Showcase fire data with a dashboard

You've created a web map showing where fire incidents occur most frequently in your city. You want your audience to be able to quickly access key operational data, such as the number of incidents in each year, while also interacting with the map.

To combine the spatial data of a map with charts, lists, or other ways of showing data, you'll create a dashboard using ArcGIS Dashboards. A dashboard is a visual display focused on presenting a large amount of data on a single screen, facilitating understanding and decision-making. Your dashboard will show information to help the fire department assess fire risk.

This tutorial was last tested on September 25, 2024.

Requirements

• ArcGIS organizational account with a Publisher, Facilitator, or Administrator role (see options for software access)

Showcase fire data with a dashboard

Create a dashboard

First, you'll go to the web map you want to turn into a dashboard. You'll sign in and start making the dashboard.

1. Go to Naperville Fire Incidents 2017-2021.

   Note:

   The web map you're using to create a dashboard is the same as the one created in the tutorial Find patterns in fire incidents. If you've previously completed that tutorial, you can use the Naperville Fire Incidents 2017-2021 web map you created instead.

   This web map shows hot spots of fire incidents between 2017 and 2021 in Naperville, Illinois. It also has a layer showing fire incidents symbolized by year.

2. If necessary, on the ribbon, click Sign In. Sign in using your ArcGIS organizational account.

   Note:

   If you don't have an organizational account, see options for software access.

   Once you're signed in, the Create Web App button becomes available. This button has an option to create a dashboard.

   Any changes made to the web map will also affect any apps created using that map. You don't own this web map, so you can't control whether changes are made. Normally, you might want to save your own copy of a web map before creating an app to ensure no unexpected changes occur, but for this tutorial, that won't be necessary.

3. Click Create Web App and choose Dashboards.

   

   ArcGIS Dashboards appears in a new browser tab. First, you'll add basic metadata about the dashboard.

4. For Title, type Naperville Fire Incidents Dashboard.
5. For Tags, type Firefighting, Fire Risk, and Yearly, pressing Enter between each tag.
6. For Summary, type A dashboard showing data about fire incidents in Naperville between 2017 and 2021.

   

7. Click Create dashboard.

   The dashboard is created. By default, it only shows the web map you used to create it.

Add a header

First, you'll add a basic header to the dashboard, so users know what the dashboard is showing.

1. On the toolbar, click the Add element button.

   

   Tip:

   Optionally, you can expand the toolbar by clicking the Expand button at the bottom the toolbar. Doing so will show the names of all of the buttons on the toolbar. (You can also see the button names by pointing to each button.)

   You're prompted to choose where you want the element to be added. A header should appear above the map.

2. Above the map, click the Add element here button.

   

   A menu appears with options for the type of element you want to add. There are a wide variety of options, including a legend, several types of charts, a list, a table, and so on. This tutorial won't cover every element type, but you can optionally try adding different elements.

3. In the menu, choose Header.

   

   Options to configure the header appear.

4. For Title, type Fire Incidents in Naperville 2017-2021.
5. For Subtitle, type Hot spots show where incidents are clustered. Adjust layer visibility to see individual incidents.

   

   You also have options to change the placement of the subtitle (putting it under the title instead of next to it), the text and background color, and whether there is a margin between the header and the rest of the content.

   Furthermore, you can add a logo, a background image, or additional links accessible from the header's menu button. These options are useful if you want to add branding for your fire department or organization and links to additional resources. For this tutorial, you'll leave these options unchanged.

6. Click Done.

   The header is added to the dashboard.

   

7. On the toolbar, click the Save button and choose Save.

   

   The changes are saved. It's a good idea to save frequently as you configure the dashboard.

Configure the map

The web map was added by default, but it has no options for navigation or even changing layer visibility, which makes it impossible to view the individual fire incidents instead of the hot spots. You'll configure the map to add these tools.

1. Point to the map. In the map's upper left corner, point to the options button.

   

2. In the options menu, click the Configure button.

   

   Note:

   You can configure any element in the dashboard, even ones you've already configured, by pointing to its options button and clicking Configure.

