When a particular node in a network is of special interest it can be useful to create a network visualization in which it is located at the center of concentric rings of vertices.
NodeXL supports a “Polar” layout in which each vertex has two values that govern its location: distance from center (“Vertex Polar R”) and the angle around the clock (“Vertex Polar Angle”).
Using a random network, we added two columns to the Vertices worksheet that we called: Ring (or “Vertex Polar R”) and Rotation (or “Vertex Polar Angle”). We then assigned values for the “Ring” and the “Rotation” for each Vertex:
These values can then be mapped to the location for each Vertex using the NodeXL Autofill columns feature:
When these values are applied to the network visualization and the layout is set to “Polar” the visualization repositions each vertex into a position around a ring. The values are set by mapping Vertex Polar R to “Ring” and Vertex Polar Angle to “Rotation” and then selecting “Autofill”. The result is a single ring plotted around a core:
To see this more clearly, I built a larger random network with 100 vertices and added two more “rings”. The resulting image looks like this:
RT @marc_smith: How to plot a network in a “polar” layout using NodeXL: When a particular node in a network is of… http://t.co/tsRFTStbiW
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This is most useful–but in trying to replicate this, I wonder how I can add the 2nd and 3rd rings?
Thank you!
C.
Additional rings are added by incrementing the “Ring (or Vertex Polar R)” value and providing a “Rotation (or Vertex Polar Angle)” measure to determine where along the ring the vertex should be placed.
Very helpful. I understand how the rings are layers away from the center vertex. But I am confused about rotation. You use increments of 10. Let’s say that I want to make 5 layers of rings and have each outer ring’s vertices evenly dispersed across the 360 degrees of the circle. I am thinking of inputing a formula into the rotation field to say for all vertices in ring X, divide that count by 360 and that would be the value. But seeing how you’re using increments of 10 I am not sure I should be using 360 as the denominator. Should it be 100? Hope this makes sense, thank you!