What's new in MapVision
MapVision is constantly being developed to meet the requirements of our users, whether this is a feature we think you'll find useful, or in response to user feedback. We strive to fit as many GIS tools into the program as we can whilst keeping it lean enough to work in a web browser and intuitive enough for any user.
The below list gives a run down of the latest changes that might benefit your projects so it is worth checking back regularly to see what is new. As a web-based tool, there will never be any downloads or updates required, but make sure that each time you use MapVision you conduct a "hard refresh" (Control + F5 in most browsers) to make sure that you benefit from the latest features.
Follow the hashtag #MapVision on Twitter to find out about new features as they are released.
Try out the new features in MapVision
- No software to install
- No training necessary
- No financial details required
| Date | New feature | What this means |
|---|---|---|
| 04/10/2021 | Move or add points | When editing a point set via "Browse", you can move the point using "Set point" or add a new point. |
| 04/10/2021 | New look layer control panel | The layer control panel has a new look with check boxes replaced by grey (off)/blue (on) icons. |
| 04/10/2021 | Updated drive times | All drive options (catchments, point-to-point and scheduler) use the latest 2021 data, with improved drive time modelling. |
| 31/08/2021 | Drag layers between groups | More layers can be added to the group by dragging them. Dragging within a group changes the order of display. |
| 31/08/2021 | Exclusive layers within a group | Within a group, layers can be made to be exclusive for visibility (show/hide) or extent (zooming). See menu options. When exclusive, clicking "Show" or "Use extent" will switch the other layers in the group off. |
| 31/08/2021 | Group layers | Project layers can be made into groups ("Make group" in the layer menu). A minus sign ("-") appears next to the group. Collapse or expand by clicking it. |
| 31/08/2021 | Change the map-menu ratio | There is a vertical divider between the layer panel on the left and the map on the right. Drag to change the sizes or double-click to get a best fit. |
| 02/08/2021 | Multiple layer editing | Multiple layers can be styled together. Right-click the paint-brush icon in the style column. |
| 02/08/2021 | Client map branding | A client logo can be requested from Beacon Dodsworth to appear on the map. |
| 02/08/2021 | Map titles from key | A map can be titled using the Key dialog. The title will appear at the top of the key on the map. |
| 02/08/2021 | Better located point labels | Icons are now positioned better relative to labels in point sets when images are used. |
| 02/08/2021 | KML description import | KML import now adds any Description attributes. |
| 02/08/2021 | Improved themes | Theme support has been improved, including a fix to "Equal count" range type themes. |
| 02/08/2021 | Distance & time shown on scheduler | The scheduler (optional module) now shows distance travelled as well as time. |
| 02/08/2021 | Bug fixes | Various bug fixes including project sharing allowing object sharing if the person sharing owns the object. |
| 20/05/2021 | KMZ import improvements | KMZ import handling has been improved. The import is more tolerant of typical KMZ files. |
| 20/05/2021 | Access database import improvements | Access database import has been improved. Only native tables are offered for import but queries and linked tables are now ignored. |
| 20/05/2021 | Greater sharing version control | The "Shared with me" library is now read-only. |
| 20/05/2021 | Polygon editing consistency | Polygon editing is more consistent. Save will replace the polygon being edited if from a library object. Save as will always create a new entry in "Saved polygons". |
| 20/05/2021 | Project naming conventions | Saving a project will always create a new one if the name hasn't been used before. Otherwise it will overwrite an existing one. |
| 15/02/2021 | Polygon to postcode point set | Generate a postcode pointset from a polygon (right-click in "Add polygon" mode). The pointset is stored in the library "Postcodes" folder. |
| 15/02/2021 | Catchment to postcode point set functionality | Generate a postcode pointset from a catchment (right-click menu option in the library). The pointset has the same name as the catchment (with "postcodes" appended) in the same folder. |
| 10/02/2021 | Intuitive search data naming | The layer created from a search ("Go to:") is now named from the search. |
| 10/02/2021 | Search supports what3words | Search supports what 3 words searches (with or without the leading ///). E.g. ///olive.tamed.ruler. See https://what3words.com/ |
| 10/02/2021 | what3words functionality | Right-click on the map and click ///what3words to generate the "what 3 words" string for that location. |
| 10/02/2021 | Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) data now available | The latest CCG boundaries (April 2020) are available in the "Health tile types" folder. |
| 25/01/2021 | New split library option | "Split" is a library option for creating subsets using a filter value. |
| 25/01/2021 | New scale bar | A scale bar has been added to the map. The new "Scale bar" button gives control over visibility and position. |
| 25/01/2021 | Simplified key | The key will show either the current theme for a layer or the simple style, not both. |
| 25/01/2021 | Import help | There is some popup help for the Import type. Click the "?". |
| 25/01/2021 | Improved performance | Various speed improvements to library display and access. |
| 25/01/2021 | Modify decimal places | The number of decimal places in the key text for themes has a drop-down control. |
