Working in the Spreadsheet: filter, edit, and bulk-update your records

The Spreadsheet page is the table view of your BotanicalMapper workspace.

Use it when you want to review many records at once, make quick edits, filter to a specific group, or update several items together. The Map is best for spatial work, Gallery is best for browsing images, and Spreadsheet is best when you want a clear, editable list.

For importing and exporting files, see Importing and exporting your BotanicalMapper data.

Opening the Spreadsheet and choosing a tab

Open Spreadsheet from the main header navigation.

The page shows records for your current workspace, organised into four tabs:

Plants

Contains all Plant records, including plant types, taxonomy, collections, and (where available) public visibility settings.
Import: Available to Workspace Admins

Typical uses

• Reviewing plant lists
• Checking taxonomy
• Applying labels and classifications

Landmarks

Contains places, buildings, amenities, and other mapped features.
Import: Available to Workspace Admins

Typical uses

• Managing facilities
• Recording access points
• Organising estate features

Areas

Contains the garden's area hierarchy, including Areas, Sub-Areas, and Micro-Areas.
Import: Not available

Typical uses

• Reviewing garden zones

Shapes

Contains all drawn map features, including rectangles, polygons, circles, and paths.
Import: Not available

Typical uses

• Reviewing planting beds and paths
• Managing drawn map features

There is no Paths tab. A path is a Shape type, alongside Rectangle, Polygon, and Circle.

Understanding the table

Each tab uses a grid-style table with key controls pinned on the left.

You will see:

• A checkbox, for selecting rows
• Edit, shown as a pencil icon
• Map, shown as a map icon with tooltip View on Map
• A primary name column, Common Name for Plants, Name for Landmarks, Areas, and Shapes

Edit a row

Click Edit on a row.

Editable cells are highlighted. You can change several fields, then choose Save or Cancel for the whole row.

Finding records

The bottom toolbar row contains filters and search.

FILTER TYPES

Use FILTER TYPES to show or hide entity types on the active tab.

For example:

• Plant types such as Tree, Shrub, Perennial
• Landmark types such as Place, Amenity, Building
• Area levels such as Area, Sub-Area, Micro-Area
• Shape types such as Rectangle, Polygon, Circle, Path

Use Hide All or Show All for the whole group.

Good to know
If no types are selected in FILTER TYPES, the table shows no rows. If your spreadsheet suddenly looks empty, check this first.

Filter choices are remembered per tab while you stay on the Spreadsheet page.

FILTER COLLECTIONS

FILTER COLLECTIONS appears on Plants and Landmarks when your workspace uses collections.

• No collections selected means all rows pass the collection filter
• One or more selected means rows appear if they belong to any selected collection

This uses OR logic.

Admins may also see Manage Collections in this menu.

FILTER COLUMNS

Use FILTER COLUMNS to show or hide column groups.

• Empty selection means all columns are visible
• Group headers can expand and collapse
• Each group has Hide All and Show All
• New custom attributes are added to visible columns automatically

Workspace admins may see Manage Custom Attributes at the bottom of this menu.

Search

Each tab has its own search field, such as:

• Search plants...
• Search landmarks...

Search checks visible columns, and always checks the primary name.

Comma-separated terms use AND logic. For example:

rose, red

This means both “rose” and “red” must match somewhere.

Special keywords:

• public
• private

These match the Public column where shown.

On Plants and Landmarks, search can also match collection names.

Row count

The row count, such as 42 rows, reflects your current filters and search. It is not the raw total number of records in the workspace.

Editing one record

For quick updates, use the table directly.

1. Choose the right tab
2. Find the row
3. Click Edit
4. Add new records for that entity
5. Save the row

Use the Map column to open the record on the map.

Selecting and bulk changes

Use checkboxes to select one or more rows. On desktop you can hold down the shift key to select a range of rows.

When rows are selected, a selection bar appears:

• N item(s) selected
• Edit Selected
• Delete Selected

Edit Selected

Click Edit Selected to open the bulk edit panel.

The header shows what you are editing, for example:

Edit 12 Selected Plants

Fields are grouped into sections such as Primary Details, taxonomy, and custom attributes.

Each field has a toggle. Only toggled fields are updated.

You may see placeholder text such as:

Leave blank to keep existing value

For Plants and Landmarks, collections support multi-select in bulk edit.

