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You can skip this section if you already have your shapefile ready.

Before Starting

Decidim Geo adds GIS functionality to Decidim and works with a specific geo-data file type called a Shapefile. A shapefile describes polygons, including their shape, name, and other metadata.

Decidim Geo allows you to bind shapefiles to Decidim scopes, enabling use cases such as:

  • Adding a shape per neighborhood
  • Adding regions (south/east/west) to the platform
  • Using Decidim for a country or state with geographic shapes

Prepare Your Shapes in QGIS​

QGIS is an open-source desktop application commonly used for geographic data manipulation. It enables various operations like creating layers, polygons, or points. In Decidim Geo, we use QGIS to prepare polygonal shapes for assignment to Decidim scopes.

Install QGIS
Install QGIS for your operating system (Mac/Linux/Windows): https://qgis.org/download/

Open QGIS and use the OpenStreetMap tiles
Open QGIS

Add a Shapefile Layer
Click on Add Layer to project

Add Details to the New Layer
Configure the new layer

  • File Name: The name of the layer you will work on
  • File Encoding: UTF-8
  • Additional Dimension: None, in WGS-84

Add a NAME Field
Add a NAME field to the shape

  • Name: NAME
  • Type: Text
  • Length: Set the maximum length for your shape label (200 is usually sufficient)

Add Field to List
Click on the add field to list button

Select Your New Empty Layer
Select your new empty layer

Click the Edit (Pencil) Button
Click on the pencil button
Click the pencil button on the top bar to start editing your shape.

Select Polygon Tool
Click on the polygon tool to start designing a polygon

Draw Your Shape
Click by click, make your polygon
Click to define each point of your polygon. When complete, right-click to finalize the shape.

Complete the ID and NAME Fields
Add any unique value to the id field, and label your shape by entering the NAME metadata

  • ID: Any unique numeric value
  • NAME: The label for the shape in Decidim (used by admins only)

Add More Shapes if Needed
You can then add more shapes

Export the Shape
Right-click on the shape layer, go to Export > Save Feature As

  • Right-click on the shape layer
  • Select Export > Save Feature As

Export Settings
Set export options

  • Filename: Avoid special characters, spaces, or uppercase letters
  • Layer Name: Same as filename
  • CRS: WSG 84

Click OK to export.

Find the Exported Files on Your Computer
Locate the exported shapefile set

  • Select all six generated files
  • Compress these files into a zip file

-> Done! You now have a zip file that can be uploaded through the Decidim administration.