If you have utilized the Places tool as a part of a recent project, it's important to consider how you are going to interpret and present the data you have collected.

In this article, we look at how to use data collected via the Places tool for reporting on your consultation.

Before you begin reporting on your EngagementHQ Places activity, you should ensure that you've archived the activity, so you have certainty you're working with the final data set.

Of course, if you choose, you can begin working on your data before the end of the consultation period, you just need to be aware that you may not be working with the final data set. Looking at your data before the consultation ends can be a good thing to do if you would like to pull out some preliminary insights.

In order to archive your Places activity in preparation for reporting, manage the project page where you have set up the Places map.

On your project page, navigate to the Tools section to view the Places maps you have created.

Use the dropdown menu next to the activity you would like to archive and select Archive.

If you would like to include a custom archival message write it in the Archival Message dialogue box and click Save to confirm.

You have now ensured that your Places activity is closed from further contributions and you can begin to analyse your data.

One of the best ways to explore and work with the data collected from your Places activity is to use the Detailed Excel Report download.

To generate this report, in the side navigation bar of your site, click on Reporting > Project Reports. The Summary page is displayed.

On the Summary page, select the project and time period to filter the data for your report in the dropdown menus. If your consultation is archived, you can use the All-Time option to select the whole period of your consultation. Click on Update.

Next, click on the Download Report dropdown menu and select the Excel option for the Detailed Report section.

Once the report is downloaded, you will see a zipped folder containing your project information. Unzip the folder and open the excel file.

To understand how Places data is presented in Excel, follow the steps below;

Locate the tab at the bottom of the excel sheet which corresponds to the Places activity you would like to analyze. You may have several tools activated on this project so each tab will represent a different tool instance on your project.

There are three main sections for exploring excel data; 

Summary information about your activity. You can see this pane on the left-hand side in blue. This gives you an overview of participation and a breakdown of the user status of participants. E.g. Registered, Unverified, Anonymous.

Contribution information is displayed in the left corner of the report section. This information includes the following; The Contributors Details (date and time, log in, and contributor summary); Longitude and Latitude, Address of Pin, Pin Category, and Comment Submitted. In this section, you will also see responses to any custom survey questions you have asked with the Places tool. Links to images submitted by participants will show up in a column labeled Add Image. This allows you to easily download the images submitted by the participant.

Sign-up form questions are shown in the right corner of the blue section and allow you to filter your responses based on these questions. This information will only be complete for participants who have signed in to complete the Places activity. Sign-up form information won't be available in the excel sheet if you have selected unverified participation.

There are several ways to explore the information in excel;

Using the Detailed Report is the best way to look at your data as a whole and begin to explore it.

Another great way to start to make sense of data captured with the Places tool is to use EngagementHQ's text analysis capabilities to code and categorize the feedback received.

Text analysis allows you to do qualitative analysis on the comments you have received via the Places tools. To begin a text analysis on your Places comments, open the Text Analysis tool by going to Reporting > Text Analysis in the admin section of your site. Read the detailed help desk article explaining the Text Analysis Tool and follow these steps to begin your analysis.

Select the project, tool and essay question type respectively from the dropdown menus. Click on the Update button to generate your comments.

Begin tagging your comments with relevant tags. These could be themes, sentiment or other coding instructions which will help you report on your activity.

Once you have finished tagging all of your comments, download the report by clicking on the Download Report button in the top right, as indicated in the figure above.

On the excel download you will be able to see each comment as well as binary indicators for each comment letting you know if a specific tag has been applied to that comment.

Use this information to generate graphs and also filter in on your comments.
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Another way to explore Places feedback is to use the Tool Reports section of the reporting.

Using Tool Reports will allow you to generate several useful graphs and further explore your Places data.

To begin using Tool Reports go to the Reporting > Tool Reports section of EngagementHQ and click on the Places link in the left-hand menu.

Use the filters to select the project you would like to look at and also select the data range. Click on Update to generate your report.

Use the Overview section of the Tool Reports page to compare different Places activities from within a single project.

As you can see in the image above, the Overview section presents your Places data as a scatter bubble, allowing you to easily compare amounts of engagement between each Places activity.

To filter your Places maps, click on the dropdown menu of Select a Place to view its details to select the map data you would like to look at. This action displays unique summary information about the activity in the call-out box on the right-hand side. Here, you can see the number of visitors, number of unique contributors, and contributions as well as information about whether the participants were registered, unverified or anonymous.

You can easily export this graph to include in your report by clicking on the hamburger icon (highlighted below). Simply choose the format for your export and download your selected option.

Using the Overview section is a great way to quickly check in on your Places activity, compare it to other activities and quickly download a chart.

Using the demographics section is an easy way to quickly report on who was involved in your Places activity.

The demographics information presented is gathered from your site’s sign-up form, so it's important this form reflects the demographic questions you require for reporting.

For more information read our article on Developing a registration form.

To view the demographics information of contributors to your Places activity, visit the Demographics section of your Tool Reports page.

Use the dropdown menu to select the sign-up form question to explore. You will see a chart representing the information you have requested.

Use the hamburger icon to export the chart in your preferred format.
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Demographics information is useful for reporting as it helps you better explain the profile of people who contributed to your Places activity. 

Using the Places Visitor Statistics panel allows you to easily compare your Places activities in a table.

This information is particularly useful for comparing the number of pins added by admins and contributors to an activity.

Place insights allows you to see all the pins placed on your Places activity and the related contribution details for each pin, including any survey question responses on the pin.

This is a great way to see a visual representation of your contributions. Use the dropdown menu to select the Places activity you would like to look at.
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Use the hamburger icon to download the map. You will have an option to choose between a jpg and png format for the image.

There is also a filter icon available for filtering and reporting on the required pins only.

Contribution Summary and Details

Scroll down to see a summary of the contribution and scroll further to see the contributions in detail, including question analysis and links to images, if uploaded.

Contact our support team if you need any further assistance via chat or email support@engagementhq.com