Connections globe
Updated a month ago to v4.0.5 by Flourish team
How to use this template
Connections globe
This three-dimensional template is ideal for visualising flow data such as migration patterns, financial transfers or flights. Each row in the data is represented as an arc drawn between two locations, scaled according to the size of the flow.
Data requirements
To get started upload data to replace the example dataset in the Values spreadsheet. Your data must have columns for source location, destination location and value. To work out of the box, your source and destination columns should contain three-letter country codes (ISO Alpha-3). However, you can use any country/region codes as long as each code has a corresponding entry in the Locations sheet to specify its latitude, longitude and display name.
Menus and sliders
If no “Menu/slider” columns are specified, the visualisation will show all the rows in your data at once. To show subsets of rows in different views (e.g. years or categories or countries) choose one or more “Menu/slider” columns. Each one will create a menu with a view for each value in the column. Once created, you can configure your menus in the “Menu/slider” settings panels – for example to choose between buttons, dropdowns and sliders.
Tips
- If your globe has no arrows, make sure the Source location and Destination locations in the main Values sheet each match with a code in the Locations sheet.
- If you have multiple entries with the same source and destination, by default their values will be summed together, but you can change this (for example to use the max or average value) in the “Data & arrows” settings panel.
- By default the arrows point to the capital cities for each country but you can change the coordinates by editing the latitude and longitude in the Locations sheet.
- You can choose between a number of globe surfaces (“skins”) in the “Design” settings panel. You can also supply your own skin, e.g. by making a custom map in a graphic programme. If doing this, use a map with a Plate Carré (equirectangular) projection to ensure the countries are correctly positioned on the globe.
- Advanced used can edit the CSS styles for the page in the “Page design” settings panel.
- Try making a story to give a guided tour of your visualisation with beautiful cinematic animations.
Credits
This template was adapted from a bespoke project created by Kiln for Google Trends. All preloaded skins were created by Kiln, except for the satellite image, which comes from NASA Visible Earth.
API information
This section documents API usage specific to this template, so for an introduction we suggest you refer to the generic API documentation instead.
template: @flourish/connections-globe
version: 4
Template data
There are three different formats in which you can supply data to this template. The most convenient for you to use likely depends on the source of your data, as described below.
1. Array of arrays, and a bindings object
You can supply arrays of arrays to opts.data, which might look
like:
{
data: {
values: [
[ "ValuesColumn1Value1", "ValuesColumn2Value1",
[ "ValuesColumn1Value2", "ValuesColumn2Value2",
[ "ValuesColumn1Value3", "ValuesColumn2Value3",
...
],
locations: [
[ "LocationsColumn1Value1", "LocationsColumn2Value1",
[ "LocationsColumn1Value2", "LocationsColumn2Value2",
[ "LocationsColumn1Value3", "LocationsColumn2Value3",
...
]
}
}
where each array of arrays represents the rows in a data sheet.
To tell the API how the values from each column should be
associated with the keys that the template is expecting, you must also supply
an object attached to opts.bindings. (The meanings of the
keys in the bindings object are documented
below.) The minimal bindings you can
supply for this template are as shown in this example:
{
template: "@flourish/connections-globe",
version: "4",
bindings: {
values: {
src: 0, // index of a column in your data
dst: 1, // index of a column in your data
},
locations: {
code: 0, // index of a column in your data
name: 1, // index of a column in your data
latitude: 2, // index of a column in your data
longitude: 3, // index of a column in your data
}
},
data: {
values: [
[ "ValuesColumn1Value1", "ValuesColumn2Value1",
[ "ValuesColumn1Value2", "ValuesColumn2Value2",
[ "ValuesColumn1Value3", "ValuesColumn2Value3",
...
],
locations: [
[ "LocationsColumn1Value1", "LocationsColumn2Value1",
[ "LocationsColumn1Value2", "LocationsColumn2Value2",
[ "LocationsColumn1Value3", "LocationsColumn2Value3",
...
