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How to create and load a layer group to ArcGIS online ????

EbenBroadbent1

Basically, just want it to behave more like ArcGIS Desktop where I can group layers thematically and allow people to open and close the folders of layers in ArcGIS online or Explorer online maps.

Any help much appreciated. I have ArcGIS 10.1 and a institutional ArcGIS online account, my tools available.

ebennb@gmail.com

Thank you!!!

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Accepted answers

MikeMinamiP1

Eben,

I think it will be challenging to author one web map with 100 shapefiles and 50 rasters. Are the rasters meant to display all together as one virtual layer? You want the map user to dynamically control which layers are visible?

When you say you have an institutional ArcGIS Online account, does this mean you've been invited into an organization that has a paid subscription to ArcGIS Online? You will need this to upload your data and publish web services out of them.

If you have access to ArcGIS Server, you could publish a map service. That would give you the grouping you're after and also the ability to turn layers on and off.

By publishing to ArcGIS Online, I could suggest the following. You need to have the role of publisher in the organization.

Publish a hosted tiled map service for your rasters. I'm assuming that they're meant to display together and they're not 50 separate layers. You will need to assemble a map in arcmap and publish from ArcMap.
Publish each shapefile as a hosted feature service. Simply upload each shapefile as an item to My Content. During upload, you will see the option to create a service.

As a web map doesn't allow creating groups of layers, you might consider taking a different approach where you create your own application where a user might answer questions that define what layers to show rather than relying on the table of contents to control it. Then the application would show the appropriate layers.

Good luck,

Mike

All comments

ShanaGail1

Hi,

Are there plans to allow groupings when publishing a feature service rather than a map service? We have users throughout the company that create maps with hosted layers. It's not protocol at this time to register their data for adhoc projects with the Data Store. Some of their datasets are quite large, which forces them to break them into multiple .csv files, which they upload using Add Data one at a time. (We are using ArcGIS Server versus Portal, but are in the process of standing up Portal.)

Thanks,

Shana

JohnDeLoretta3

I believe if you add a map service from ArcGIS Server (not a feature service) to a map you will get the layers grouped under the map service. So if you were to publish your various groups as their own services, you could add them as map services and they will be grouped by their service name.

MikeMinamiP1

Noah,

Eninna added the zipped shapefile (with more than one shapefile inside it) directly via the Add button in the map viewer. This workflow yields the group structure illustrated. If you add the same zipped shapefile as an item to My Content and publish a hosted feature layer from it (or publish from Desktop), adding the hosted feature layer to a map will not yield the same group structure. Each layer within the hosted feature layer will appear as its own independent layer in the map. Ideally, we would not have this inconsistency.

Thanks.

Mike

NoahCynkar

Eninna, I know this was long ago, but did you ever figure out how to upload these layers into a group. I seem to be having the same problem as you.

CoffeeforClosers

Eninna,

Are you publishing your layers and bringing them into AGOL as feature services? Feature service publishing does not allow for or honor groupings.

EninnaLuli1

This is really interesting. But I am uploading my layers through by publishing service through ArcGIS Desktop and it seems that even if I group them in Desktop, they are not transferred over the same.

SDouglas_Versar

Hmm, that is interesting. But if you need to keep the symbology and things like that (which you can only get by saving and publishing the service) this wouldn't work, would it?

Mark_Hotz

Eben:

I'm not quite sure if this is exactly what you're asking, but I seem to be able to group layers in ArcGIS Online. I think this might be an issue because most people are uploading single Shapefiles within a Zip file, and then hoping to group them after they have been installed in ArcGIS Online. This cannot be done.

However, if you bundle multiple Shapefiles into one Zip file, and then upload that to ArcGIS Online, the web software will inherently group them together. The only caveat that I can see though is that it only groups the layers in the "Contents" tab, and not the "Legend"...but this I find is Ok because this is where most people will be reading the legend anyway.

