As an ArcGIS Online administrator, you have control over just about every aspect of your ArcGIS Online organization. From inviting members, assigning licenses and managing groups to configuring credits, security settings and utility services, you the ArcGIS Online admin are in charge. An incredible benefit of this is that the organization can be configured and managed with specific use case or workflow requirements in mind. A challenge is that there can be a lot to keep track of, and for new admins, a bit of a learning curve. The below picks provide some tips and tricks for new and seasoned admins alike to make the most of your, dare I say almighty, role as ArcGIS Online administrator.

How to Be an ArcGIS Online Administrator

If you are just getting started with administration, my colleague Rachel Guttmacher's blog post, How to be an ArcGIS Online Administrator, is a must-read. It's a fun, conversational piece that covers some of the most crucial administration components including credits, member management, licensing, and security. 

Additional Resources:

• Get started with administration—ArcGIS Online Help | Documentation 
• Whitepaper: ArcGIS Online Implementation Guide

Utilize Custom Administrative Roles to the Fullest

Another colleague of mine, Tyler Burns, recently wrote a great blog post on taking advantage of custom administrative roles: Lighten the Administrative Load in ArcGIS Online with Custom Roles. If you're looking to delegate specific administrative tasks such as managing members and content or organizing the website, the post provides directions and screenshots for exactly how to configure custom administrative roles to accomplish this. 

Additional Resources:

• User types, roles, and privileges—ArcGIS Online Help | Documentation 
• Configure member roles—ArcGIS Online Help | Documentation 

"AAA": ArcGIS Online Administration Automation - Video 

Kelly Gerrow and John Yaist presented this 20 minute talk on automating administration at the 2019 Dev Summit. For anyone administering a larger organization or with an interest in bolstering their automation skills, this is a recommended view. Topics covered are using the Rest API to query the organization history, and creating groups, users, and assigning licenses in batch with the ArcGIS API for Python. 

Additional Resources:

• API Reference for the ArcGIS API for Python — arcgis 1.7.1 documentation 
• Batch creation of Groups | ArcGIS for Developers 
• GitHub - Esri/arcgis-python-api: Documentation and samples for ArcGIS API for Python 
• Portal History—ArcGIS REST API: Users, groups, and content | ArcGIS for Developers 

I hope the above picks were helpful for all the administrators out there! Let me know below any comments, questions, or if there are any topics you want to see in future posts. Thanks for reading, and be sure to keep an eye out for This Week's Picks - ArcGIS Enterprise & This Week's Picks - ArcGIS Pro!

See you again in March,

-Peter

--------------------

Previous posts: This Week's Picks - ArcGIS Online: Archive 

Connect with me on Linkedin and follow me on Twitter

Did you know that you can customise popups based on time and dates? With Arcade you can .

This can come in handy when displaying opening hours for restaurants, cafes and other facilities. If you’re unfamiliar with Arcade - please refer to these ArcGIS Blogs, as this post assumes some prior knowledge.

Additional Arcade resources

• Getting Started - Guide
• Function Reference
• Playground

Let’s get started

First, find or create a data-set with opening hours (preferably for all days of the week). For this example I’ll be using Access Canberra locations (sourced from - dataACT). Please ensure opening hours are saved as numbers or text field types.

Build expressions

Within the pop-up configuration window - build the following expressions or feel free to follow along with this web map.

hoursOfOperationToday {expression/expr0}

This expression will return the current weekday alongside its opening hours.

For example:

Thursday: 08:30-16:30

var weekDays = ['Sunday','Monday','Tuesday','Wednesday','Thursday','Friday','Saturday']

//Returns the current weekday. Values range from 0-6 where sunday is 0 and saturday is 6
var currentWeekDay = Weekday(Now())

//Return weekday followed by opening hours
var hoursOfOperationToday = weekDays[currentWeekDay] + ": " + $feature[weekDays[currentWeekDay]]

return hoursOfOperationToday

hoursOfOperationRestOfWeek {expression/expr1}

This expression will return the remaining weekdays alongside their opening hours.

