Grid Templates
Last updated
Last updated
Grid templates are designed to store information about a GBP grid. Using grid templates can save a significant amount of time by allowing users to input grid information once and reuse it across different heatmaps.
Whenever a user wants to create a heatmap, the following information is needed:
Grid size
Distance between points
Distance unit type (meters, miles)
Zoom level
Google domain
Language
In order to save time, you can set your grid template once and use it across your heatmaps whenever needed.
Create your grid templates and use them when you create a heatmap to save time.
To create a grid template, click on GBP > Grid Templates
A new window will appear with all grid information that is required. On the left side of the window is all grid grid information and on the right side you can preview the map (based on grid settings).
Give you grid template a title and a description (these are friendly names and are used by the user to identify different grids).
Grid size defines the size of the heatmap. Selecting 9x9 grid size will create a grid (heatmap) that will include 9x9 points on map. This means that there will be 81 different points on your heatmap when you create it using this grid template.
There is also an indication of how many credits are required for each heatmap based on your grid size.
Think of grid size as a "resolution" of your grid/heatmap. A higher value gives a better resolution for your projects but this also costs more credits.
To better illustrate grid size, here are some examples of different grid sizes and how they look on a map. The first one has a size of 5x5 and the second one has size 9x9.
This value allows you to change the distance between each points in the grid. By changing this value you can cover larger areas with the same amount of points (defined by previous value "grid size").
You can also change the unit of distance between meters and miles.
Below is an example of different distance sizes using the same 7x7 grid size. The first one is set to 200 meters, the second one is set to 1000 meters and the last one is set to 5 kilometers.
Zoom level changes the amount of zoom within the map. The value ranges from 8z-18z (z is for zoom level and it's the official Google maps unit of zoom). You can also set it to auto.
Using button on the right side you can preview the selected zoom amount/value.
You can drag over the map to preview your grid settings and explore the area. You can also use Google map's tool buttons which are hidden by default by switching the "Show map controls" toggle button.
If you by any change you get lost within the map (while exploring the area or while trying different zoom levels) click on "fit grid and reset" button. This will automatically zoom and fit your grid within the map review area.
After setting your values, click on "Create Grid Template" to save your template.
You can now use your grid template when you create your GBP project heatmaps.