]
}
}
All possible bindings that you can supply are shown in this example:
{
template: "@flourish/connections-globe",
version: "4",
bindings: {
values: {
src: 0, // index of a column in your data
dst: 1, // index of a column in your data
val: 2, // index of a column in your data
filter1: 3, // index of a column in your data
filter2: 4, // index of a column in your data
},
locations: {
code: 0, // index of a column in your data
name: 1, // index of a column in your data
latitude: 2, // index of a column in your data
longitude: 3, // index of a column in your data
}
},
data: {
values: [
[ "ValuesColumn1Value1", "ValuesColumn2Value1",
[ "ValuesColumn1Value2", "ValuesColumn2Value2",
[ "ValuesColumn1Value3", "ValuesColumn2Value3",
...
],
locations: [
[ "LocationsColumn1Value1", "LocationsColumn2Value1",
[ "LocationsColumn1Value2", "LocationsColumn2Value2",
[ "LocationsColumn1Value3", "LocationsColumn2Value3",
...
]
}
}
2. Array of objects with arbitrary keys, and a bindings object
This format is most likely useful when you have data from an external source,
such as CSV data loaded from d3-dsv.
You should supply this attached to the opts.data, which might look
like:
{
values: [
{ "ValuesHeader1": ..., "ValuesHeader2": ..., ... },
{ "ValuesHeader1": ..., "ValuesHeader2": ..., ... },
{ "ValuesHeader1": ..., "ValuesHeader2": ..., ... },
...
],
locations: [
{ "LocationsHeader1": ..., "LocationsHeader2": ..., ... },
{ "LocationsHeader1": ..., "LocationsHeader2": ..., ... },
{ "LocationsHeader1": ..., "LocationsHeader2": ..., ... },
...
]
}
... but with the keys being the column headers from your
source data instead. You must also supply an object attached to
opts.bindings. The minimal bindings you can
supply for this template are as shown in this example:
{
template: "@flourish/connections-globe",
version: "4",
bindings: {
values: {
src: "ValuesHeader1",
dst: "ValuesHeader2",
},
locations: {
code: "LocationsHeader1",
name: "LocationsHeader2",
latitude: "LocationsHeader3",
longitude: "LocationsHeader4",
}
},
data: {
values: [
{ "ValuesHeader1": ..., "ValuesHeader2": ..., ... },
{ "ValuesHeader1": ..., "ValuesHeader2": ..., ... },
{ "ValuesHeader1": ..., "ValuesHeader2": ..., ... },
...
],
locations: [
{ "LocationsHeader1": ..., "LocationsHeader2": ..., ... },
{ "LocationsHeader1": ..., "LocationsHeader2": ..., ... },
{ "LocationsHeader1": ..., "LocationsHeader2": ..., ... },
...
]
}
}
All possible bindings that you can supply are shown in this example:
{
template: "@flourish/connections-globe",
version: "4",
bindings: {
values: {
src: "ValuesHeader1",
dst: "ValuesHeader2",
val: "ValuesHeader3",
filter1: "ValuesHeader4",
filter2: "ValuesHeader5",
},
locations: {
code: "LocationsHeader1",
name: "LocationsHeader2",
latitude: "LocationsHeader3",
longitude: "LocationsHeader4",
}
},
data: {
values: [
{ "ValuesHeader1": ..., "ValuesHeader2": ..., ... },
{ "ValuesHeader1": ..., "ValuesHeader2": ..., ... },
{ "ValuesHeader1": ..., "ValuesHeader2": ..., ... },
...
],
locations: [
{ "LocationsHeader1": ..., "LocationsHeader2": ..., ... },
{ "LocationsHeader1": ..., "LocationsHeader2": ..., ... },
{ "LocationsHeader1": ..., "LocationsHeader2": ..., ... },
...
]
}
}
(As before, the keys containing "Header" would be replaced by column names from your data source.)
