What is the Code Manager?

What is the Code Manager?

View, edit, and/or delete your codes, colours, comments, groups, and easily download your codebook (list of codes with their definitions)

The Code Manager enables you to manage your codes and displays their occurrence across documents (groundedness), shows comments for codes, and dates of creation. By clicking on any code, ATLAS.ti Web will show you all the quotations associated to that code. 

Here you can also add new codes for your project or set up a complete code set before you even start with the analysis of your data ( deductive approach).

Edit code names, colours, and/or delete codes

Here's how to change the name of a code:

1. Go to the Code Manager (click on the codes icon in the left-hand menu)
2. Hover your cursor over the code you wish to edit and click on the "Details" button to open the sidebar
3. Click on the code name at the top and begin typing to edit the name

Here's how to change the colour of a code:

1. Go to the Code Manager (click on the codes icon in the left-hand menu)
2. Click on the code you wish to edit to open the window with more detailed information about that code
3. Click on the colour circle next to the code name
4. Choose your desired colour

Here's how to delete codes:

1. Select the code(s) you want to delete by ticking the box to the left of each code name
2. Click on the three dots at the bottom of the screen and select " Delete"

Organize codes into groups

As you analyze and code your data, it may become challenging to keep track of everything. To facilitate your analysis, you can create groups to organize your codes. You can create as many groups as you want, and any single code can belong to more than one group, so that you can organize the pieces of your project in whatever way suits you (and your project goals) best. Take advantage of groups to filter your analysis and easily compare trends across groups.

Here's how to create code groups:

1. Go to the Code Manager (click on the codes icon in the left-hand menu)
2. Hover your cursor over the code and click on the " Details" button to open the sidebar
3. In the sidebar, click on the “ Edit groups” button

4. To delete or edit the name of a group, click on the gear cog icon " Manage Groups" to Edit code groups. You can create a new group or rename or delete an existing group.

5. To add code to a group: If you have already create the code group, simply select it from the list that appears.

6. To add multiple codes to a group, select the codes by ticking the boxes to the left of each code, click the three dots at the bottom of the screen, click "Add to group" and then select the desired code group.


Merge codes

If you want to combine several codes, you can merge the codes into one code. This is a good option to review and "clean up" your code list by reducing the number of codes in your project without losing the data behind these codes.

How to merge codes:

  1. Select the codes you want to merge by ticking the boxes to the left of each code.
  2. Click on the three dots at the bottom of the screen and select "Merge codes"

  1. Write the name of the new merged code (and the audit trail of the code will be saved in the comment field)


Write comments on codes

Each individual code has its own comment space, and you can use this space to write additional information about that particular code. For example, you can take advantage of the comment space to write the operational definition of each code (i.e., to explain what exactly that code is referring to, or how you will know whether or not to apply that code to a particular segment of data). Once you have written your operational definitions in the comment spaces of each code, you can easily download your codebook (i.e., list of codes with their definitions) in one click (see below for more information).

Here's how to write (and edit) code comments:

  1. Go to the Code Manager (click on the codes icon in the left-hand menu)
  2. Hover your cursor over the code you wish to edit and click on the "Details" button to open the sidebar
  3. In the sidebar, click on the comment space of the code and write your comment

Export codes in your favorite format

You can easily export the codes of a project in codebook format (QDC) and use them in ATLAS.ti desktop versions or other QDA software solutions. Moreover, the XLSX file export allows you to use your codes in other apps like Microsoft Excel or infogram.com for visual presentations. For example, you can create line, bar, or pie charts to show code distributions of your projects.

Here’s how to export codes:

  1. Go to the Code Manager
  2. Click on the three dots in the top-right corner and select either “Download Codes as QDC” or “Download Codes as Excel” (QDC is a format that can be imported into qualitative data analysis software, and Excel is the more universal Microsoft Excel format that can be imported into qualitative data analysis software and more)
  3. Save your file in your preferred directory

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