Mango Blog

Maximum Security, Minimum Effort.

We are just days away from a major new release. It includes the most requested feature ever in the history of Mango - Users & Groups!

Check out the video above to see how it works!

So here's the problem:

You want to move your GIS maps online to make them easily accessible throughout your organisation, but you have concerns about map access and security.

This is where the Mango Users & Groups feature comes in. It gives you fine grained control over who can access or edit your maps and data. Here's how it works: Let's pretend you have a new map that's not available to the public. You want your GIS team to administer the map; your management team to have read-only access; and finally, your survey team to make data edits but not modify the map itself.

With Mango this is easy.

All we need to do is create 3 groups. Let's call them the GIS group, the Management group, and the Survey group. We can then place each staff member in their respective group. Now in each map, we can specify which groups have permission to view the map, which groups have permission to edit the data, and which groups have permission to administer all aspects of the map application.

When your users sign in to your Mango account, they will only see the maps and datasets listed which they have been given permission to access—all other maps will be hidden from view. in addition, tools for editing the data within the map, or administering the map will only be displayed to users that belong to groups with appropriate permissions. What's more, Mango provides a detailed access log with information about who accessed your maps and data, and what actions they performed.

Securely sharing your maps and data within your organisation is easy with Mango, and what's more, it only takes a few minutes to set up.

Thousands of organizations like yours have chosen Mango over Mapbox, there are dozens of reasons for this but here are the top five: 

1. No coding required!

Don’t have a team of web designers and programmers on standby to update your mapping application? That’s fine - with Mango, all our features and tools can be activated from within your web browser with only a couple of mouse clicks.

2. Mango delivers the tools your users expect from a web based GIS

Add tools to your map application with a single click by choosing from Mango’s extensive tool library. Be it print, search, queries, spatial analysis to name but a few, we’ve got you covered. No coding required!

3. Create map applications that integrate seamlessly with your website and brand

Mango gives you full control over the branding and layout of your maps. You can customize the logo, color scheme, layout, sidebar and popups of your maps using our simple point and click editor. You can even use your own website domain name!

4. Mango gives you fine grained access control

Data  security is our number one priority. We make it easy to share maps and data with colleagues, clients, or the public. Our user/group functionality gives you fine grained control over what each user can see and do.

5. Mango is about more than just a base map

Mango is about more than just making maps. We make it easy to create a customizable map and data portal that can be shared internally, with specific partners, or to the general public.

Let’s face it, GIS is a complex beast, but empowering citizens and local business with the insights locked inside geospatial data doesn’t have to be rocket science.

Until now web GIS viewers have been designed with the GIS professional in mind — not the end users of web maps. They’re clunky, ugly, confusing for the lay-user and simply don’t work on all browsers. Mobile? Forget it.

They run on expensive proprietary systems with overheads that would make a the captain of a Spanish Armarda ship blush, require extensive programming knowledge to code and deploy, or require users to download yet another update (looking at you, Java), or Flash, or *shudders* Silverlight.

We built Mango to be the opposite of all that’s wrong with GIS web mapping. 

Here’s 5 reasons why counties & townships across the US are moving to Mango:

1. You’re in Control

Mango is more than just a web map viewer; it’s an online portal for all your county’s maps and public datasets. Mango integrates into your existing website with ease with custom domain control, and a ready made portal for your public maps and data. You don’t need consultants to create and host your maps, or pay them each time you need to update your data. You’re data remains in your hands.

2. Your maps are accessible anywhere, any time, on any device.

A recent Accenture survey* revealed two-thirds of US citizens want increased digital interaction with their government; a third want access to government services on their terms — that means whenever they need it, and on whatever device they have in their hand.

Mango just works. Everywhere. Any device, any platform. Even IE6.

OK, maybe not IE6.

3. It’s Powerful.

Mango works with your existing data, in all the major geospatial file format: Shapefile, CSV, KML, TAB, FileGDB, GeoJSON, GeoTIFF, and WMS.

Once uploaded, your data is ready to style with one-click visualization, custom symbology, easy labelling, customizable feature popups, and more. Powerful GIS analysis tools can be configured through simple wizards.

For your map users, an intuitive, familiar interface bridges the gap for those who aren’t familiar with GIS-speak. From simple tax parcel lookups, performing calculations using your data’s attributes, or extracting deeper insights through proximity analysis, Mango is made for rapid information gathering and decision making.

Mango Features Portal

4. No coding, no servers, no complex licensing.

“In one hour last night I managed to achieve things I have been attempting on and off via carto, fusion tables and custom javascript for over a year.”

Build maps on desktop or laptops, using any browser. Mango lets you work fast, wherever you are.

Cloud-based and built on a powerful open source technology stack, means no coding, no servers to maintain, no complex licenses, credits, or layer limits. Just rapid development, instant deployment, and maps that work on any device, with powerful GIS tools baked right in, and no headaches.

5. Flat rate pricing = no surprises.

No view limits, no layer limits, no credits to renew. Pound for pound, Mango does more for less. Check the competition.

Simplify your budget: flat rate pricing means you know exactly what you’ll pay every month — or year, if you’d like a 20% discount.