3. Array of objects with template-defined keys
There is an alternative format you can use, which is likely to be easier to
use if your data is not from a spreadsheet source. With this alternative format
you supply your data to the template as
an array of objects, attached to opts.data, where the keys must
be those used by the template, as documented below. In this case
there is no need to supply a bindings object, since the key names are already
those expected by the template. The required properties in the data
object are as follows (scroll down for a
description of what each property is):
{
template: "@flourish/connections-globe",
version: "4",
data: {
values: [
{
src: ...,
dst: ...
},
...
],
locations: [
{
code: ...,
name: ...,
latitude: ...,
longitude: ...
},
...
]
},
...
}
And the full list of all possible properties is as follows:
{
template: "@flourish/connections-globe",
version: "4",
data: {
values: [
{
src: ...,
dst: ...,
val: ...,
filter1: ...,
filter2: ...
},
...
],
locations: [
{
code: ...,
name: ...,
latitude: ...,
longitude: ...
},
...
]
},
...
}
Meanings of the template data keys:
- values.src: The column containing the code for the arrow’s source
- values.dst: The column containing the code for the arrow’s destination
- values.val: The column containing the value of interest – this specifies the thickness of the arrow
- values.filter1: Creates a menu or slider based on the values in a column
- values.filter2: Creates a menu or slider based on the values in a column
- locations.code: The column containing the location code, as specified in the Source and Destination columns of the Values sheet
- locations.name: The column containing the location name
- locations.latitude: Latitude for each location, specified in decimal degrees
- locations.longitude: Longitude for each location, specified in decimal degrees
Template settings
Options for opts.state.
Design
globe_skin string
Globe surface. Allowed values:
globe_skin_other url
Upload globe surface skin. Provide a 4096×2048-pixel jpg
arrow_colour color
Arrows.
accent_colour color
Accent.
selected_colour color
Arrow highlight.
grad_colour color
Color. When not set, the gradient color will be the same as the background color
grad_opacity number
Opacity. Max: 1
custom_controls_colors boolean
Customise controls colors.
controls_background_color color
Background.
controls_button_border color
Border.
controls_text_color color
Label.
Data & arrows
aggregation_method string
If multiple rows with same locations…. Allowed values:
arrow_scale_reference string
Scale arrows relative to max value in:. Allowed values:
num_arrows number
Max number of arrows. Sets a limit on the number of arrows to draw to improve animation performance
arrow_scale number
Arrow scale. Multiplier to increase or decrease the width of the arrows
Popup
popup.show_popups boolean
Popups. Allowed values:
popup.is_custom boolean
Popup contents. Allowed values:
popup.custom_template text
Popup content. The text to appear in the popup. You can use {{column_name}} to add a value from your data. It must be in a selected column, but you can add columns to “Metadata” if you just want to include them for use in the popup. Advanced users can include HTML to apply layouts, formatting, images, etc.
popup.show_pointer boolean
Pointer.
popup.show_shadow boolean
Shadow.
popup.style_popups boolean
Custom styling.
popup.text_color color
Text colour.
popup.align string
Alignment. Allowed values:
popup.font_size number
Font size. Min: 1
popup.fill_color color
Fill colour.
popup.opacity number
Fill opacity. Max: 1
popup.padding number
Padding.
popup.border_radius number
Radius. Corner radius of popup
Top results list
num_results number
Number of results to show. How many places to show in the results list Max: 50
show_values boolean
Show values next to locations. Show the data value for each location in the results
leaderboard_country_header boolean
Show country header. When there’s only one source or destination in the list, show it as a header
leaderboard_from_text string
from text.
leaderboard_to_text string
to text.