For example:

Friday: 08:30-16:30
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed
Monday: 08:30-16:30
Tuesday: 08:30-16:30
Wednesday: 08:30-16:30

var weekDays = ['Sunday','Monday','Tuesday','Wednesday','Thursday','Friday','Saturday','Sunday','Monday','Tuesday','Wednesday','Thursday','Friday'];

//Returns the current weekday. Values range from 0-6 where sunday is 0 and saturday is 6
var currentWeekDay = Weekday(Now())

var hoursOfOperationRestOfWeek = ""

//Iterate over the weekdays and opening hours for the remaning 6 days of the week
for(var i = currentWeekDay + 1; i < currentWeekDay + 7; i++){
    hoursOfOperationRestOfWeek += weekDays[i] + ": " + $feature[weekDays[i]] + TextFormatting.NewLine
}

return hoursOfOperationRestOfWeek

openCloseStatus {expression/expr2}

This expression will return whether the shopfront is Open, Closed, Opens soon or Closing soon based on opening hours and the time displayed on users' device .

var weekDays = ['Sunday','Monday','Tuesday','Wednesday','Thursday','Friday','Saturday']

//Returns the current weekday. Values range from 0-6 where sunday is 0 and saturday is 6
var currentWeekDay = Weekday(Now())

//Change 'Closed' to 00:00-00:00 to be consistent with the rest of opening hours information
var formattedOpeningHours = When($feature[weekDays[currentWeekDay]] == "Closed", "00:00-00:00", $feature[weekDays[currentWeekDay]])

//Separate Opening hours and minutes into an array
var separateOpening = Split(Replace(formattedOpeningHours,'-',':'),':')

//Assign hours and minutes to opening and close times
var startTime = Date(Year(Now()),Month(Now()),Day(Now()),separateOpening[0],separateOpening[1])
var endTime = Date(Year(Now()),Month(Now()),Day(Now()),separateOpening[2],separateOpening[3])

When(Now() > startTime && Now() < endTime && Now() > Dateadd(endTime, -1, 'hours'), "Closes soon:",
Now() > startTime && Now() < endTime, "Open",
Now() < startTime && Now() > Dateadd(startTime, -1, 'hours'), "Opens soon",
"Closed")

openCloseStatusColour {expression/expr3}

If you'd like to re-iterate the openCloseStatus values with added colour - rewrite and replace previous expression's return values with hexadecimal colour values.

For example:

#239B56 ⋅ Open

#CB4335 ⋅ Closed

#2ECC71 ⋅ Opens soon

#EC7063 ⋅ Closing soon

//First 15 lines the same as - openCloseStatus {expression/expr2}

When(Now() > startTime && Now() < endTime && Now() > Dateadd(endTime, -1, 'hours'), "#EC7063",
Now() > startTime && Now() < endTime, "#239B56",
Now() < startTime && Now() > Dateadd(startTime, -1, 'hours'), "#2ECC71",
"#CB4335")

Now use this expression to replace the colour code within the popup HTML. For more information on this topic - refer to Bring Colors From Your Map Into Your Pop-up Using Arcade written by Lisa Berry.

closingOrOpeningTime {expression/expr4}

This expression can look a little daunting at first, but like any other piece of code - go through one line at a time and use your own test environment to test and experiment .

It will return the:

• closing time, if the Access Canberra shop front is Open or Closes soon.
• opening time for the current day, if it Opens soon, or Closed (before hours).
• and next opening day and time, if it's Closed (after hours), Closes soon or Closed for the whole day.

var weekDays = ['Sunday','Monday','Tuesday','Wednesday','Thursday','Friday','Saturday','Sunday','Monday','Tuesday','Wednesday','Thursday','Friday'];

//Returns the current weekday. Values range from 0-6 where sunday is 0 and saturday is 6
var currentWeekDay = Weekday(Now())

//Change 'Closed' to 00:00-00:00 to be consistent with the rest of of opening hours information
var formattedOpeningHours = When($feature[weekDays[currentWeekDay]] == "Closed", "00:00-00:00", $feature[weekDays[currentWeekDay]])

