Start creating projects in CleverMaps
We offer the opportunity to create projects on the CleverMaps platform to all registered users. This article assumes that you have an account in CleverMaps, and that you are familiar with the application itself.
Please note that you need to have an account with an email address. If you have registered using the social login, you do not have your own credentials which you'll need later. You can sign up here.
Introduction
To create all projects on the platform, we use a command line interface tool called CleverMaps Shell.
This tool manages all aspects of a project, whether it is the user interface, the data model, the metrics or the data load itself. Shell is described in detail in CleverMaps Shell.
Visual things such as managing dashboard, blocks, map, views, colors, indicators, metrics etc. can be configured via web UI itself. More technical things like data model requires Shell or REST API.
Shell runs in a command line - cmd.exe on Windows, Unix shell on Linux and Terminal on Mac. Shell manages CleverMaps projects by using project dumps. Project dump is an image of the project in a specific time. You dump (~download) the project to your local machine from our server, and edit different parts of it using a text editor. After you make your changes, you upload (~push) them back to the project. Project dump structure is described in detail in this article.
Each CleverMaps project consists of data and metadata. There are 12 types of metadata objects. Each type configures different aspect of the project. These objects naturally have relations between them, and together they form a metadata model. You can read more about the model in its own section.
In a project dump, the metadata are represented as JSON files, and the data as CSV files.
Prerequisites
Technical prerequisites
There's a few technical prerequisites you'll need to fulfill:
CleverMaps Shell (download, installation guide)
which requires Java Runtime Environment version 8+ (download from Oracle)
a good text editor
stable and preferably fast internet connection
Personal prerequisites
There is also a certain level of knowledge you need to have:
knowledge of the CleverMaps application
knowledge of the CleverMaps metadata model
basic knowledge of the JSON text format
not getting scared by a command line interface
Data analysis
The preparation, transformation and cleaning of the data you use is a whole different subject. This documentation does not cover the work of a data analyst. It assumes that your data are valid and contain all required properties.
Where to start?
There is a number of ways on how to start with developing projects. You can either start from scratch, follow our tutorial or clone an existing project and tweak it.
Follow our tutorial
We have prepared a series of tutorials, which cover the basics CleverMaps project development. There is a first tutorial and a number of following tutorials.
This is the recommended option.
Clone an existing project
There is a project available, which has all the tutorials completed. You can clone it (guide), tweak it and see what changes in the application.
This option assumes that you are at least familiar with the metadata model and CleverMaps Shell.
Create a project from scratch
You can download Shell and jump into the project development right away. It is useful to have the command list at hand.
This is an option for people who value self-taught abilities above everything else.