Tutorials
Master MACROVISONOMICS with these detailed, step-by-step walkthroughs organized by skill level.Beginner Tutorials
1. Platform Overview
Difficulty: Beginner | Time: 5 minutes | Plan: Free Get oriented with the MACROVISONOMICS interface and understand where everything lives. What you’ll learn:- Dashboard layout — The main dashboard shows your saved charts, recent searches, and quick-access widgets. The left sidebar provides navigation to all major sections.
- Navigation bar — Access Search, Charts, Countries, Community Gallery, Economic Calendar, Markets, News, and Trending from the top nav.
- Settings & profile — Click your avatar in the top-right corner to access Settings, manage your subscription, view API keys (Gold+), and configure preferences.
- Help resources — The
?icon opens contextual help. Visit the FAQ, Glossary, or Support page for additional guidance.
Free accounts can explore the full interface. Locked features display a plan badge showing which tier unlocks them.
2. Your First Search
Difficulty: Beginner | Time: 8 minutes | Plan: Free Learn how to find economic data using the search bar. Step-by-step:- Click the search bar at the top of the dashboard or press
Ctrl+K/Cmd+K. - Type a natural language query like “GDP growth rate” or an indicator code like
NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG. - Review the results list — each result shows the indicator name, source (e.g., World Bank, FRED), and a brief description.
- Click a result to open it in the chart view.
- The chart loads with default settings: a line chart showing all available years for the indicator.
- Use plain language: “unemployment in Europe” works just as well as technical codes
- Filter by source: click the source filter dropdown to narrow results to a specific provider
- Pro and Gold users get Neural Search, which understands synonyms and related concepts (e.g., “jobless rate” finds unemployment indicators)
3. Creating Your First Chart
Difficulty: Beginner | Time: 10 minutes | Plan: Free Build a complete visualization from search to finished chart. Step-by-step:- Search for an indicator — Try “GDP per capita” in the search bar.
- Select countries — Use the country selector to pick one or more countries. Try selecting “United States,” “Germany,” and “Japan” for a comparison.
- Choose a chart type — Free users have 5 types: Line, Bar, Area, Pie, and Scatter. Select “Line” for time-series data.
- Set the date range — Use the date slider or type specific years. Most World Bank data covers 1960–present.
- Customize appearance — Click the settings gear to adjust colors, axis labels, and legend position.
- Read the data — Hover over data points to see exact values. The chart automatically formats numbers with appropriate units.
- Save your work — Click “Save” to store the chart in My Space (Pro+ required) or “Share” to generate a public link.
4. Understanding Country Profiles
Difficulty: Beginner | Time: 6 minutes | Plan: Free Explore the built-in country intelligence pages. What you’ll find:- Country overview — Navigate to Countries from the sidebar. Each of the 217+ country profiles displays key economic indicators at a glance: GDP, population, inflation, unemployment, and trade balance.
- Historical data — Scroll down to see sparkline charts for major indicators over time.
- Country comparison — Select two or more countries to see them side by side with a comparative table.
- Rankings — View how countries rank globally on any indicator. Sort ascending or descending.
- Economic blocs — Free users can browse all countries. Pro users can filter by G7, BRICS, and EU. Gold users unlock all 7 blocs (G7, G20, BRICS, EU, OECD, ASEAN, OPEC).
Intermediate Tutorials
5. Mastering Smart Search
Difficulty: Intermediate | Time: 8 minutes | Plan: Pro Unlock the full power of MACROVISONOMICS search with Neural and Research modes. Three search modes explained:| Mode | Plan | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword | Free+ | Matches exact terms and indicator codes |
| Neural | Pro+ | AI understands meaning — “cost of living” finds CPI, PPP, and price level indicators |
| Research | Gold | Deep multi-source analysis across 6 parallel research engines |
- Natural language queries — Type questions like “Which African countries have the highest debt-to-GDP ratio?” Neural Search parses the intent and returns relevant indicators.
