ArcGIS Online

Overview
ArcGIS Online is a web-based mapping and app-building site created by Esri, the world leader in
GIS software. In an effort to empower users of all levels to create interactive maps and applications
that are easy to share, Esri developed the ArcGIS Online platform to realize its vision. With both a
free version for lay users and an organizational account for larger enterprises, the functionality is
tailored to different mapping and application needs. Not only can users create custom maps using
their own data, but they can also publish ready-to-use apps that make sharing the information
easy and intuitive for their audience. This guide explores the capabilities that come with the free
version, which is available to anyone with an Esri Global Account.

Setting Up
Although ArcGIS Online can be used without setting up an account, it also means not being able
to save your maps and applications. For the purpose of this guide, we will set up a free Esri Global
Account, which you can use to access not only ArcGIS Online but all of Esri’s training resources. Go
to http://www.arcgis.com and click on Sign In at the top-right corner of the page. At the bottom
left of the page, click on Create a Public Account and fill in the necessary info. Once you’ve created
your account (which includes receiving a verification email), sign in to ArcGIS Online.
In this guide, we are going to learn how to use many features in ArcGIS Online including creating
basic maps, adding in layers, changing the symbology of the layers and creating and sharing web
applications. Once you have finished this tutorial, you should have a high understanding of the
main functions of ArcGIS Online and be able to produce simple maps by using data available online
through their server as well as learning how to upload and use your own data from multiple
sources.

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Getting Started
To begin, click on the Map tab along the top of the ArcGIS Online home screen. This will pull up a
new blank map named My Map. Take a moment to become familiar with the different parts of
your map. Next to the title is a dropdown menu for navigating through ArcGIS Online. In the top-
right-hand corner of the page is a New Map button that opens a new blank map (you will be
prompted to save your current map if it has any unsaved changes). Next to that is your account
username with a dropdown menu for account settings. The left sidebar contains the Details of
your map, including an About tab, a Content tab, and a Map Legend tab.

Along the top of the map are several buttons that allow you to do various things within your map.
The Add button provides a dropdown menu with different options for adding data. The Basemap
button allows you to choose from 10 different styles of map that will underlie your data
(Topographic is the default).

The Save button lets you save the map as you add features to it. Share pops up a dialog box giving
various options for distributing your map. Print takes a snapshot of the map and its peripheral info
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that can then be printed. You can also get Directions from A to B and Measure distances, areas, or
latitude-longitude coordinates. If there’s a certain place you want to be able to quickly return to
on the map, create a Bookmark of that location, which records the extent and position of the map.
In order to get to that place the first time, you may want to use the Search box to find an address
or a place. Navigating the map is relatively easy: click and drag to Pan the map and Zoom In and
Out using the scroll wheel on your mouse.

TUTORIAL BEGINS
Picking a Location
For this tutorial, you will be creating a map that displays various parks and popular tourist
attractions located in Honolulu, Hawaii. Honolulu is the capital city of Hawaii and it is located on
Oahu Island, which is one of the eight main islands in Hawaii. You will be using data primarily from
the ArcGIS Online server and the City and County of Honolulu’s Open Data Catalogue
(http://honolulu-cchnl.opendata.arcgis.com). You will also learn how to add additional features to
your map.

The first step in working with your map will be to choose a location to work in. For this guide, we
will use Honolulu, Hawaii. In the Search box, begin typing Honolulu. Select the “Honolulu, HI, USA”
option.

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At this point, let us take a moment to Save the map and give it some information. Note that the
map extent will also be saved, so make sure you are zoomed into Honolulu. The image below
displays the map extent that covers the City of Honolulu.

Click on either the Save or Save As option and name the map. You can use the information below
to populate the fields or come up with your own Title (something short but descriptive), Tags
(keywords that are used for searching purposes), and Summary (a brief description of what the
map is or what it shows).

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Creating New Data
Now that we have a location, we can start to add features to our map. To do this, we need to
Add Map Notes, which function as editable layers in the map. Click the Add menu and choose
Add Map Notes. This pops up a dialog box, which allows you to name your notes and choose
from several different templates for different applications. For now, just keep the default settings
and click Create.