The end of the 2015/16 fiscal year is fast approaching — will you continue to serve your county’s GIS data on a platform that makes it hard for citizens to find what they’re looking for? Migrating to Mango takes most of our local government customers a week, so now is your opportunity to unburden yourself from complex tools and unnecessary expense and move to Mango.

If you’d like to know more, read more about how Mango works for local government, or sign up for instant access. Test drive Mango today.

View the Demo localgov portal

We’ve just released a raft of new features including map styles, speed and stability updates, and improvements in the toolbox.

Improving quality and equality of healthcare relies on data. Geospatial data and analysis is key to understanding where inequality lies, where need is greatest, and finding patterns that deliver solutions that serve both citizens and governement agencies. Our customers are using MangoMap to put that data to work with informative and dynamic GIS webmaps.

Want to make a web map but worried it’s just too hard? Follow this simple tutorial to see how simple it is to make amazing interactive webmaps with MangoMap. Sign up for your free 30 day trial and start mapping today!

Want to make your interactive map more useful? Here's how to trigger an email from a clickable email link in your attribute popup in just 4 steps, one of which is just hitting the save button.

Every day we're seeing some great maps being created on the MangoMap platform—something we're pretty proud of! Here's some examples of how MangoMap is being used by our customers to spatially visualize demographic data.

Mango is a simple ArcGIS Online alternative. Here's why you should consider switching.

Thinking of making the switch to Mango?

We want to make the decision as easy as possible, so we’ve put together some information that’ll help you decide which option is best for you.

Below, you'll find information to help you compare Mango and ArcGIS Online, including features, customer experiences, pricing and thoughts from current Mango customers.

1. Mango is easier to use than ArcGIS Online

Tired of having to struggle your way through clunky and complex dashboards, jargon and all sorts of features you never use? With Mango, you won’t have to. We’re not trying to sell you the kitchen sink; our only objective is to make it incredibly easy for you to deliver first class web map applications to your users.

From the second your sign up you will be guided through the process of making your first map. Our interface is super intuitive and is designed from the ground up with simplicity in mind. Most users can publish their first map within ten minutes of signing up.

2. Mango doesn’t require coding skills 

With Mango, the good stuff isn’t hidden behind an API that’s only accessible to programmers. The entire application is configured using our simple administration interface, so you can use every feature in Mango without writing a single line of code.

You can enhance the functionality of your map application by choosing from a wide selection of map tools. Our tools range from the simple, such as scale bars and print export, through to the complex, such as location analysis full text search. Regardless of the tool, they can all be added to your map with a single click.

In addition, you can completely customize the interface of your map applications to match the branding and style of your organization or business using our easy to use branding panel. You can use your own logo, update the color theme, create your own navigation bar and create your own custom side panel with text, links, images, and videos. You can even use your own domain or sub-domain.

    3. Mango is more affordable 

With ArcGIS Online the pricing so complicated it requires it’s own calculator application just to give an estimate. We’re not surprised if you are having trouble working out what an application created with ArcGIS Online will cost.

We can’t help you calculate what ArcGIS Online organizational account will cost you, but we can guarantee that it will be more than Mango. Even our top level Enterprise plan costs less per year than ArcGIS Online’s entry level organization package.

As our pricing is so easy to understand, you can rest assured that you won’t get any unwelcome surprises. You can get started on a full 30 day trial of our premium features, and then if you need the extra maps and functionality provided on our paid plans, you can subscribe directly from us. There is no contract, no commitment, and no need to purchase through a distributor; just a simple monthly subscription that you can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel at any time.

4. Mango provides better support 

At Mango we don’t believe in making users trawl through support forums or wait days for customer support tickets to be answered. When you join Mango you will be provided with a personal account manager who has the power to make decisions and knows the product inside out. Your account manager can be emailed or contacted by telephone directly.

Our account managers are co-located with our software development team so can deal with any technical requests on the spot. They are also very experienced in GIS and web mapping so can advise you on design best practices as well as data sourcing and preparation. Their goal is to help you deliver the best application possible to your users.

Ready to give Mango a try? 

We hope this comparison guide was useful to you. Making the switch is easy and you can get set up on Mango in just a few minutes. Sign up for your free, no-risk 30 day trial of our premium features. We won’t even ask for your credit card.

During the trial you will have access to the full range of Enterprise plan features.

Still have questions? Let’s talk: [email protected]

Our noses are firmly on the grindstone most days here at Mango HQ, so we’re popping our heads up for a breath just long enough to tell you about some delicious new features we’re rolling out.

Ever wanted to display photos in a popup of your map data? Well, follow this simple tutorial to find out how!

You’ve got your data, but what happens when you need to visualize it against something else, like regional employment data, or solar PV capacity by region? 

There’s a plethora of freely available GIS data out there - some good, some bad - so here’s 3 repositories well worthy of a coveted spot on your bookmarks bar. 

We’ve teamed up with Discover Spatial to offer the MangoMap Academy - a beginner’s video guide to QGIS. If you’ve ever wanted to learn the very best FOSS desktop GIS available, but weren't sure where to start, this course will be perfect for you.