//Separate Opening hours and minutes into an array
var separateOpening = Split(Replace(formattedOpeningHours,'-',':'),':')

var startTime = Date(Year(Now()),Month(Now()),Day(Now()),separateOpening[0],separateOpening[1])
var endTime = Date(Year(Now()),Month(Now()),Day(Now()),separateOpening[2],separateOpening[3])

var openCloseStatus = When(Now() > startTime && Now() < endTime && Now() > Dateadd(endTime, -1, 'hours'), "Closes soon:",
Now() > startTime && Now() < endTime, "Open",
Now() < startTime && Now() > Dateadd(startTime, -1, 'hours'), "Opens soon",
"Closed")

//If openCloseStatus is Closed (before hours), return current day's opening time
//Else if openCloseStatus is Closed (after hours), Closes soon or Closed for the whole day, return next opening day and time
var nextOpening = ""
if (openCloseStatus == "Closed" && $feature[weekDays[currentWeekDay]] != "Closed" && Now() < startTime){
    nextOpening = "Opens " + LEFT($feature[weekDays[currentWeekDay]],5)
} else if ((openCloseStatus == "Closed" || openCloseStatus == "Closes soon:") && $feature[weekDays[currentWeekDay + 1]] != "Closed"){
    nextOpening = "Opens " + LEFT($feature[weekDays[currentWeekDay + 1]],5) + " " + weekDays[currentWeekDay + 1]
} else if (openCloseStatus == "Closed" || openCloseStatus == "Closes soon:") {
    for(var i = currentWeekDay + 1; $feature[weekDays[i]] == "Closed"; i++){
        nextOpening = "Opens " + LEFT($feature[weekDays[i + 1]],5) + " " + weekDays[i + 1]
    }
}

When(openCloseStatus == "Open", "⋅ " + RIGHT($feature[weekDays[currentWeekDay]],5),
openCloseStatus == "Opens soon", "⋅ " + LEFT($feature[weekDays[currentWeekDay]],5),
openCloseStatus == "Closes soon:", RIGHT($feature[weekDays[currentWeekDay]],5) + " ⋅ " + nextOpening,
"⋅ " + nextOpening)

Final thoughts

Once you’ve built the pop-ups to your heart's content you can further highlight them by using configurable app templates. Click here to see how I’ve extended the above web map using the NearBy configurable app.

Tips - Make sure to take advantage of Test your expressions feature to check whether return values look correct. If you have admin privileges to your computer you could also adjust time/date to test various return values based on opening hours.

Challenge - As you may have figured out, these expressions are not time-zone aware. And in most instances this wouldn't be a problem - as the intended maps and apps are localised.

But, I'd still love to hear your thoughts around how you'd go about this. Please use the comments section below for ideas.

Cheers! - Gee Fernando

For those new to this series, "This Week's Picks" is a (loosely) biweekly blog where I share some of my favorite ArcGIS Online content with you.

If you are interested in earlier posts, they’re archived here: This Week's Picks - ArcGIS Online: Archive 

--------------------

I'll admit, I'm on my phone more than I would like to be - but I'm not just scrolling Instagram and taking selfies. I regularly read story maps (which I should mention are mobile-ready by default), and I checked public safety apps habitually during last year's California fire season. Straightforward observation of the world around us indicates that I'm not the only one making good use of their unlimited data contract. And like me, most people are probably doing a lot more than scrolling Instagram. 

What if they were looking at an ArcGIS web app that you had built? What if you had configured it with mobile in mind and the UX/UI and functionality were excellent on a smaller screen?

The picks for this week may help change both of the above questions from rhetoric to reality.  

***Note: this post covers web apps accessed in mobile browsers through a URL, not native apps. To build native apps for iOS and Android you will need AppStudio for ArcGIS***

ArcGIS Experience Builder: Build Apps for Multiple Screen Sizes

ArcGIS Experience Builder takes advantage of modern web technologies to amplify Web AppBuilder's out of the box mobile capabilities. Crucial functionality is the ability to configure the same app differently for mobile and desktop. The Esri YouTube user "GeoDev" goes through some crucial steps in this video, from customizing widget layouts to different elements on the page so that your app looks great and performs on multiple screen sizes. Creating links between different pages is shown as well. Though the video is for Beta 1 it is still very informative. 