Filter controls
filter1.control_type string
Control type. Choose between a dropdown, buttons or a time slider. Allowed values:
filter1.control_styles boolean
Adv..
filter1.control_title string
Control title.
filter1.button_group boolean
Grouped. Allowed values:
filter1.button_group_width_mode string
Button group width. Allowed values:
filter1.button_group_width_fixed number
Width. Max: 100
filter1.dropdown_width_mode string
Dropdown width. Allowed values:
filter1.dropdown_width_fixed number
Width. Max: 100
filter1.slider_background_color color
Background.
filter1.slider_font_color color
Text.
filter1.slider_handle_color color
Handle.
filter1.slider_width number
Width. Max: 100
filter1.slider_margin number
Label width. Max: 50
filter1.slider_handle_height number
Height. Max: 10
filter1.slider_track_height number
Track height. Max: 10
filter1.slider_play_button boolean
Play button.
filter1.slider_loop boolean
Loop.
filter1.slider_step_time number
Time between steps. Measured in seconds, positive values move the slider left to right, negative values move the slider right to left. Min: -100 Max: 100
filter1.slider_restart_pause number
Pause before loop. Measured in seconds and in addition to the regular step time displayed above. Max: 100
filter1.sort string
Sorting. Allowed values:
filter1.sort_temporal_format string
Date/time format in data. The date/time format in your data sheet. Used only to sort the data, if required. If your format isn’t in the list, you can enter a custom format using d3-time-format syntax. See npmjs.com/package/d3-time-format for details. Predefined values:
filter2.control_type string
Control type. Choose between a dropdown, buttons or a time slider. Allowed values:
filter2.control_styles boolean
Adv..
filter2.control_title string
Control title.
filter2.button_group boolean
Grouped. Allowed values:
filter2.button_group_width_mode string
Button group width. Allowed values:
filter2.button_group_width_fixed number
Width. Max: 100
filter2.dropdown_width_mode string
Dropdown width. Allowed values:
filter2.dropdown_width_fixed number
Width. Max: 100
filter2.slider_background_color color
Background.
filter2.slider_font_color color
Text.
filter2.slider_handle_color color
Handle.
filter2.slider_width number
Width. Max: 100
filter2.slider_margin number
Label width. Max: 50
filter2.slider_handle_height number
Height. Max: 10
filter2.slider_track_height number
Track height. Max: 10
filter2.slider_play_button boolean
Play button.
filter2.slider_loop boolean
Loop.
filter2.slider_step_time number
Time between steps. Measured in seconds, positive values move the slider left to right, negative values move the slider right to left. Min: -100 Max: 100
filter2.slider_restart_pause number
Pause before loop. Measured in seconds and in addition to the regular step time displayed above. Max: 100
filter2.sort string
Sorting. Allowed values:
filter2.sort_temporal_format string
Date/time format in data. The date/time format in your data sheet. Used only to sort the data, if required. If your format isn’t in the list, you can enter a custom format using d3-time-format syntax. See npmjs.com/package/d3-time-format for details. Predefined values:
controls_style.font_size number
Text size. Max: 5
controls_style.font_weight string
Text weight. Allowed values:
controls_style.padding number
Height. Space below and above controls text Max: 5
dropdown_style.background color
Background.
dropdown_style.font_color color
Text color.
dropdown_style.border_styles_advanced boolean
Dropdown border styles.
dropdown_style.border_style string
Border style. Show border on all sides, or only at the bottom Allowed values:
dropdown_style.border_width number
Border width. Max: 20
dropdown_style.border_color color
Color.
dropdown_style.border_transparency number
Transparency. Max: 1
dropdown_style.border_radius number
Radius. Max: 100
button_style.background color
Background.
button_style.background_selected color
Selected.
button_style.background_hover color
Mouse over.
button_style.font_color color
Text color.
button_style.font_color_selected color
Selected.
button_style.font_color_hover color
Mouse over.
button_style.button_styles_advanced boolean
Button border styles.
button_style.border_width number
Border width. Max: 20
button_style.border_color color
Color.