You will notice that the Details pane on the left automatically changes to Edit pane, which
contains tools for creating four basic features. Points, Text, Lines, Areas. We will start by creating
a point feature using the Pushpin. Click on the point tool, and then zoom into the Diamond Head
State Monument. Click on the center of the Diamond Head State Monument to place your
Pushpin marker. Name the point Diamond Head State Monument. You can either leave the
description blank or fill it in with a brief overview about the site. If you want to change the
appearance of your marker, click Change Symbol and choose from the various menu options and
colors (these options would be good to explore for future reference).

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There are numerous options for adding an Area (also known as a polygon), each of which you can
experiment with, but probably the most commonly used tool is Area, which allows you to draw
each vertex of your feature with a click of the mouse (double-click to finish your drawing and close
the polygon). Choose this tool and draw an area around Honolulu Zoo.

When the callout box appears after you

have created the area, enter the
information as seen below.

Next, we will add a path using a Line feature. There are two options for this: Line and Freehand
Line. The former lets you draw each vertex with a click of the mouse; the latter requires you to
click and hold while you draw your segment freehand. Choose one of these options and draw a
path from the Kapiolani Community College to Ala Wai Golf Course (you can draw the route any
way you please, as long as you follow established roadways/pathways in Honolulu). Name the path
Kapiolani Community College to Ala Wai Golf Course and click Close.

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As with the point marker, you can change the symbol for any of the features you create. Since the
features we have created so far have a space for Name and Description, we will not cover the Text
feature. However, if you simply wanted to add a Text note to your map, this would be a useful
tool.

Adding Pre-existing Data

With the Map Notes, we created our own data layers right inside the map. However, sometimes
the data you need already exists. ArcGIS Online has several ways of adding data to your map. The
easiest way is to search for data from the Add menu. Click on Add and choose Search for Layers.
In the search box, type in Honolulu Parks in “Find” under “In: ArcGIS Online” and then hit enter.
Look for the file label Parks and add the Parks onto your map and click Done Adding Layers below
the results list.

Two layers and a table are added to your map. The two layers symbolize the same information in
different ways. Leave the Parks layer on and turn off the Parks – Parks and Recreation Areas layer.

You can adjust the way in which the parks are symbolized by going to Contents, and hovering your
mouse over Parks where five icons will appear under it.

Shows Legend Change Style More Options

Show Table Filter

Select the Change Style icon. Under “Choose an Attribute to Show,” leave the option to “Show
location only.” Under “Select a drawing style,” click “Options.” Click on Symbols, and the pop-up
window enables you to change the color of the symbol, the transparency, size, and pattern.

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Show legend will drag down a legend of that specific attribute.
Show table will open up the attribute table.
Change Style enables you to customize the symbol.
Filter allows to you filter out specific features you want to show on the map.
More Options contains more useful tools that will be described later in this tutorial.

Another method for adding data is through a hosted web service. Click on the Add dropdown menu
and choose Add Layer from Web. In the dialog box, enter the following URL:
https://geodata.hawaii.gov/arcgis/rest/services/SoH_Imagery/WV2_2016/MapServer.

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You should then click Add Layer. This imagery service is provided by the State of Hawaii. Please
note that due to copyright restrictions on this layer, you can only view it up to a certain view level
– once you have zoomed too far, it will stop drawing.

The final method of adding data is to Add Layer from File, which uses your own locally stored data
files. There are several file types you can upload: Esri Shapefiles (in zipped format); comma, semi-
colon, or tab delimited text files (CSV or TXT); and GPS Exchange Format (GPX); each allows you to
upload a maximum of 1000 features.

Note: If you would like to explore the Add Layer from File function another time, you
can move ahead to Customizing Your Layers on page 10.

Uploading Data Files

For this section, we are going to utilize the City and County of Honolulu’s Open Data Catalogue,
which features datasets available to the public for general use (see the Open Data City and County
of Honolulu User Licence for details). To access the data, go to the following link:
http://honolulu-cchnl.opendata.arcgis.com/.
Shapefiles
We’ll begin with one of the most common geospatial data formats, the Shapefile (.shp). Although
the shapefile format was created by Esri, it can be read by virtually any GIS program, including
some programs that aren’t primarily intended for GIS such as AutoDesk’s drafting software
AutoCAD.