- Source filtering — Prefix your query with a source name:
FRED: interest ratesnarrows results to Federal Reserve data only. - Country scoping — Add country context: “inflation Brazil 2020-2024” returns Brazilian CPI and related indicators for that period.
- Indicator codes — If you know the exact code (e.g.,
SL.UEM.TOTL.ZSfor unemployment), type it directly for instant results.
6. Working with Chart Types
Difficulty: Intermediate | Time: 12 minutes | Plan: Pro Choose the right visualization for your data story. Chart type guide:| Chart Type | Best For | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Line | Time-series trends | Free |
| Bar | Period comparisons | Free |
| Area | Cumulative trends | Free |
| Pie | Composition/share | Free |
| Scatter | Correlation analysis | Free |
| Map (Choropleth) | Geographic distribution | Pro |
| Waterfall | Sequential changes | Pro |
| Bullet | Target vs. actual | Pro |
| Heatmap | Multi-variable density | Pro |
| Treemap | Hierarchical proportions | Pro |
| Bubble | Three-variable comparison | Pro |
| Radar | Multi-axis profiles | Pro |
| Stacked | Composition over time | Pro |
| Bump | Rank changes over time | Gold |
| Box Plot | Distribution analysis | Gold |
| Sankey | Flow relationships | Gold |
| Stream | Volume evolution | Gold |
| Candlestick | Financial OHLC data | Gold |
| Dumbbell | Before/after comparison | Gold |
| Parallel | Multi-dimensional data | Gold |
| Small Multiples | Faceted comparison | Gold |
- Axis scaling — Toggle between linear and logarithmic scales for data with large ranges
- Color palettes — Choose from 8 built-in themes or set custom hex colors
- Annotations — Add text labels, reference lines, and event markers to highlight key moments
- Date range — Drag the timeline slider or enter specific years for precise control
7. Saving, Sharing & Exporting
Difficulty: Intermediate | Time: 7 minutes | Plan: Pro Organize your work and share it with others. Saving charts:- Click “Save” on any chart view — enter a title, optional description, and tags.
- Charts appear in My Space, accessible from the sidebar.
- Pro users can save up to their plan limit; Gold users get unlimited storage.
- Public link — Generate a shareable URL anyone can view (no login required)
- Embed code — Copy an iframe snippet to embed the chart on any website
- Community Gallery — Publish your visualization for the community to discover, like, and comment on
| Format | Description | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| PNG | High-resolution image (300 DPI) | Pro |
| SVG | Scalable vector for print/web | Pro |
| CSV | Raw data in spreadsheet format | Pro |
| Excel (.xlsx) | Formatted workbook with metadata | Pro |
| JSON | Machine-readable structured data | Gold |
| Print-ready document with chart + metadata | Gold |
8. Using the Community Gallery
Difficulty: Intermediate | Time: 6 minutes | Plan: Free (view) / Pro (publish) Discover, share, and engage with community-created visualizations. Browsing the gallery:- Navigate to Community Gallery from the sidebar.
- Browse Trending, Latest, or Top charts.
- Click any chart to view it full-screen with the original data and methodology.
- Use the search bar within the gallery to find charts by topic, country, or indicator.
- Open a saved chart in My Space.
- Click “Publish” and fill in the title, description, and tags.
- Your chart appears in the gallery with your profile linked.
- Gold users can add custom branding and watermarks.
- Like charts you find valuable
- Leave comments with your analysis or questions
- Follow creators whose work you want to track
Advanced Tutorials
9. AI Insights & Forecasting
Difficulty: Advanced | Time: 10 minutes | Plan: Pro (Insights) / Gold (Forecasting) Let AI analyze your data and generate predictions. Using Expert Insights (Pro+):- Open any chart with data loaded.
- The Quick Stats panel appears automatically on the right side, showing key statistics (mean, median, min, max, standard deviation, trend direction).
- Click “Generate Insights” to activate the AI analysis pipeline.