button_style.border_transparency number
Transparency. Max: 1
button_style.border_radius number
Radius. Max: 100
Rotation
auto_rotate boolean
Auto rotate globe based on data.
distance number
Initial zoom. The distance from the earth, from 350 (closest) to 1000 (farthest away) Min: 350 Max: 1000
default_lat number
Default lat. The latitude to show on load. Ignored when Auto rotate is selected and there are arrows showing. Min: -90 Max: 90
default_lon number
Default long. The longitude to show on load. Ignored when Auto rotate is selected and there are arrows showing. Min: -180 Max: 180
Number formatting
localization.input_decimal_separator string
Decimal separator in data sheet. Used for interpreting your data. Only change if data is not displaying on the chart as expected. Allowed values:
localization.output_separators string
Number format to display. How the numbers should appear on chart labels Allowed values:
label_format.prefix string
Prefix. Text to place in front of number
label_format.suffix string
Suffix. Text to place after number
label_format.n_dec number
Decimal places. Enter a negative integer to round to a whole number with that many zeros. For example, -2 will round to the nearest hundred. Min: -10 Max: 10
label_format.advanced boolean
Advanced.
label_format.negative_sign string
Styling of negative numbers. Allowed values:
label_format.strip_zeros boolean
Remove trailing zeros.
label_format.strip_separator boolean
Hide thousands separator below 10,000. Turn off if you want four-digit numbers to include a separator, e.g. “1,234” rather than “1234”.
label_format.transform_labels boolean
Multiply/divide values.
label_format.transform string
Allowed values:
- multiply (Multiply by)
- divide (Divide by)
- exponentiate (×10 to the power of)
label_format.multiply_divide_constant number
label_format.exponentiate_constant number
Layout
layout.body_font font
Main font. This font will apply to the whole graphic by default, but you can optionally change the font for the title, subtitle, footer, etc in the Header and Footer settings panels.
layout.font_color color
Text color. This color will apply to the whole graphic by default, but you can optionally change the color for individual text elements, in other settings panels.
layout.background_color_enabled boolean
Color. Allowed values:
layout.background_image_enabled boolean
Image. Allowed values:
layout.background_color color
Background color.
layout.background_image_src url
Image URL.
layout.background_image_size string
Size. Allowed values:
layout.background_image_position string
Position. Allowed values:
layout.max_width_target string
Maximum width. Apply a maximum width to just the main graphic or everything (main graphic plus header, footer, etc) Allowed values:
layout.max_width number
Maximum width. Leave blank to stretch to container width Min: 50
layout.max_width_align string
Align. Allowed values:
layout.layout_order string
Layout order. Allowed values:
layout.space_between_sections string
Space between sections. Allowed values:
layout.space_between_sections_custom number
Custom. Max: 100
layout.margin_top number
Top.
layout.margin_right number
Right.
layout.margin_bottom number
Bottom.
layout.margin_left number
Left.
layout.border.enabled boolean
Show borders around visualisation.
layout.border.top.width number
Top.
layout.border.top.style string
Style. Allowed values:
layout.border.top.color color
Color.
layout.border.right.width number
Right.
layout.border.right.style string
Style. Allowed values:
layout.border.right.color color
Color.
layout.border.bottom.width number
Bottom.
layout.border.bottom.style string
Style. Allowed values:
layout.border.bottom.color color
Color.
layout.border.left.width number
Left.
layout.border.left.style string
Style. Allowed values:
layout.border.left.color color
Color.
