Atlas Administrator Manual
A guide for looking after an atlas: editing its data, managing its layers, keeping its maps current, and publishing versions. It assumes you can open your atlas's Admin Console.
Each section is an overview that points to a short how-to page for the details. For the viewer's side — the web map, sharing, downloads — see the User Manual.
Staging vs. Published
Your atlas has two kinds of state:
- Staging — the working copy. Every edit happens here.
- Published versions — permanent, dated snapshots. Once made they never change, and viewers see the current one.
The rhythm is: edit in staging → check the maps → build any printed maps → publish. The Admin Console's Versions section lists staging and every published version.
Editing Data
Each layer in the Admin Console has an Alter menu with three ways to change it on the map. Each opens an edit map for that layer:
- Draw adds new points, lines or areas — see Draw New Features. Private notes for administrators are drawn the same way — see Add Private Notes.
- Edit changes, deletes or moves existing features: draw an area around them, check the highlighted selection, then change their properties — see Edit Existing Features and Move Features to Another Layer.
- Reshape fixes the shape of one existing feature without touching its properties — see Reshape a Feature.
Other ways in:
- Spreadsheets — export a layer to Google Sheets, edit many attributes at once, and import it back. See Export, Edit, and Import Spreadsheets.
- Photos by email — field crews can email geotagged photos straight into a layer. See Add a Location by Emailing a Photo.
- Files — load features from a GeoJSON file. See Add Features from a File.
Working with Layers
Layers can be added, restyled, copied and removed from the console:
- + beside Layers adds a layer, from a file or empty — see Add a Layer.
- Alter → Edit Style… changes colours, labels, icons and whether a layer shows by default — see Change a Layer's Style.
- Dataset → Copy Layer… makes an independent copy — see Copy a Layer.
- Dataset → Clear Layer empties a layer but keeps it — see Clear a Layer.
- Dataset → Delete Layer… removes a layer and everything that refers to it, and refuses if something depends on it — see Delete a Layer.
- Dataset → Directory lists a layer's files for download — see Export a Layer.
⚠️ Layer changes made in the console are saved on the server but not yet recorded in the atlas's permanent configuration. Let SCS know after adding, restyling or deleting layers so the change is kept.
Making Edits Appear: Refresh
Edits are applied to a layer when it's refreshed, which also updates the web map. Most editing surfaces apply your change straight away. The Refresh menu offers Update to gather several pending changes at once, and Rebuild to re-pull layers that come from an outside source. See Refresh a Layer.
Building Outputs
Publishing doesn't rebuild outputs. The web map keeps itself current as you edit, but heavier outputs — the PDF runbook and gazetteer — are only rebuilt when you click Build beside them in Maps or Downloads. Build anything whose data has changed before publishing. See Build an Output.
Publishing a Version
When staging looks right, Publish (in Versions) freezes it as a permanent, shareable version. Rollback points viewers back at the previous version; Reset Staging throws away staging changes and starts again from the current version. See Publish a New Version.
Querying the Data
The SQL query page answers questions about your data — counts, lengths, lists — from a plain-English question or SQL. See Query the Atlas with SQL.
New Atlases
Anyone can start a new atlas at fireatlas.org/create, from a drawn box or an uploaded boundary, with a choice of starter kits. See Create a New Atlas.
Advanced: Viewing Configuration
The configuration editor shows your atlas's full built settings. Edits there are temporary — the next configuration rebuild replaces them — so treat it as an inspection tool. See View and Edit Configuration.
Where to Get More Help
Every how-to is listed in the Help Index. For anything beyond running your own atlas — new kinds of data, raster layers, the email pipeline, or platform questions — contact SCS.