Data Visualisation Tools

Kinabase provides powerful data visualisation tools that help you explore and understand your data in new ways.

These tools are accessed from the View dropdown in any collection and include:

1. Map – Plot records with location data on an interactive world map
2. Bubble Chart – Visualise records grouped by categories with bubble sizing
3. Word Cloud – Display text and categories as a visual word cloud
4. Mind Map - Visualise record relationships in an interactive mind map
5. Record Roulette – Randomly select records with a fun spinning wheel

1. Map View

The Map view plots your records with location data on an interactive world map, ideal for seeing where your data is geographically distributed.

Prerequisites

Your collection must have at least one Location field

Using Map View

1. Open Map View

   In the View dropdown, select Map
   (This will only appear if your collection has a location field).

2. Interact with the Map

   • Each record with valid location data is pinned on the map
   • Hover over pins to see record details (primary field and location)
   • Click a pin to open the full record

3. Zoom Controls

   Use the magnifying glass menu in the toolbar to:
   • Zoom in or Zoom out manually
   • Zoom to fit all your pins in view

4. Select Location Field

   If your collection has multiple location fields, use the dropdown in the toolbar to switch between them.

2. Bubble Chart

Bubble charts provide an at-a-glance, multi-dimensional view of your data. Each bubble represents a record or group of records, with size and grouping controlled by your chosen fields.

Prerequisites

Your collection needs either:

• Categorical fields (Stage, Option, Boolean, or Record fields) for grouping, or
• Numeric fields for sizing bubbles

Using Bubble Chart

1. Open Bubble Chart

   In the View dropdown, choose Bubble Chart .
   Kinabase instantly generates a bubble visualisation of your data.

2. Configure Options

   Use the toolbar controls to adjust:
   • Group: Select a field to cluster bubbles together (e.g., 'Type', 'Stage', 'Assignee'). Choose 'Off' to show all records in a single group.
   • Colour: Pick a categorical field to colour-code your bubbles.
   • Size: Select a numeric field to determine bubble size (e.g., 'Budget', 'Revenue', 'Count').

3. Interact with Bubbles

   • Hover over any bubble to see record details including the primary field, secondary field, and values for your selected Group, Colour and Size fields.
   • Click a bubble to open the full record.

4. Download Your Chart

   Use the download menu in the toolbar to export your bubble chart as:
   • SVG – Vector format, ideal for resizing
   • PNG – Image format, perfect for presentations

3. Word Cloud

Word Cloud visualises text data and categories as an interactive cloud of words, where the size of each word reflects its frequency or count.

Prerequisites

Your collection needs at least one of these field types:

• Text fields (Short Text, Long Text)
• Option or Multi-Option fields
• Record or Multi-Record fields (uses linked record labels)
• Computed text or option fields

Enabling Word Cloud

Word Cloud is disabled by default. To enable it:

1. Open your collection and go to Settings
2. Find Data Visualisation Tools
3. Toggle on Word Cloud
4. Optionally click the cog icon to configure default settings

Using Word Cloud

1. Open Word Cloud

   In the View dropdown in the top right of your collection, choose Word Cloud

2. Select a Field

   Use the settings menu in the toolbar to choose which field to visualise:
   • For text fields: Individual words are extracted and counted (common words like 'the', 'and', etc. are automatically filtered out)
   • For option/record fields: Each option or linked record label becomes a word, sized by how often it appears

3. Customise Appearance

   Adjust the look of your word cloud via the settings menu:
   • Rotation: Choose how words are oriented
     • No rotation – All words horizontal
     • Vertical (90°) – Some words displayed vertically
     • Mixed – Combination of horizontal and vertical
     • Angled – Words at various angles
   • Font: Pick a font style
     • System (Sans-serif), Serif, Monospace, or Impact
   • Layout: Choose the placement algorithm
     • Spiral – Words spiral outward from the centre
     • Rectangular – Words fill a rectangular space
   • Colours: Select a colour scheme
     • Rainbow, Cool (Blues & Greens), Warm (Reds & Oranges), or Monochrome

4. Interact with Words

   • Hover over any word to see its count
   • Click a word to filter or interact with related records

Word Cloud Settings

When configuring Word Cloud in collection settings, you can set:

• Maximum Words (10-500): Limit how many words appear
• Default values for rotation, font, layout and colour scheme

4. Mind Map

Mind Map visualises record relationships in an interactive mind map.

Prerequisites

Your collection needs at least one self-referencing record field.

For example if your collection is called 'Components' and it has a record field also called 'Components' that links to other records in the same collection, these can be used for hierarchical relationships in the mind map.

Enabling Mind Map

Mind Map is disabled by default. To enable it:

1. Open your collection and go to Settings
2. Find Data Visualisation Tools
3. Toggle on Mind Map

Remember: Your collection needs at least one self-referencing record field.

Using the Mind Map

1. Open Mind Map

   On your collection, at the top of the screen you should now see a Mind-Map icon . Click this to open your Mind Map

2. Interact with the Mind Map

   • Click on any node to open the record
   • Use the + & - buttons to zoom in and out
   • Drag the surface to pan around
   • Click the 'Fit to screen' button to automatically adjust the zoom and position to fit all nodes in view

3. Export Your Mind Map

   Use the download menu in the toolbar to export your mind map as:
   • SVG – Vector format, ideal for resizing
   • PNG – Image format, perfect for presentations

5. Record Roulette

Record Roulette adds a fun, gamified way to randomly select records from your collection with an animated spinning wheel.

Enabling Record Roulette

Record Roulette is disabled by default. To enable it:

1. Open your collection and go to Settings
2. Find Data Visualisation Tools
3. Toggle on Record Roulette
4. Click the cog icon to configure your roulette settings

Configuring Record Roulette

In the settings, you can customise:

Basic Settings

• Number of records to pick (1-10): How many records are selected with each spin

Display Customisation

• Title: Custom heading displayed at the top (default: "Record Roulette")
• Tagline: Short description shown below the title (default: "Pick a random record with a spin!")

Feature Cards

Add up to 3 feature cards that appear below the spin button. Each card has:

• An icon
• A title (max 30 characters)
• A description (max 100 characters)

These are perfect for explaining rules, or highlighting information to users before they spin.

Using Record Roulette

1. Open Record Roulette

   In the View dropdown, choose Record Roulette.

2. Spin the Wheel

   Click the large SPIN button to start the animated wheel. After a few seconds, your randomly selected record(s) will be revealed with a celebratory animation.

3. Spin Again

   Use the Spin again button in the toolbar to pick new random records.

Availability by Collection

Not all tools are available for every collection. Availability depends on your field types:

If a tool is unavailable for your collection, it will show as 'Unavailable' in the Data Visualisation Tools settings with an explanation of what's required.

Read our Reporting and Creating Charts guides for more ways to visualise your data.

Using Kinabase's data visualisation tools helps you explore your data in interactive, visual ways – whether you're plotting locations on a map, identifying patterns in bubble charts, spotting common themes in word clouds, or adding some fun with record roulette.

For more help or to report issues, contact your System Admin or visit our Help & Support section.