- The AI produces four tabs of analysis:
- Summary — Key findings, notable patterns, and actionable takeaways
- Analysis — Correlation detection, anomaly identification, and structural break analysis
- Research — Curated secondary sources and academic references related to the data
- Report — A comprehensive, downloadable research report
- After generating insights, click the Forecast tab.
- The AI produces forward-looking predictions using linear regression on historical trends.
- Forecasts project data points for up to 10 years based on observed patterns.
- Hover over the forecast line to see predicted values.
- Export forecasts as part of your chart data in CSV, Excel, or JSON format.
10. Data Monitoring & Alerts
Difficulty: Advanced | Time: 8 minutes | Plan: Gold Set up automated monitoring to track economic changes in real time. Creating a watchlist:- Navigate to Market Monitor from the sidebar under Markets.
- Click “Add to Watchlist” on any indicator.
- Set threshold alerts: choose a condition (above, below, crosses, percent change) and enter your target value.
- Configure notification preferences: in-app, email digest, or both.
- VIX zones — Green (< 15, calm), Yellow (15–25, elevated), Orange (25–35, stressed), Red (> 35, crisis)
- Asset class summaries — Equities, bonds, commodities, currencies, and crypto at a glance
- Trend indicators — Moving averages and momentum signals for each tracked metric
11. Using the Developer API
Difficulty: Advanced | Time: 10 minutes | Plan: Pro (500 calls/mo), Gold (2,000 calls/mo), Enterprise (Unlimited) Access MACROVISONOMICS data programmatically. Getting started:- Navigate to Settings → Developer or visit the Developer Portal.
- Click “Create API Key” — your key is shown only once, so copy it immediately.
- All API requests use the base URL:
https://macrovisonomics.com/api/v1/ - Include your key as a Bearer token:
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
| Endpoint | Method | Description |
|---|---|---|
/search | GET | Search indicators by keyword or natural language |
/indicators/{id} | GET | Get indicator metadata |
/data/{id} | GET | Fetch time-series data with country/date filters |
/countries | GET | List all countries with ISO codes |
/countries/{code} | GET | Get country profile and key indicators |
/insights | GET | Generate AI insights for a dataset |
/forecast | GET | Generate trend-based forecasts |
| Plan | Requests/minute | Monthly quota |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 10 | 100 |
| Pro | 60 | 500 |
| Gold | 200 | 2,000 |
| Enterprise | Custom (up to 2,000) | Unlimited |
12. Trade Analysis & Screener
Difficulty: Advanced | Time: 10 minutes | Plan: Gold Use specialized tools for trade flow analysis and indicator screening. Trade Analysis:- Navigate to any country profile from the sidebar under Countries, then click the Trade tab.
- Select exports, imports, or trade balance view.
- Explore trade partners, product categories (HS codes), and historical trends.
- Use the trade balance heatmap to spot surplus/deficit patterns across regions.
- Compare trade openness ratios across country groups.
- Navigate to Screener from the sidebar under Explore.
- Define filter criteria: select an indicator, choose a condition (greater than, less than, between), and set threshold values.
- Add multiple filters to narrow results (e.g., GDP growth > 3% AND inflation < 5% AND debt-to-GDP < 60%).
- Results display as a sortable table showing all matching countries with their values.
- Click any country to jump directly to its profile or chart the filtered indicator.
- High-growth emerging markets
- Low-debt developed economies
- Countries with declining inflation
- Top trade surplus nations
Quick Reference
Keyboard Shortcuts
Ctrl+K/Cmd+K— Open searchCtrl+S/Cmd+S— Save chartEsc— Close panels/modalsL— Toggle logarithmic scaleF— Fullscreen chart
Troubleshooting
- Chart not loading? Check your internet connection and try refreshing
- Search returns no results? Try broader terms or check spelling
- Export failing? Ensure the chart has loaded data first
- API key not working? Verify the key hasn’t expired in Settings
Additional Resources
Quickstart Guide
Written step-by-step guide for new users
FAQ
Common questions answered
Glossary
50+ economic terms explained
Examples
Real charts from the community