Delete Selected

Click Delete Selected to delete selected rows, then confirm.

Public-map restrictions
On workspaces with public map publishing, non-admin team members may be blocked from editing or deleting records that are visible on the public map. If deletion is blocked, deselect those public items or ask a workspace admin.

Workspace admins retain full edit and delete powers.

Coming from the Map or Gallery

Links from the Map or Gallery can open Spreadsheet with a tab and record selected.

For example:

/spreadsheet?tab=plants&entityId=123

The matching row is selected, scrolled into view, and highlighted. The URL is then cleaned so refreshing the page does not keep an old highlight.

Custom attributes

Custom attributes appear as columns once definitions exist for that tab.

They can be edited like standard fields and may use supported types such as:

• Text
• Date
• Number
• Select

Admins can manage definitions through Manage Custom Attributes. Other members can usually fill values, depending on their workspace permissions.

Collections on Plants and Landmarks

The Collection column shows collection membership for Plants and Landmarks.

You can:

• Edit collections in a row
• Filter by collections
• Bulk edit collection membership
• Export collection names as readable text

On public-map workspaces, collection edits may be restricted on public rows for non-admin members.

Public column

The Public column appears when your workspace supports public map publishing.

On team workspaces:

• Admins can edit public visibility
• Non-admin members cannot change Public on public entities
• Non-admin members may also be blocked from editing primary name fields on public rows
• Collection edits may be similarly restricted

This helps protect the public visitor map from accidental changes.

Areas and shapes specifics

Areas

Areas represent your garden hierarchy, such as:

• Area
• Sub-Area
• Micro-Area

Some computed fields, such as plant counts, are not bulk-editable.

Shapes

Shapes include:

• Rectangle
• Polygon
• Circle
• Path

Some shape fields, such as type, total area, or plant count, may be excluded from bulk edit.

Admins vs members

Workspace Admins have full control over managing workspace data and settings. Members can view and edit records only where they have permission.

Workspace Admins can

• Use filters and search.
• Edit standard record fields.
• Import Plant and Landmark records.
• Undo imports for Plants and Landmarks.
• Manage Custom Types.
• Manage Custom Attributes.
• Manage Collections.
• Edit and delete records that appear on the Public Map.

Members can

• Use filters and search.
• Edit standard record fields (where permitted by the workspace).
• They cannot import records.
• They cannot undo imports.
• They cannot manage Custom Types.
• They cannot manage Custom Attributes.
• They cannot manage Collections.
• Editing or deleting Public Map records may be restricted, depending on their permissions.

Import and export

The top toolbar includes:

• Import, on Plants and Landmarks tabs, for workspace admins
• Undo, when a recent import can be undone
• Export, on all four tabs

This article focuses on day-to-day table work. For CSV, XLSX, GeoJSON, All Visible, All Selected, import mapping, and Undo behaviour, read Importing and exporting your BotanicalMapper data.

A simple workflow

Map or Gallery→ open Spreadsheet→ choose a tab→ filter and search→ select rows→ Edit Selected→ return to Map if needed

Tips and troubleshooting

I can't see any records

What to check

Check your Filter Types settings. Using Hide All may have hidden every record type, leaving the spreadsheet empty.

Search returns too few results

What to check

When you separate search terms with commas, BotanicalMapper uses AND logic. This means every term must match for a record to be displayed.

I can't edit or delete a record

What to check

If the record appears on the Public Map, you may not have permission to edit or delete it. Some actions are restricted to Workspace Admins.

My new Custom Attribute isn't showing

What to check

Refresh the page or switch to another tab and back again. Newly created Custom Attributes may not appear until the view is refreshed.

I can't find a Paths tab

What to check

Paths are included in the Shapes tab along with rectangles, polygons, and circles.

The Import option is missing

What to check

Import is available only on the Plants and Landmarks tabs, and only for Workspace Admins.

Summary

• Spreadsheet is the table view for your workspace
• Use tabs for Plants, Landmarks, Areas, and Shapes
• Use FILTER TYPES, FILTER COLLECTIONS, FILTER COLUMNS, and search to narrow the view
• Edit one row, or many selected rows
• Use Map icon to jump back to the mapped record
• Use the import/export buttons for file workflows

Open Spreadsheet, pick a tab, and try filtering before your next bulk labelling or review session.