   The configuration settings for the map appear. You can add several navigation tools for users. You'll turn on a few basic tools.

3. On the Settings tab, turn on the following tools:
   • Legend
   • Layer visibility
   • Basemap switcher
   • Search
   • Zoom in/out

   

   There are some more advanced settings for determining how users interact with the map, but for now, these settings are fine.

4. Click Done.

   The tools you turned on are added to the map as buttons. Before you continue, you'll use the layer visibility tool you added to turn on the layer of individual fire incidents, which is currently hidden on the map.

5. In the upper right corner of the map, click the Layers button.

   

6. In the Layers window, next to Fire Incidents 2017-2021, click the Visibility button.

   

   The layer is now shown on the map, with different colored points for incidents that occurred in different years.

   

   Note:

   Changing the layer visibility when configuring a dashboard does not change the default visibility that users will see. For instance, when users access your dashboard, they'll still see only the hot spots layer by default. To change the default layer visibility, you must change it in the original web map that your dashboard is showing. Keep in mind that any changes you make to the original web map will affect any apps created using the map, so if you already made a web app using this map in the Showcase fire data with an app tutorial, that app would also show any changes you make.

7. Close the Layers window. Optionally, explore the other tools you added, including the search tool, the legend tool, and the basemap switcher tool.
8. When finished, save the dashboard.

Add a category selector

One of the main things you want users to be able to see using the dashboard is the fire incidents for each year. To help them do this, you'll add a category selector. A category selector will allow users to click a category of data (such as its year) to select or filter the data in that category.

1. On the toolbar, click the Add element button.

   You'll add this element to the header, as it's the key functionality of your dashboard.

2. On the header, click the add button.

   

3. Choose Category selector.

   

   Options to configure the category selector appear. First, you'll configure the data that will be selected. You want to select a group of values that already exist in the data (the year of each incident).

4. On the Data tab, for Categories from, choose Grouped values.

   

   You're prompted to choose the layer with the data you want to select.

5. In the Select a layer window, click Fire Incidents 2017-2021.

   

   The layer is added to the tab. Next, you'll choose the category field that will be used to select the data.

6. For Category field, choose Alarm Date - Year.

   Tip:

   When you click the Category field menu, you can search for the field you want instead of scrolling through the list.

   

   Now, your selector will select the data by year. Next, you'll adjust some of the other options to ensure the behavior you want.

7. Click the Selector tab.

   

   Here, you can change options for how the selector looks and works. First, you'll adjust the label to be more specific.

8. For Label, type Select a year.

   

   The label changes in the preview of the selector. Currently, the selector is a drop-down menu, so only one year is shown at a time. You'll change it to show all available years as buttons. You'll also add the option to choose not to filter the data.

9. For Presentation mode, choose Inline.

   

   If your data had a large number of years, the drop-down option might be more appropriate. Your data only has five years, though, so the inline presentation mode doesn't take up much space.

10. Turn on None option.

    

    Now, the None option is added to the selector. It is the default option, although you could change the other settings to make a different value the default. You'll leave the other parameters unchanged, as starting without a filter makes the most sense for your data.

    Lastly, you'll change the actions, or what happens when the selector is used.

11. Click the Actions tab.

    

    By default, the selector only selects data within the category you chose. A selection highlights the data, but because your fire incident data is arranged densely, this may not be the most visually clear way for users to see data from each year. You'll add a filter, which will hide all data outside of the selection, making it so users only see the data category they selected.

12. Under When selection changes, click Filter. Turn on Fire Incidents 2017-2021.

    

    Now, the correct layer will be filtered.

13. In the lower right corner, click Done.

    The selector is now shown on the dashboard.

    

14. Optionally, click the buttons on the selector to view incidents from each year. When finished, click None to view all incidents again.
15. Save the dashboard.

Add a chart

Next, you'll add a chart to the dashboard that shows a breakdown of the number of incidents by year. Dashboards allow you to combine the data of a map with many types of charts to make your data more understandable at a glance.