Additional References:

• ArcGIS Experience Builder | Build, Deploy, and Manage GIS Web Apps 
• Frequently Asked Questions 
• ArcGIS Experience Builder Beta 

Configurable App Templates: Configure Apps with Mobile in Mind

Beth Romero recently posted this really helpful blog on how to create great apps for mobile with Esri's configurable app templates. Pop-ups, symbology and testing methods, among other ideas, are covered. 

Additional References:

• Choose an ArcGIS Configurable Apps template—ArcGIS Online Help | Documentation 
• Create apps from maps—ArcGIS Online Help | Documentation 

Operations Dashboard: Configure Dashboards for Mobile

Derek Law published this in-depth blog  on optimizing dashboards for mobile use. From general best practices to maps, legends and interactivity, this is a must-read before jumping into mobile dashboard configuration. 

Additional References:

• Dashboards on your smartphone—Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS | Documentation 
• Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS | Real-Time Data Visualization & Analytics 

--------------------

I hope the above resources provided some helpful tips on configuring ArcGIS web apps with mobile in mind! Let me know in the comments below  if there are any outstanding questions. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for This Week's Picks - ArcGIS Enterprise and This Week's Picks - ArcGIS Pro!

If you're interested, I'd love to connect on LinkedIn You can follow me on Twitter too. I regularly post / tweet GIS(ish) content to these platforms.

See you again in a couple weeks,

-Peter

For those new to this series, "This Week's Picks" is a (loosely) biweekly blog where I share some of my favorite ArcGIS Online content with you.

If you are interested in earlier posts, they’re archived here: This Week's Picks - ArcGIS Online: Archive 

--------------------

There is a chance that if you’re reading this, you might have contacted Esri Technical Support before and spoken or emailed with one of my colleagues. It goes without saying that Esri Support Analysts are wizards at solving technical problems involving GIS, but what some folks don’t know is that they are also the engine behind the Support site’s Knowledge Base (KB). 

That’s why this week I want to highlight three new(ish) Technical Support-written Knowledge Base articles that get into some lesser-known ArcGIS API for Python and Arcade functionality.

Clone Hosted Feature Services between ArcGIS Online Organizations

“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry…” and suddenly, it’s a requirement to transfer Hosted Feature Layers, Web Maps, Apps and maybe even surveys and dashboards to a different ArcGIS Online organization. This would be a daunting task, but the ArcGIS API for Python’s Clone Items method makes it easier. This KB article (written by yours truly, I know - shameless plug) provides a Jupyter Notebook and standalone Python script code sample to get you started. 

Additional References:

• API Reference: Content Manager (ctrl + f clone_items)
• Get Started with the ArcGIS API for Python
• Clone Dashboards (KB Article)

Automate ArcGIS Online Hosted Feature Service Downloads

Unintentionally overwriting a layer or accidentally deleting a Hosted Feature Service are mistakes that many of us have made in ArcGIS Online. With the ArcGIS API for Python, it is possible to automate local backups of your Hosted Feature Services for when these situations unexpectedly come up. See the code sample in Munachiso Ogbuchiekwe's KB article.

Additional References:

• API Reference: Content Manager (ctrl + f download, export)

Step-by-Step: Calculate a Field in ArcGIS Online with Arcade

In This Week's Picks - ArcGIS Online #3, I highlighted Arcade resources focused on pop-ups, symbology and labeling. To round things out, Hanushrie Gopalkrishnan's support KB article demonstrates how to use a simple expression to calculate a field based on the values of two existing fields. 

Additional References:

• Arcade Reference: Logical Functions
• ArcGIS Online Documentation on Field Calculations

--------------------

I hope the above KB articles provided some helpful tips on the ArcGIS API for Python and Arcade! Let me know in the comments below if there are any outstanding questions. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for This Week's Picks – ArcGIS Enterprise and This Week's Picks – ArcGIS Pro. 