| 25/11/2020 | Object dragging and copying in the Library | Dragging an object to a different library will now copy it rather than move it. This is useful when you have read-only access to a shared library but you want to make your own modifications. |
| 25/11/2020 | Postcode update | Ongoing changes to the postcode infrastructure affect search and point set imports. We aim to update postcodes twice a year. |
| 25/11/2020 | Point set to catchment data aggregation | When a point set is converted to a catchment, columns can be selected to be aggregated. For example: if you have a sales value against each customer, you can see the total sales values by postcode sector. |
| 25/11/2020 | Library folder naming conventions | Library folder names are now consistently named My... if you are the owner. This fixes a possible issue where a library could be named differently depending on where it was being viewed from. |
| 25/11/2020 | Simplified dragging interface | Dragging files or objects can use the object list of an expanded folder as the target rather than the folder icon itself - making a much bigger area to aim for when dragging. |
| 25/11/2020 | Map and data click synchronisation | When a browse window is open on an object, clicking the map will highlight the row of the nearest object (e.g. point in a point set). This helps synchronise the map and the data views of objects. It enables click, then edit operations. |
| 25/11/2020 | Set data types upon import | When importing data, the data types of the columns can be set. This allows for more predictable results when sorting or analysing data. |
| 02/11/2020 | Load polygons from browse dialogue | Polygons can be loaded for editing from the Browse dialog. Right-click for options. "Save polygon as" saves a new row. "Save polygon" overwrites the existing one. |
| 29/09/2020 | Attribute editing | Attributes in columns of objects in the library (catchments, point sets, etc) can be edited. Right-click a row when browsing an object and select Edit. |
| 29/09/2020 | Simplified project sharing options | When you share a project with a colleague, the notification email they receive has two links - one to a full MapVision environment and one to a simple, zoomable map with no menus. |
| 29/09/2020 | Labels layer refresh | The labels layer for catchments, etc now updates when a layer is hidden/shown |
| 29/09/2020 | Added MS Excel import functionality | Excel imports can now contain embedded new lines (multi-line cells). |
| 04/09/2020 | Network & polygon KML downloads | Network and polygon sets can be downloaded as KML. |
| 04/09/2020 | Added project sharing options | When a project is shared, the email contains a new link to display the project and map without menu bar, left panel, chat button etc. |
| 28/08/2020 | New free-form polygon tool! | There is a new free-form polygon tool. Polygons are added as a project layer. Click on the map to create; drag vertices or edges to edit. |
| 28/08/2020 | Postcode formatting on downloads | Downloaded catchments built with postcode tiles have the postcode value formatted for readability. |
| 28/08/2020 | Key scaling | The key can be scaled (default 1) to fit the map. |
| 28/08/2020 | Polygon theming | A point set can have a new column tagged with the name of a polygon from a polygon set. this column can then be used to create a theme. |
| 28/08/2020 | New maps/rasters available | Background mapping can be set to be OS (Ordnance Survey) or Barts (Collins Bartholomew) for subscribed users. Barts covers Ireland at two scales. |
| 24/07/2020 | Point-to-point routing | Point-to-point routing from right-click on the map (not Northern Ireland). Subscribed users only. |
| 24/07/2020 | Territory information in key | Data in the Territory manager can be added to the key. |
| 24/07/2020 | Project library organisation | Projects support folders & project library split into "Projects" and "Shared with me". |
| 24/07/2020 | Central catchment labelling | Catchment layers are labelled automatically at their centre. |
| 24/07/2020 | Catchment KML download | Catchments can be downloaded from the library as KML as well as CSV. |
| 07/07/2020 | New find option (Beta) | When browsing a point set or catchment, right-click a column heading for Find/Find next options. |
| 07/07/2020 | Catchment download detail | Catchment download now includes all columns (e.g. time and distance for a drive-time catchment). |
| 07/07/2020 | Highlight in library | Show in library now highlights the folder and object. |
| 07/07/2020 | Browse issue fixed | Browse issue fixed when using a sorted column. |
| 07/07/2020 | New 2020 OS map | New 2020 background large-scale mapping from the Ordnance Survey. |
| 07/07/2020 | Longer object names permitted | Import issue fixed when object names longer than 80 characters used. |
| 07/07/2020 | Apostrophes allowed in object names | Import issue fixed when apostrophes used in object names. |
| 07/07/2020 | Import issue fix | Import issue fixed where embedded new-lines in Excel were not handled correctly. |
| 07/07/2020 | More intuitive map scales | Background map scales used are more intuitive. |
| 07/07/2020 | Library sort options | Name, date, owner and type can be sorted by clicking the headers. Ascending sort only. |
| 07/07/2020 | New library layout | New library layout. Folders on the left, objects of current folder on the right. |
| 24/06/2020 | Themed catchments | Catchments can be themed by tilename. Useful for small catchments to give each tile a different colour. |
| 24/06/2020 | Import error view options | Import warnings and errors can be shown as top 25 or as all entries. |
| 24/06/2020 | Key scales to document size | The key now appears correctly scaled in image downloads, e.g. at A4 or A3. |