Header
layout.header_align string
Alignment. Allowed values:
layout.title string
layout.title_styling boolean
Change title styles.
layout.title_font font
Title Font.
layout.title_size string
Size. Allowed values:
layout.title_size_custom number
Custom. Specify a custom responsive font size. Best results will be with values between 1.2 and 3
layout.title_weight string
Weight. Allowed values:
layout.title_color color
Color.
layout.title_line_height number
Line height. Max: 3
layout.title_space_above string
Space above. Allowed values:
layout.title_space_above_custom number
Custom. Max: 100
layout.subtitle string
layout.subtitle_styling boolean
Change subtitle styles.
layout.subtitle_font font
Subtitle Font.
layout.subtitle_size string
Size. Allowed values:
layout.subtitle_size_custom number
Custom. Specify a custom responsive font size. Best results will be with values between 1.2 and 3
layout.subtitle_weight string
Weight. Allowed values:
layout.subtitle_color color
Color.
layout.subtitle_line_height number
Line height. Max: 3
layout.subtitle_space_above string
Space above. Allowed values:
layout.subtitle_space_above_custom number
Custom. Max: 100
layout.header_text string
layout.header_text_styling boolean
Styling.
layout.header_text_size string
Size. Allowed values:
layout.header_text_size_custom number
Custom. Specify a custom responsive font size. Best results will be with values between 1.2 and 3
layout.header_text_weight string
Weight. Allowed values:
layout.header_text_color color
Color.
layout.header_text_line_height number
Line height. Max: 3
layout.header_text_space_above string
Space above. Allowed values:
layout.header_text_space_above_custom number
Custom. Max: 100
layout.header_border string
Allowed values:
- top (Top)
- bottom (Bottom)
- none (None)
layout.header_border_width number
Width.
layout.header_border_color color
Color.
layout.header_border_style string
Style. Allowed values:
layout.header_border_space number
Space. Space between border and header text
layout.header_logo_enabled boolean
Allowed values:
- true (Enabled)
- false (Disabled)
layout.header_logo_src url
URL.
layout.header_logo_height number
Height.
layout.header_logo_align string
Align. Align logo inside header or outer visualisation container Allowed values:
layout.header_logo_position_inside string
Position. Allowed values:
layout.header_logo_position_outside string
Position. Allowed values:
layout.header_logo_margin_top number
Top.
layout.header_logo_margin_right number
Right.
layout.header_logo_margin_bottom number
Bottom.
layout.header_logo_margin_left number
Left.
Footer
layout.footer_align string
Alignment. Allowed values:
layout.footer_text_size number
Size.
layout.footer_text_color color
Color.
layout.footer_styling boolean
Advanced footer styles.
layout.footer_font font
Font.
layout.footer_text_weight string
Weight. Allowed values:
layout.source_name string
Source name.
layout.source_url string
Source url.
layout.multiple_sources boolean
Multiple sources.
layout.source_name_2 string
Source name.
layout.source_url_2 string
Source url.
layout.source_name_3 string
Source name.
layout.source_url_3 string
Source url.
layout.source_label string
Source label.
layout.footer_note string
Note.
layout.footer_note_secondary string
Note (secondary). The secondary note is placed below the source and primary note
layout.footer_logo_enabled boolean
Image. Allowed values:
layout.footer_logo_src url
Image.
layout.footer_logo_src_light hidden
Image (light version). If provided this version will be used whenever the background colour is dark
layout.footer_logo_link_url string
Link.
layout.footer_logo_height number
Height.
layout.footer_logo_margin number
Margin.
layout.footer_logo_order string
Position. Allowed values:
layout.footer_align_vertical string
V. align. Allowed values:
layout.footer_border string
Allowed values:
- top (Top)
- bottom (Bottom)
- none (None)
layout.footer_border_width number
Width.
layout.footer_border_color color
Color.
layout.footer_border_style string
Style. Allowed values:
layout.footer_border_space number
Space. Space between border and footer text
Accessibility
layout.screenreader_hide_primary boolean
Screenreader mode for main visual container. Whether the main visual container is visible to screenreaders. (Text in the header and footer are always available to screenreaders.) Allowed values:
layout.screenreader_text_primary text
Screenreader description. A text alternative to the visual content that will only be visible to screenreaders, e.g. “The line chart shows China consistently higher than the other countries since 1990”. Do no replicate your title, since that will also be read by screenreaders.