1. How it works

A Dataizen portal is built on two complementary spaces:

• Content administration (the CMS): this is where you create pages, menus, charts, maps, dashboards and news, and where you set the appearance.
• The data catalogue: it holds the datasets, their resources (files, tables) and their metadata. The portal's charts and maps connect to these datasets.

Signing in

You sign in with the “Dataizen Account” button (single sign-on). A single login opens content administration, the catalogue and the other tools. Depending on your role, you see more or fewer options.

2. Creating and organising pages

Pages are managed in the Pages collection. To create a page:

1. Open Pages, then Create Item.
2. Fill in the Title and the Slug (the page's address, for example portrait gives /pages/portrait).
3. Choose the Status: Draft while the page is not ready, Published to make it visible.

Menus and submenus

A page appears in the main menu if the Show in menu option is enabled. The order is driven by the Sort field (smaller numbers first). To create a submenu, set a Parent page: the page becomes a drop-down entry under its parent. You can also:

• place a page in the footer only (legal notice, accessibility);
• create an external link (the menu points to another address);
• reserve a page for the team with the admin only option (hidden from the public).

3. Composing a page with blocks

A page's content is a stack of blocks, which can be reordered by drag and drop. Each block has a width (full or half width, to place two blocks side by side). The main types are:

• Hero: a title banner at the top of the page.
• Text: formatted text (headings, lists, links, tables).
• Key figures: a few striking indicators.
• Image: an illustration or a photo, with a caption.
• Chart: a chart built from a dataset.
• Map: an interactive map (points, outlines).
• Dashboard: a complete territorial dashboard.
• Video: a video (from YouTube for example).
• Flourish: an embedded Flourish visualisation.
• Report: structured text with margin notes.
• Filter: a filter that drives the charts and maps on the page.
• Embedded content: an external page or service in a frame.
• Datasets, News, Themes, Search: the usual home-page building blocks.

To add a block: open the page, go to the Blocks section, Create Item, choose the Type, fill in its fields, save, then set the block to Published.

4. Creating a chart

Charts are managed in the Charts collection and connect to a dataset:

1. Create Item, give it a Title.
2. Choose the source Dataset.
3. Select the Type (bar, pie, line).
4. Set the X column (the categories) and the Y column (the values), the unit, the colour and the sort order.
5. Save, then insert the chart into a page with a Chart block.

Tip: in a Text block, you can insert a chart within the text using a directive such as [[graphique:id]].

5. Creating a map

Maps are managed in the Maps collection, with one or more layers:

1. Create a map: title, default base map, available base maps (plan, aerial, OpenStreetMap), extent, centre and zoom.
2. Add a layer pointing to a geographic dataset (points, outlines), with its colour and visibility.
3. Insert the map into a page with a Map block, setting its height.

6. Creating a territorial dashboard

A dashboard compares territories across several indicators, with a choropleth map and an interactive selection. It is made up of three elements:

• the dashboard itself (title, name of the overall territory);
• one or more levels (for example districts, neighbourhoods, municipalities), each linking an indicator dataset and an outlines file, with the code column shared by both;
• indicators (column, label, unit, decimals, category, aggregation mode, and whether they can be mapped).

Once configured, insert it into a page with a Dashboard block. The visitor changes level, category and indicator, and clicks a territory to see all its figures.

7. News, themes and key figures

• News: title, standfirst, content, image and date. They feed the News block and the home page.
• Themes: thematic entry points (with an icon) that lead to the filtered catalogue. The Themes block displays them.
• Key figures: striking indicators, used by the Key figures block on the home page.

8. Adding a dataset to the catalogue

Data lives in the catalogue. To add a dataset:

1. From the catalogue, choose Add a dataset in your organisation.
2. Fill in the title, the description, the licence and the themes.
3. Add one or more resources: a file (CSV, GeoJSON, PDF) or a link. CSV tables become explorable and mappable.
4. Save: the dataset appears in the catalogue and becomes available for charts and maps.

9. Generating with the AI assistant

An assistant can generate, from your data and a description in plain language, a chart, a map, a dashboard, a territory profile or a complete page:

1. Open the AI-assisted generation page from the administration.
2. Choose a dataset (or, for a page, simply describe the topic: the assistant finds the relevant datasets).
3. Describe what you want in one sentence.
4. Click the output type: Chart, Map, Dashboard, Territory profile or Complete page.

Generated charts and maps are published and visible immediately. A generated page is created as a draft, to be reviewed then published. Everything remains editable afterwards like any other content.

10. Customising the identity and theme

In the portal's Settings, you can set:

• the name and the description of the site;
• a predefined theme, or custom colours and a custom font;
• the catalogue scope (which data organisations are shown);
• the logo and the visuals.

Need help?

This page is an overview of what is possible. For hands-on support, contact the team that administers your portal. Happy building!