A new release of Power Map for Excel!

  • Article

Hi, folks, and thanks for checking things out here.

Microsoft quietly released a new version of Power Map for Excel.  It's still in Preview mode, but there were some notable performance and stability changes.  You may also notice some net new functions in the ribbon for Power Map (e.g. 2D Charting options).

If your copy of the add-in still says "GeoFlow", you don't have the latest and greatest.  You can get that here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=38395

If you already have GeoFlow (the former codename for Power Map), go ahead and uninstall that before you install the new add-in.

I created a quick demo of the latest Power Map functionality - you can check it out here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l90-g_aUaG4

I use US Census data for this one - The data set is pretty straight-forward - just population statistics.  I don't get into the most of the demographic items - just raw population by county.  You can grab a copy of the data here:

https://www.census.gov/popest/data/counties/asrh/2012/CC-EST2012-ALLDATA.html

I use the CSV file that contains the entire US. 

 

Here's what I learned along the way:

1) If you want the time-based animation, you must mark some aspect of your PowerPivot model as a Date Table.  Since I don't get one from the Census, I just fabricated something to get the animation working.

2) Power Map doesn't like a plain County Name - how can you tell the difference between Cumberland County in PA, MD, and NJ?  So I load the data via Power Query and fabricate a concatenated column of County + State.  Power Map likes using this flavor of geography much better.

3) When things start to look messy on your map, consider using the "Thickness" control to slim down some of the column chart points.  Usually does the trick for me.

 

Enjoy!

 

UPDATE September 30 2013

Here's the "official" list of changes with this iteration of the add-in:

• Improved Getting Started Experience

• Regions Visualization

• Themes

• Create Video

• Change Color for Series

• Settings Revamp

• Support for Calculated Fields and Hidden Columns

• Flat Map

• Picture Annotations

• Graphics Quality Settings

• RTL and Localization

• High DPI

• Redline Polish

• Stability

• Memory Footprint

• Remote Desktop Support