Templates
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When creating a new map, you have the option of picking one of our templates.
Templates provide an easy way to have a great looking map right from the start. Simply choose the template that best fits your use case and we'll add the proper decorations, adjust default settings, and even bootstrap the project with relevant fields.
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Systems maps help you make sense of complex issues by visualizing the underlying webs of cause and effect. The systems template has a manual layout, meaning that you can manually drag and drop your elements anywhere on the map.
This is a simplified version of our systems template, which draws each factor as text-only instead of including a shape. Great for capturing the basic structure of a system, or to create a mind map.
The big data template is great for large networks, Social Network Analysis (SNA), network science, or Graph Theory.
Note: the big data template was formerly known as the SNA (Social Network Analyis) template
The stock and flow diagram is a common tool in system dynamics. These diagrams contain "stocks" which are quantities of a certain factor, and "flows" which describe changes in stock quantities over time. The stock and flow template uses a manual layout, meaning that you can drag and drop the elements to any place on the map.
How to use To use the stock & flow template, first create your elements and connections. Once the basic structure of your stock & flow diagram is in place, click on each entity and edit the element type in the profile (below the label) to the pre-defined options, e.g. "stock", "flow", "variable" etc. Choosing one of the options will automatically update the visual of your stock & flow map.
The customer template allows you to start from scratch: without any default decorations or settings. This is the best option for those that are already familiar with Kumu and don't want any default settings interfering with their map-building.
If you tested out one template, but realized it wasn't right for your project, don't worry—switching to a different template just takes a few clicks!
In that section, you can use the Template dropdown menu to select a different template. Move back to the main Basic Editor panel, then click SAVE to finish the process.
By default, the systems template changes the style of opposite connections from "solid" to "dashed", and adds a legend entry called "Opposite" (follow to learn how to take that away).
Stakeholder maps help you explore the people, projects, groups and organizations involved, and how they're connected, in a visually engaging way. The stakeholder template uses a , meaning that elements "float" around the map (follow to learn how to turn that off.)
The stakeholder template has two default Element Types in the legend, namely "Person" and "Organization" (learn how to delete these from your legend ).
The big data template is tuned for performance with datasets of greater than a few thousand elements or connections. You won't have access to all the decorations in other templates, but you'll be able to support much larger maps. The big data template uses the dark layout by default (visit the to change that under "Themes").
The stock and flow template offers numerous default legend entries that help you visualize the flows in your map, such as "Stock", "Flow", "Variable", "Source", "Sink" etc. (learn how to delete these from your legend ).
The geo template lets you build your visualizations on top of geographic maps. When you’re using the geo template, Kumu will automatically position your elements on a world map, using latitude & longitude, addresses, or even just cities and countries. Visit to learn more about the geo template.
Build a systems map on a radar to capture two additional dimensions: leverage and severity. Or be adventurous and explore alternative dimensions of your own. Learn more about the systems leverage template in .
Click the settings icon on the right side of your map to open the Basic Editor. Then, select Customize defaults from the list. In the menu that appears, scroll down to the General settings section.
If you've applied a few different templates to test them out, you probably have leftover field values (especially Element Type values) that you aren't using and want to delete. To solve that problem, check out our guide on .
