Setting up time enabled layers in ArcGIS Online

Question

Is is possible to create a time-enabled layer from a shapefile in ArcGIS Online without using Desktop at all? I have an Organizational account.

I have a Shapefile (polylines) with text attributes called StartTime and EndTime, with the contents in the form MM/DD/YYYY hh:mm:ss . I can add it to my map, save and publish the layer, but I do not have the Time Settings link referred to in the Configure Time Settings instructions, under Enable Time Settings: Configure time settings—ArcGIS Online Help | ArcGIS - without this the process grinds to a halt.

How can I proceed to visualise my data over time?

KatyAppleton1 · Answer

Ah, now I see - I made 2 new Date fields in ArcGIS Online and used Calculator to copy the string field across. I now have time options available to enable. This isn't really clear on the above link (I thought I saw somewhere that text or date were OK but I must be mistaken). Thank you!

However, this has thrown up a new problem in that when I Calculate my new Date field to be equal to the old String field, it adds an hour to the time. So 09:30:00 becomes 10:30:00. Why on earth would it do this??

KatyAppleton1 · Answer

Yes, they are text fields. For this project I need to work without Desktop, and although I have access to QGIS I have found the date/time format problematic.

kenbuja · Answer

Are those fields text fields or date fields? I'm suspecting they are text fields, since shapefile date fields do not support time.