| 24/06/2020 | Key re sizeable for accessibility | The key can now be scaled. Numbers larger than 1 make the scale bigger, e.g. 1.5 makes it half as big again. |
| 24/06/2020 | New layer menu icon | The layer menu is now accessed from a "hamburger" icon |
| 10/06/2020 | Quick zoom added | There is a "Zoom in" button for quickly swiping into an area of the map. Reverts to "Drag" after use. |
| 27/05/2020 | Point set clustering | Point sets can be clustered. Show or hide clusters from the layer menu. |
| 27/05/2020 | Cascading popup bubbles | Popup info bubbles show multiple near points cascaded. Useful where points are coincident. |
| 27/05/2020 | Object browsing grid | Object browsing grid is available from the layer menu. |
| 14/05/2020 | Revert to default style option | Revert to the default (or owner's if shared) style for a library object (right-click the style swatch). |
| 14/05/2020 | New layer display options | Manually set the lower and upper size that a layer is displayed by clicking on the number in the scale editor. You can still drag them. |
| 14/05/2020 | Browse catchments | You can browse catchments (with or without attribute information). Click a row to pan the map. Double-click to zoom to the extent of the tile. |
| 14/05/2020 | New delete object options | Right-click a row in a library object browser and a menu lets you pan, zoom or delete a point (for pointsets) or a tile (for catchments). |
| 04/05/2020 | Default style options | When adding an object to a map, it will get the style the owner set if you haven't set one yourself. |
| 04/05/2020 | Improved browsing options | You can browse point sets, networks and polygons. Remember, when browsing point sets, click a row to pan, double-click to zoom. |
| 04/05/2020 | Hide layer on key option added | A layer menu option lets you show/hide the layer on the key. |
| 04/05/2020 | Add/remove tiles options | Use map buttons to add/remove tiles when editing a catchment. Drag is previous, default behaviour. |
| 22/04/2020 | New library default | Save default library object style (right-click the style swatch). |
| 22/04/2020 | Set layer visibility more quickly | Switch visible layers on/off quickly (right-click the layer visibility check box). |
| 22/04/2020 | Faster map extent setting | Switch which layers set the map extent quickly (right-click the layer use extent check box). |
| 22/04/2020 | New map label options | Set which map label values are displayed from a button in the style editor dialog. |
| 22/04/2020 | Drivetime and distance detail | A drivetime catchment's time and distance values are now expressed to two decimal places. |
| 22/04/2020 | More intuitive navigation | Browsing a point set supports paging and click-to-pan and double-click-to-zoom. |
| 06/04/2020 | Option to save style for an object | Right-click on the style swatch. The saved style will be used when you add the object from the library in future. |
| 06/04/2020 | More layer options added | Right-click on the "eye" or layer's visibility checkbox. Right-click on the "cross icon" or layer's extent checkbox |
| 05/03/2020 | Simplified import process | The import process has been simplified within MapVision to a 3-step process, making it easier than ever to geocode and plot csv or spreadsheet data onto a map. |
| 18/02/2020 | New Style options | New coloured pins for point sets, plus the ability to show/hide tile edges in your thematics with the tick of a box. |
| 15/11/2019 | Free data library | New boundary and census data is available for free to MapVision users |
| 23/09/2019 | Convert point sets to catchments | Easily convert between the two map types to turn point set data into area catchments with data counts. |
| 20/09/2019 | Drive time and distance catchments | Include banded thematics based on drive times or drive distances. |
| 29/08/2019 | POD file import functionality added | Seamlessly import entire Prospex GIS projects into MapVision carrying over themes and styles. |
| 29/08/2019 | Local Authority geography added | 2019 Local Authority boundary data now included for not for profit catchmment maps. |
| 16/08/2019 | Drag and drop import function added | Drag a data file onto the map to launch the import dialogue and put data into your library. |
| 14/08/2019 | KML file import functionality added | Import points, networks or polygons from any GIS using this universal GIS file type. |
| 14/08/2019 | Download catchments as CSV files | Once you've reviewed data in MapVision it can now be exported again as a CSV file to allow you to re-import it into a spreadsheet or database. |
| 14/08/2019 | MS Access data import | Import entire databases from MS Access rather than individual tables. |
| 17/07/2019 | Internet Explorer functionality added | MapVision now works with Internet Explorer, meaning it now works with every major web browser. |
| 17/07/2019 | "Go to" Function added | Search for a postcode or placename in your data using this simple text search |
| 15/06/2019 | New Territory Functionality | Balance your catchments and create effective territories with new household, population or adult count data held natively in MapVision. |
| 10/06/2019 | Sample data available to Import | If you would like to try MapVision but don't have any data available, we've included a sample point set of a well known chain of homeware stores. |
Sign up for our newsletter
We value your privacy and will keep your personal information confidential. It will only be used for communications about news, products and services provided by Beacon Dodsworth.
Use of cookies
The Beacon Dodsworth site uses cookies to improve your user experience and to provide analysis of how our site is used.
Your continued use of this site is taken as implied consent to receive cookies from us and our analytics partners.