1. On the toolbar, click the Add element button.

   You'll add the chart to the side of the map.

2. On the left side of the map, click the Add element here button.

   

3. In the menu, choose Serial chart.

   

   Options for configuring the chart appear. First, you'll choose the layer with the data you want to show. Like the category selector, you want your chart to show the year.

4. In the Select a layer window, click Fire Incidents 2017-2021.

   Once you choose the layer, more options appear. You'll choose the field to chart (the same field you chose for the category selector).

5. On the Data tab, confirm that Categories from is set to Grouped values. For Category field, choose Alarm Date - Year.

   

   The chart preview changes to show the number of fire incidents for each year. You'll label each axis of the chart to make it easier to read.

6. Click the Category axis tab.

   

7. For Title, type Year.

   

8. Click the Value axis tab. For Title, type Number of incidents.

   You'll also give the chart itself a title so users can better understand what it shows at a glance.

9. Click the General tab.

   

   You can change the name and the title. The name is only used internally, when you edit dashboard elements, while the title is shown to users. You'll change both; if you decide to add a second chart later, showing different data, it would be good to have them named differently so you can tell them apart.

10. For Name, type Incidents per year.
11. For Title, click Edit. Type Incidents per year, highlight the text, and use the text editor options to center the text.
12. In the text editor options, click Paragraph and choose Heading 3.

    

    The text is now formatted appropriately for a title. Lastly, you'll adjust the chart's actions. You can sync it to the category selector and the fire incidents layer so that filtering the layer will also filter the chart.

13. Click the Actions tab. Expand Filter and turn on Category selector (1) and Fire Incidents 2017-2021.

    

14. In the lower right corner, click Done.

    The chart is added to the dashboard. However, it takes up half the dashboard, which is more space than necessary.

    You can rearrange or resize any part of a dashboard even after you add the part. You'll resize the chart to take up only 25 percent of the dashboard.

15. Point to the right border of the Incidents per year chart. Drag it until it takes up only 25.0 percent of the dashboard.

    

    The chart now takes up a smaller part of the map.

    

    Tip:

    You can also change the position of an element by pointing to its options button and dragging the Drag item button.

    

16. Save the dashboard.

    Note:

    If you want an optional challenge, try adding another chart to the dashboard. Make this chart a pie chart and choose a different category field with information that you think is interesting to show. Rearrange your dashboard using both charts in a way you think looks best.

Share the dashboard

Now that your dashboard is finished, all you need to do is share it.

1. In the upper left corner, click the menu button and choose Dashboard item details.

   

   You go to the details page for your dashboard, which you can edit to add metadata. For now, you'll only share the dashboard.

2. Click the Share button.

   

3. In the Share window, for Set sharing level, choose Everyone (public). Click Save.

   Now, anyone with the link can view your dashboard.

   Note:

   To view your dashboard in its final form, click Open Dashboard. To make more edits to your dashboard, click Edit Dashboard.

In this tutorial, you created a dashboard showing fire incidents by year in Naperville, Illinois. Your dashboard included a map, header, category selector, and chart. However, there are many more types of items you can add to your dashboard, making it a good option for showing lots of data at once. You should try editing your dashboard, adding more items, and rearranging the items. What kind of dashboard can you create that best showcases your data?

You can find more tutorials in the tutorial gallery.

Acknowledgements

• The Naperville 2017-2021 Fire Incident Calls feature class was compiled using Annual NFIRS Public Data managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Retrieved on October 26, 2023. This product uses the FEMA OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The federal government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from this data after the data has been retrieved from the agency's websites. See OpenFEMA Terms and Conditions for more information. Data on FEMA.gov is free of copyright and may be copied and distributed without permission.
• The Fire Incident Hot Spots layer was created by running the Find Hot Spots tool on the filtered Naperville 2017-2021 Fire Incident Calls layer.
• Dark Gray Canvas map sources: Esri, TomTom, Garmin, FAO, NOAA, USGS, OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community