In ArcGIS Online, shapefiles need to be uploaded in zipped format in order to be read properly.
This is due to the fact that a shapefile (singular) is actually made up of several different files (plural)
all with the same name but different file extensions. By itself, the .shp file is incomplete.

In the City and County of Honolulu website (http://honolulu-cchnl.opendata.arcgis.com), select

the Parks and Recreation data category. Scroll, if necessary, to the Regional Parks layer and click
on it. The Regional Parks layer displays the location of all the Regional Parks that are on Oahu
Island. The data viewer lets you preview the data on the map in spatial format (Details), in tabular
format (Table), and plotted format (Charts). In the right corner under the viewer, click the
Download Dataset dropdown and select Shapefile. The file is delivered in zipped (.zip) format.

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From the Add menu, choose Add Layer from File and use the Choose File button to upload the
Regional_Parks.zip file you just downloaded. Accept the default selection to Generalize features
for web display and then click Import Layer. The newly imported layer is now visible in the Contents
pane as well as on the map (you may need to zoom out or pan the map to see the features). You
can click on a Regional Park feature to reveal a pop-up window with more information about that
park.

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After uploading the file, options to change the style of the Regional Park features appear in the
content panel. First, select an attribute to display. Select PARK_NAME. By selecting this, your map
will represent the names of the various Regional Parks that are located on Oahu Island. The
regional parks will be represented using different features (ex. Colour, linewidth, types). Next,
select the drawing style. Select the first option, Types (Unique symbols). Your map should look
similar to the one below.

The various coloured polygons represent different regional parks. Take a notice at the legend
located at the bottom left corner. As can be seen by looking at the map, Ala Moana Regional Park
and Kapiolani Regional Park are located in Honolulu.
Tab Delimited Files
As you may have noted while adding the Regional Parks shapefile, one of the options under export
is exporting data to CSV (Comma Separated Values) file format. When formatted correctly, CSV
and TXT files provide tabular information that can be plotted by either physical address or
geographic coordinates (i.e. latitude-longitude, or lat-long).

Once again, go to the Data Catalogue on the City and County of Honolulu website (http://honolulu-
cchnl.opendata.arcgis.com) and search for the Universities layer. Click on it. Make sure the file
type is set to Spreadsheet (Table) and download the file. With CSV and TXT files, you can use the
standard Add Layer from File method or you can simply drag and drop the file on the map (be sure
to drop it on the map and not the Contents pane).

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Note: If lat-long data is automatically detected in a file (column names may prevent ArcGIS Online
from recognizing those fields), ArcGIS Online will automatically plot the points using those
locations. However, if the location data is stored as addresses, you will be prompted to set up the
geocoding parameters, which includes choosing a Country and assigning Field Names to the
appropriate data type (i.e. Address, City, Postal, etc.). The United States Address Locator is a
sophisticated geocoder built by Esri and is especially useful if your list contains addresses from more
than one country. The dialog for setting up geocoding is shown below and acts much like the other
Add Layer from File options.

After the CSV file has been imported, your map will look like the image below. Select the attribute
to show location only and the drawing style to Location (single symbol). The purple stars seen on
the map are the various universities located in Honolulu. You may change the feature, such as
symbol (color, fill, outline), transparency and visible range by clicking on “options” in the Location
(single symbol) tab.

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KML Files
Although they are not mentioned in the Add Layer from File dialog, KML files can also be added
to ArcGIS Online and used in your maps. This popular file format (Keyhole Markup Language) was
created by Google and is used in their popular Google Earth application. The City and County of
Honolulu’s Open Data Catalogue offers their data in KML format.

From the City and County of Honolulu’s Open Data Catalogue (http://honolulu-
cchnl.opendata.arcgis.com), search Existing Bike Facilities and download the dataset as a KML file.
From your map window, go to the ArcGIS dropdown menu (may also say Home) in the top-left
corner and choose My Content. On this page, you’ll see all the items you create in ArcGIS Online.
Above the list of items, click on + Add Item and browse to the Existing_Bike_Facilities.kml file you
just extracted.

