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QGIS Light

QGIS made simple - a light user interface for core GIS functions.

QGIS is a great GIS software loaded with a lot of data visualization and analysis capabilities. This makes it a suitable tool for GIS experts and alike. But QGIS is also used by a large group of less technical people, and it is not uncommon that they encounter difficulties in using the "complex" interface of QGIS that is full of toolbars, panels, and processing algorithms.

QGIS Light plugin aims to facilitate getting a simple QGIS interface, that is tailored to the needs of basic users. Our starting point was to support secondary education and citizen science activities. But a basic interface might also be useful for anybody that requires core data visualization, editing, and analysis functionality.

How to simplify the QGIS interface?

Note

For the first time you try the plugin, we suggest you to create a profile and use it before activating the plugin. If something goes wrong, you can switch to the default profile to revert changes.

• Install QGIS Light by using the plugin manager.

• Once installed, you will see a tool button with a plain green QGIS logo added to the project toolbar. A menu item is also added to the view menu as 'Toggle QGIS Light'.

  

  

• Clicking the tool button or selecting the menu item will enable the light mode.

  

• To return back to the standard interface, click the tool button with a colored QGIS logo located on the top menu bar.

  

What is the scope of the simplifications?

The target group we considered for the simplifications is follows:

• Users will use local data files or connect to remote data stores via web services (no (direct) database use).
• Users will use 2d vector and raster data (no z and m values, no 3d, no point clouds, mesh, etc.)
• Users will work with a single map at a time (no multiple map canvases).
• Users will not require to publish high-quality maps (no layouts).
• Users will not require advanced analysis capabilities (no model building, no advanced tools).
• Users will require base maps (common base maps, e.g. OpenStreetMap, should be available).
• Users will create plots (plots should be created easily).

What are the simplifications?

We checked all menus, toolbars, panels, and processing algorithms in detail to identify non-essential or duplicated components. We grouped remaining essential components for better usability.

The following simplifications are performed by the plugin:

• No menu bar.

  All necessary menu items are provided as tool buttons.

• Less toolbars.

  The number of toolbars is reduced to two, one for core functions and another one for editing. Common functions (e.g. zoom, select) are grouped and made available through dropdown tool buttons.

• Less panels.

  Only two panels are made visible, overview and layers. The rest are hidden and became visible only if they are needed (i.e. a related function is requested).

• Fixed layout of the toolbars and panels.

  It is not possible to move or float toolbars and panels. This is to ensure the same user experience among the users, which is especially important when e.g. training non-technical users.

• No processing toolbox.

  All essential processing algorithms are accessible via dropdown tool buttons. The current list of algorithms is rather draft and will be finalized soon basedcon the analysis document available under the documentation directory.

• Less features.

  The following functions are hidden from the user:

  • SQL functions
  • Z/M functions
  • Database functions
  • TIN functions
  • Mesh functions
  • Tile functions
  • Curve functions
  • GPS functions
  • Cartography functions
  • Random functions
  • Fuzzify functions
  • Modeler tools functions
  • GRASS functions
  • PDAL functions

• Additional featues.

  The following functions are added for a better user experience:

  • Plot functions are replaced with .

    DataPlotly enables changing plotting options easily (e.g. colors), provides more plot types, integrates with the map canvas (i.e., plots are dynamically updated based on the selected features), and most importantly gets rid of opening an external file to access the plot (i.e. no external HTML file).

  • Common base maps are provided by using .

    QuickMapServices provides a large set of base maps that can be added as layers easily.

Most of the simplifications listed above can be customized by editing the config.json file located under the plugin source code directory.

Why there is a need for a plugin for the simplifications?

QGIS offers options for user interface customization, such as Interface Customization... dialog that allows users to remove interface components they are not interested in. There is also the CustomToolBar plugin available to create custom toolbars by using the existing tools. However, any further customization, such as creating dropdown tool buttons, requires custom scripting.

What else can be simplified?

Probably many other components. It is not exhaustive, but while working on the plugin we identified a list of issues that hinder better user experience, such as inconsistent terminology, similar tools with different set of parameters, tools with very similar names but performing different tasks, tools that might be easily incorporated in e.g. raster calculator, etc.

You can check the slides of our QGIS User Conference 2024 talk on "QGIS for Secondary Education and Citizen Science: Lowering the barrier by customizing the user interface" available on Zenodo, or watch the video recording of the talk for more details.

Having a critical look at the existing user interface elements and streamlining a refined and standardized user experience might be beneficial for QGIS. This will also facilitate initiatives like simplification.

Acknowledgements

Serkan Girgin initiated the idea and developed the plugin. Jay Gohil and Indupriya Mydur contributed to the analysis of the components that were simplified.