If you're interested, I'd love to connect on LinkedIn. You can follow me on Twitter, too. I regularly post / tweet GIS(ish) content to these platforms.

Happy holidays and see you in 2020!

-Peter

Next ArcGIS Online Update Planned: December 10

On the evening of December 10 (Pacific time), we plan to update ArcGIS Online. You can look forward to improved sharing interfaces, an updated settings tab, a new capability to set organizational notices, and support for location tracking using Tracker for ArcGIS.

Improved Sharing Interfaces

The interface for both sharing and shared content will be updated.  The new interfaces clearly delineate how and whether items are shared widely to the organization or to everyone, as well as specifically to groups.

When sharing content, you first select a sharing level (Owner, Organization, or Everyone) that denotes how and whether an item is shared widely.

Then, if you’d like to share the item with groups, you can search for and select groups with the specific sets of members you want to share with. Specially designated groups such as Open Data groups, Shared Update groups and groups featured in the Gallery or Organization Home Page, will have badges that help you see the impact of sharing to these groups.

When looking at your items in the My Content tab, you will be able to see at a glance the sharing level of the item (Owner, Organization, Everyone) as well as the groups the item is shared with.

Updated Settings Tab

Administrators can more easily navigate the organization settings tab by searching for a setting or using the side navigation links. In addition, setting changes will automatically save.

New Organizational Notices

Need to notify everyone in your organization about something important? Two new announcement options will be available to administrators:

1. Information banner: Authenticated members will see a message at the top and bottom of their ArcGIS Online organization’s site. Typical use cases could include confidentiality notices and best practice reminders.
2. Access notice: A pop-up window needs to be accepted before logging into your ArcGIS Online organization.

Support for Location Tracking

A new organization-wide capability for ArcGIS Online will allow you to record where users are and where they have been. When you enable location tracking, licensed users in your organization can use the Tracker for ArcGIS mobile app to upload their locations. Learn more about Tracker for ArcGIS

Please note that all planned updates are subject to change. We will provide a comprehensive list of the new capabilities in our upcoming What's New email and blog article.

Want Early Access?

Explore the new capabilities by joining the ArcGIS Online Early Adopter Community. Sign up →

Welcome to the third round of Product Advocacy’s completely unofficial, recurring GeoNet post!

In case you missed my first and second posts over the past month, "This Week's Picks" is a (loosely) biweekly blog where I share some of my favorite ArcGIS Online content with you.

--------------------

One of my favorite parts of my role is all the time I get to spend on GeoNet – you might have seen me answer a question or troubleshoot an issue in the ArcGIS Online space recently. Within this space I have noticed an uptick in the number of posts related to ArcGIS Arcade, the lightweight expression language that among other functionality unlocks pop-up, symbology and label customization across the platform.

So for the 11/12 edition of “This Week’s Pick’s – ArcGIS Online” I want to highlight some of my favorite Arcade resources that can assist with getting started on writing expressions or take existing code to the next level.

Understand Arcade:

I remember we had a unit on Arcade in my Master’s in GIS Program, and to be honest I was somewhat lost about what it was or where to start. In this video, Esri Canada’s Mark Ho provides a lucid overview of Arcade and how it can be used in ArcGIS Online – I certainly could have used this two years ago.

Additional References:

• Getting Started with Arcade
• Introduction to Arcade - Slides from FedGIS 2018

Smart Map with Arcade:

Take a deeper dive into the concepts that Mark presents though this Story Map on Smart Mapping with Arcade. Illustrated, step-by-step examples show how to create custom symbology, labels and pop-ups with Arcade. For further inspiration, there are also links at the bottom of the Story Map to live examples of Web Maps and Apps that have implemented Arcade.

Additional References:

• Function Reference

Take a Deeper Dive with FeatureSets:

FeatureSets are one of the most popular Arcade functions because they unlock data across a Web Map (and after Arcade 1.8, across ArcGIS Online) for use in pop-ups and field calculation. Lisa Berry’s excellent two-part blog series takes a close look at how to ‘pump up your pop-ups’ using FeatureSets and Living Atlas layers.