From your map window, go to the ArcGIS dropdown menu (may also say Home) in the top-left
corner and choose My Content. On this page, you’ll see all the items you create in ArcGIS Online.
Above the list of items, click on + Add Item and browse to your KML file you just extracted. The
Add Item dialog also requires you to add Tags to your new item, which helps your item get found
in searches. Type the words Honolulu and Bike Facilities in the box (use the Tab key to add
additional tags) and click Add Item.

Once the KML has finished uploading, the item description page will appear showing the details
of your newly added layer.

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Before you can add the KML file to your map, you will need to share it with the public. Under the
thumbnail image, click Share, then check the box to Share the item(s) with: Everyone (public) and
click OK.

Click on the image at the top of the page to go back to the My Content page where you will now
see your Existing Bike Facilities layer listed in the Content Table.

*Note: Another way of importing such data is through Search by Layer. You can search your
desired layer and click ADD*

Editing and viewing attribute information

Turn off all the layers except for the
Universities and the WV2 2016 layers. Let’s
add 2-3 colleges to the Universities layer.
Click on the Edit tab. Choose the feature
you want to edit; in our case, it would be
Universities. Locate a few colleges in
Honolulu and add a point on the map. You
can use the WV2 2016 layer to help you find
the colleges located in Honolulu. Upon
adding the new features, make sure that
you label the LANDMARKTYPE as “College”
and the LANDMARKNAME as the college
name (example pictured). Leave the rest
blank. Once you have added a few colleges,
rename the layer to Universities and
Colleges.

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Customizing Your Layers
Under the Contents tab of your map’s Details, you should now see a number of different layers
and a basemap (Topographic). You will also notice that to the right of each item is 3 blue dots.
Clicking the arrow reveals a dropdown menu showing the various actions you can perform on a
given layer. Click the arrow next to one of the layers and you will see options such as Zoom to,
Transparency, Set Visibility Range, and so forth. The options vary by layer, so what can be done
with one layer may not be possible with another.

Let’s use some of the menu options to tidy things up a bit. First, rename WV2 2016 to Oahu
Aerial 2016. Finally, change the Transparency of the Oahu Aerial 2016 layer to 50%. You can also
optionally remove the event types (layers) that aren’t being used.

One last customization we’ll perform is Set Visibility Range. This allows you to control which
layers are visible at various zoom levels. Since the aerial imagery is of little use when zoomed
out too far to see much detail, we’ll set the visibility range so it doesn’t show past a certain
extent. Click on the menu next to Oahu Aerial 2016 and hover over Set Visibility Range. Change
the dropdown for In closer than: to 1:40,000 (Town). Now zoom out on the map until the aerial
imagery disappears. Notice how much easier it is to read the map at this scale when the aerials
are hidden from view.

Note: ArcGIS Online also has tools that can be used to Perform Analysis on the data you
add or create. This functionality is only available on layers where editing has been
enabled. Where editing has been disabled (as is the case with Canada Median Age),
Perform Analysis will not be an option in the dropdown menu. However, you can still
customize the pop-up information on such layers by using the Configure Pop-up option
in the menu. Because this guide is intended as an overview of ArcGIS Online, we won’t
cover the Perform Analysis or Configure Pop-up tools. Nevertheless, feel free to explore
these options on your own to see what the possibilities are for you and your data.

Accessing the Attribute Table

Behind each piece of spatial data there is tabular information. Often times this information can
be very useful to determine what an ambiguous dataset can be used for, or give you an insight
as to what types of analysis you can do with a dataset. For example, a set of address points may
also contain information about the type of building it is.

To view the attribute table of a layer, there is a table icon under the layer title. Click on it to
reveal the attribute table.

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You can then sort the table based on different columns. Record what entries show up at the top
and bottom of the list when you sort the table by each column name.

Sharing Your Map

Up to this point, your map has

been saved to your free ArcGIS
Online public account. However,
since only you have access to this
account, you’ll need to Share your
map for others to see it. Sharing a
map can be done from many
different places on the site as well
as in many different ways.

You can share directly from the map by saving the most current changes and then clicking Share.
You can also share your map from the My Content page or the Web Map details page. After
checking the box to share with Everyone (public), the link to your map will be accessible to
anyone you share it with.