The course covers:

An overview of QGIS and introduction to the interface

Creating a basic map

Classifying vector data

Creating a more complex map

Creating vector data

It’s been a while since we last featured 3 great map icon sets for customising your MangoMap, and the world of icons has grown in leaps and bounds since.

UPDATE: Google Maps Engine API will be turned off on January 29, 2016. Are you ready?

We’ve been following the announcement from Google that they are axing their Google Maps Engine product very closely and tracking the impact that it is having in the industry.

The most viewed article relating to Google's announcement appeared on ZDNet. The article was primarily aimed at those who understood what Google Maps Engine is/was and didn't really attempt to clarify where this product stood in Google’s wide array of map related offerings. As a result, many people have misunderstood the announcement with some even thinking it means the end of Google Maps.

(Yesterdays) Link of the Week 1.2 - Death of the Google Maps API? http://t.co/PUsGEjI9Bn #LotW #AotWDeadAlready

— Josh Brown (@jjbkeeper)

January 21, 2015

The ZDNet article also contains dozens of comments from reader who are unclear about what this announcement actually means. 

This is hardly surprising when you consider the large number of map related products both past and current with very similar names and in some cases very similar functionality:

Google Maps

Google Maps API

Google Maps Enterprise

Google Earth

Google Earth Pro

Google Maps Engine Lite

Google Maps Engine Pro

Google My Maps

Google Maps for Work

Google’s announcement only related to Google Maps Engine, not any of the other products in the range (some in that list are already defunct). So to understand the announcement, we need to understand what Google Maps Engine is.

What is Google Maps Engine?

Here’s how Google describes the Pro version of the product:

Maps Engine Pro gives businesses and individual users an easy-to-use tool for collaborative map creation. Using Maps Engine Pro, you can create rich, multi-layered maps, share information with stakeholders and make decisions more collaboratively.

So Google Maps Engine is a browser based application from Google that allows users to upload their own map data and have it displayed as layers above the Google base maps. That data could be uploaded via their user interface in the following formats:

Spreadsheet (CSV)

Esri Shapefile

KML

Tab File

Google Maps and the Google Maps API also allow users to add their own overlays above the map but in reality they are limited to pushpins and simple lines and polygons. 

Google Maps Engine gave an easy way to add much more complex overlays and give them custom styles based on their attribute data in the application, without writing any JavaScript code or using any API’s.

The type of data that could be overlayed and the way styling was applied to that overlay is illustrated in the screenshot below:

Google also offered an API which allowed Google Maps API developers to integrate their layers from Google Maps Engine with their Google Maps API mashups.

What Does this Announcement Mean?

So now that were clear what Google Maps Engine is, we can now look at the significance of the announcement and what it means. The first thing you should understand is that this has absolutely no impact on Google Maps or Google Maps API. You will still be able to access Google Maps as you always have done and if you use the Google Map API to make mapping mashups. Nothing will change for you.

The big change is for those of you that have a Google Maps Engine account and have built web map applications using Google Maps Engine. You have until January 29, 2016 to find a replacement, because on that day Google will be switching off the lights !

What's the best alternative? Mango of Course!

In the email announcement that Google sent to all account holders they encouraged users to either move to the very lightweight Google MyMaps or use their existing range of API products. But where does that leave non-coders and users who need more than the simple pushpin on a map functionality that MyMaps offers?

The short answer is that you need a non-Google alternative and luckily for you at Mango we have everything you need and are looking forward to welcoming you to our family of over 15,000 map makers!

We offer all of the functionality available on Google Maps Engine and much more.

Like Google Maps Engine, with Mango you can also:

Display your data above base maps

Upload vector data in a wide range of formats

Apply complex styling to layers via an interface

Edit features in your data via an interface

Create complex legends made up of multiple layers

Control who has access to your maps and data

Access your maps on mobile and tablet devices

What’s more, without writing a single line of code, you can do the following:

Add tools to your maps with a single click (search, print, measure, analysis etc)

Customize the applications interface (logo, colors, navigation menu, sidebar etc)

Use your own domain name or sub-domain to access the maps

Upload raster/image data

Display labels for point, line and polygon features

Add WMS layers to your map

Mango supports all common geospatial formats: Shapefile, MapInfo Tab, CSV, KML, GeoJSON, GeoTIFF (raster), File GeoDatabase, and WMS.

Google have announced that they will no longer be accepting new signups for Google Maps Engine and will be terminating the service completely in January 2016. 

This will obviously come as a shock to users who have invested time and effort in Google Maps Engine, but the good news is that here at Mango we offer a robust alternative that will allow you to make engaging web map applications without writing a single line of code.

Many of our customers are are former users of Google Maps Engine who have migrated over to Mango to benefit from our wider selection of map tools, more comprehensive styling options and our customization features that allow the interface of your map application to be closely aligned with the brand of your organization.

Maps like the one below can be created quickly without the need to write any code or worry about servers. All maps on Mango are built using our intuitive user interface and are hosted on our secure cloud infrastructure.