18. Setting up your first QGIS project
Video Tutorial
Installation
Download the latest Long Term Version of QGIS here.
The most common issue with installing QGIS is for Mac users the first time you open up the program. You’ll often see an error message that says “QGIS” can’t be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software.
You don’t need to worry about this message; QGIS is trustworthy. If this happens, locate QGIS in Finder and right-click, then Open from that menu. That should resolve the problem.
In this tutorial
Download shapefiles from the NYC Open Data Portal, open QGIS, save a QGIS project, and orient to the QGIS interface
Timestamps (Click a link to start that segment in a new window)
0:00 - 1:17: Find and download subway stations (no longer available on NYC Open Data but you can download it here) and borough boundaries shapefiles
1:17 - 3:34: Set up QGIS project folder with shapefiles and .QGZ file
3:34 - 4:56: QGIS user interface
Data downloads
NYC subway stations (Note - the subways dataset appears to have been removed from the NYC Open Data Portal since I made this video, but you can download an old saved version using that link.)