Besides linking to and posting through social media, you can also Embed in Website and Make a
Web Application. The option to embed the map in a website provides you with simple
configurations that are incorporated into the HTML code seen inside the text box. You then copy
and paste that code to embed it in a website.

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The option to Make a Web Application is slightly more involved, but still relatively easy to set up.
Click this option to open the dialog box, which features numerous templates for publishing your
map as a web application. Click on the thumbnail images and it will give you a brief description
of what the template is used for.

For this map, we will use the Basic Viewer template as a way to share our web map outside of
the ArcGIS Online viewer where we created it. Select Create App and then enter the information
for your web application as seen below, and then click Done.

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At this point, some important information appears on the screen. Although the web map was
shared, the web application is not yet shared. Therefore, you will want to Save and View Item so
you can share the web application.

Open the application to see what you’ve created. If you want to make changes to the default
settings, go through the tabs on the left to adjust general, theme, splash screen, toolbar, and
other settings.

If you are looking to show two different maps for your web application, you may wish to look into
using the “Compare Analysis” under the Compare Maps/Layer web app. This web application
allows you to compare up to four different web maps you have created. This is useful if you want
to display different pathways you have created but do not want all the pathways on the one map,
giving a cleaner end result.

Start by creating a new map and importing the Oahu 2016 orthophoto (The layer from Web).
Create a new path using the Map Notes feature that differs from the path you previously created,
but still starts and ends at the same locations. Set your basemap to be the same as your first map
and save your map to My Content. Now that we have two maps created, we can create a

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comparison web app. Click the Share button on the new map you just created and create a web
application.

Choose the “Compare Analysis” web app and have your two maps displayed. Enter a description
describing the differences between the two paths in the Description box and click Save at the
bottom of the right hand sidebar. Your changes will appear instantly, showing the two maps side
by side.

Crowdsourcing with ArcGIS Online

One of the great things that ArcGIS Online offers is the ability for multiple users to contribute
spatial data to a public space. Unfortunately, with the free account we cannot create our own
crowdsourcing layer (publishing an editable hosted layer is only available to organizational
accounts), but we can use an existing layer to demonstrate.

Create a new map and search for the layer “WhatsNearby”. Add this to your new map and save
it as ‘Crowdsourcing’. Now that we have a map with an editable layer in it, we can create a
crowdsourcing form/app. Create a web app, but this time choose the GeoForm option (Scroll down).
Choose the WhatsNearby layer as the editable layer. The default input settings are dropdown
(“select”) menus and text, but you may wish to use the other options they give you.

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Fields such as OBSERVID, NUMVOTES, and USERID can be left out for this tutorial, as the field
names are not descriptive enough for us to enter correct information or useful help text. You can
disable the fields by unchecking the checkbox in the Enabled column. You can also reorder the
fields by clicking and dragging in the Order column. Be sure to add help text to the fields so that
the user will know what to put into the fields (ex. “(123) 456-7890” for the phone number help
field to prompt the user to enter their phone number in the correct format).

The GeoForm comes with a variety of themes you can choose from. Depending on your audience
and the data you are presenting, you may prefer a different theme than the default one chosen.
In the final step, you will be able to preview the web app to determine whether or not you wish
to change anything. Be sure to try out your web app by entering a few points around Honolulu,
Hawaii. Your final app should look similar to the screenshot below.

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 Wrapping Up
ArcGIS Online provides an easy way for users to create and share maps. The free public account
does, of course, have some limitations, when compared with an organizational account. For
example, you cannot upload image files to your My Content folder with a public account, but
this functionality is possible with an organizational one. But even with the public account, you
probably noticed that there are many other features of this mapping platform that weren’t
covered in this guide. However, this introduction should give you the foundation for continuing
to explore the options on your own.

Much of how and what you learn will be by trial-and-error—even with this guide. So take the
time to discover the different tools and templates, the data and displays. See how geospatial
data can enhance your digital information and make data more meaningful by adding the
geographic element!

Reference
Images from http://www.arcgis.com

Updated November 2015 by Marcus Wieland

Updated May 20, 2016 by Anna Yu
Updated by Ajnadeen Al-Shawa

UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO
GEOSPATIAL CENTER
https://uwaterloo.ca/library/geospatial/

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