• Part One
• Part Two 

Additional References:

• What’s new in Arcade 1.8 (October 2019)
• ArcGIS Blog Entries on Arcade

--------------------

I hope that the above picks provide some insight into the various ways in which Arcade can make pop-ups, symbology and labels come alive. Let me know in the comments below if there are any outstanding questions. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for This Week's Picks - ArcGIS Enterprise & This Week's Picks - ArcGIS Pro!

If you're interested, I'd love to connect on LinkedIn. You can follow me on Twitter, too. I regularly post / tweet GIS(ish) content to these platforms.

-Peter

It was recently announced that Operations Views created using the Operations Dashboard ArcGIS app for Windows will no longer be supported after December 2019. These views must be manually rebuilt as a newer, more powerful Operations Dashboard item before that deadline. Using the ArcGIS API for Python, you can quickly scan your entire organization for outdated Operations Views, and create a migration plan.

If you are an ArcGIS Online user with operation view items in your organization, we have an important announcement:

 

The Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS app for Windows that was used to create operation views was retired on January 1, and with the March 2019 release of ArcGIS Online, these items were marked as retired in your organization’s content. For more information, see this blog. Up to this point, users have still been able to view these retired items. However, with the upcoming December 2019 release of ArcGIS Online, operation view items will no longer be viewable. Therefore, we highly encourage users who are still using operation view items to rebuild them as dashboard items as soon as possible using the Operations Dashboard web app. To get started with the app, visit our help documentation.

The python script used to locate these items is fairly simple. It can be run in Jupyter Notebook, which is automatically installed with ArcGIS Pro or as an addition to ArcGIS Enterprise. More information can be found on the Esri developer page. For best results, run the script using your administrator AGOL or Portal credentials—this will locate all items in the entire organization, rather than just your personal content.

#Import the library

from arcgis.gis import GIS
from arcgis.gis import ContentManager
#Connect to the organization with the AGOL username and password
source = GIS("https://<yourOrg>.maps.arcgis.com", ",adminUsername", ",adminPassword")
#get the items items

#by default, this scan caps out at 10 records

#max_items has been set to the cap of 9999 results
items = source.content.search(query="", item_type="Operations View",max_items=9999)

#return the list of items
items

If you encounter any issues, reach out on GeoNet!

I'm excited to introduce this completely unofficial recurring GeoNet blog post!

In my role as ArcGIS Online Product Advocacy Lead, I am continuously coming across informative, interesting, and inspiring content. Through "This Week's Picks" I hope to quickly share some of my favorites with you.

For this week, I want to touch on three topics I’ve seen a lot excitement about both here at Esri and within our user community.

New Map Viewer:

There are countless reasons to be excited about the New Map Viewer in ArcGIS Online. The beta is coming sometime this fall. Built on the ArcGIS API for JavaScript 4.x, the New Map Viewer is flexible, fast, and intuitive. Highlights and how you will access the beta can be found here.

Calculate a Weighted Average with Arcade:

For a non-programmer like myself, it’s always a little mind-bending (in a good way) to see different uses of Arcade and try to implement them in my own projects. My colleague Christopher Zielinski wrote this post showing how to use a weighted average within multivariate symbology - it's an elegant way to quickly visualize trends in your Web Map.

Additional References:

• Arcade Reference
• Arcade Playground

Introduction to Distributed Collaboration (Video Demo):

If you've thought about setting up Distributed Collaboration between ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise, Esri Canada's two videos provide a succinct overview of how collaboration works, as well as a deeper dive into how items move across collaboration groups.

• Distributed Collaboration Part 1
• Distributed Collaboration Part 2

Additional References:

• ArcGIS Online - Collaboration
• How Collaboration Works
• Create a Collaboration

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for This Week's Picks - ArcGIS Enterprise & This Week's Picks - ArcGIS Pro! 

If you're interested, I'd love to connect on LinkedIn. You can follow me on Twitter, too. I regularly post / tweet GIS(ish) content to these platforms. 

-Peter