Recipe | A note on how a map’s data was made: its sources, the steps that built it, and what was left out. See About this map. |
Direction
Section titled “Direction”Direction belongs to the connection type, not to each connection. A type is Undirected, Directed or Mutual. Every “funds” connection on a map points the same way: from the funder to the recipient. If one is drawn the wrong way round, swap its ends (see Nodes and connections).
Every map has its own vocabulary
Section titled “Every map has its own vocabulary”Measures, tags, tag groups and connection types belong to the map they were created in. Renaming or deleting one never affects another map. A new map starts with none. You create them as you go, an import creates them from your columns, and duplicating a map copies them.
Measures, tags and properties
Section titled “Measures, tags and properties”The details panel decides for you where a piece of information goes, but it helps to know the difference:
- Use a measure for a number you want to compare across nodes, or size and colour nodes by.
- Use a tag for a yes-or-no fact. A node either has the tag or it doesn’t.
- Use a property for anything else.
In Visualise mode, measures can size and colour nodes, and tags can cluster them. Properties can’t do either.