ArcGIS Online will name your group based on the name you gave to your Zip file; however, this, of course, can also be edited after you have uploaded the Zip file. I have given you an example of what I have done in the past with ArcGIS Online. The Zip file I just named "Fairview Noise Assessment-July2015", and each Shapefile that was contained in that Zip file is grouped below.

Does this help?

PhuongDo

Dear Sebastien,

Thank you very much for your support. I hope I will be able to handle the

instruction with your advanced classic view template.

Best regards,

Phuong Do

SebastienPetit

I uploaded our code here

Template to use sublayers

GISUSER6

I'm still looking for a way to group layers in ArcGIS Online. I am managing utility networks, and would like to group water utility, sanitary, and storm utility features together, instead of just having each layer listed separately in the layer list. I want to be able to turn on and off the whole system instead of just one layer at a time. This seems like such a simple feature to integrate with ArcGIS Online...

BrianAnderson4

I have access to ArcGIS Server but am missing something in publishing a map service to ArcGIS Online since I have not been able to do it. Is there any documentation somewhere that I can read?

PhuongDo

Is it possible to share your template Sebastien? Im in need one like that.

Thanks a lot.

Phuong

SebastienPetit

Same here.

We created a specific template for that but would appreicate other feedback

DavidMuthami1

Hi, I am interested with whether you found a solution to group layers in ArcGIS online web map

PhuongDo

Without layer grouping, ArcGIS online is just a toy. Unfortunately, I do like ESRI but can't use ArcGIS online for my real work.

Phuong

jonraper

So I just got off the chat with ESRI. They really need to provide the ability to categorize and sub categorize data within the online maps. I thought the solution might be to create zipped folders for each sub category and then zip them together based on how items are loaded into online. Example:
1)Gathering system
A) gathering system 1

gathering system 2
c) gathering system 3

This does not provide a solution though, you will receive an error "missing shapefile", very frustrating since we are trying to expand the use of this tool within our organization. ESRI has a lot of work to do if they want our dime.

ChristopherWesson

So what can I do with GPX data. At the moment I have tracked points (which I'm not showing) and the 24 subsequent routes, which I am and have styled all the same. They are all one data layer but the TOC dropdown and therefore the legend separates each entry which looks stupid.

Do I need to go into ArcGIS desktop to resolve this? At the moment the GPX is straight out of a Garmin sat-nav. I had hoped this would work as its kinda the point of a blog article I'm writing it for, i.e. the ease of use.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,

Chris

MikeMinamiP1

Publish a hosted tiled map service for your rasters. I'm assuming that they're meant to display together and they're not 50 separate layers. You will need to assemble a map in arcmap and publish from ArcMap.
Publish each shapefile as a hosted feature service. Simply upload each shapefile as an item to My Content. During upload, you will see the option to create a service.

EbenBroadbent1

Dear Mike,

Thank you for your prompt response. Here is a quick, hopefully clearer, summary of my question:

Situation: I have 100 shapefiles and 50 satellite image rasters. The shapefiles are themeatically grouped into 10 categories (of 10 shapefiles each). The rasters are grouped into 5 categories (of 10 rasters each).

Objective: I would like to be able to create an ArcGIS online map for the public to look at and interact with that has all these layers, and has them grouped into their thematic groups. The objective is for it to appear like as in ArcMAP Desktop where you can expand and minimize the group depending on which themes are of interest to you at the moment.

Tools: The tools I have available to accomplish this task are an ArcGIS 10.1 Desktop installation, including ArcCatalog, etc... and an institutional ArcGIS online account (connected to the desktop ESRI software).

Any methods, or even better a detailed step by step, would be super appreciated.

Thank you!!!

Eben Broadbent
Postdoctoral Fellow
Harvard University & Smithsonian Institution
eben@amazonico.org

MikeMinamiP1

Do you mean you want to do the grouping in the web map of arcgis.com? There is no way currently to group layers. It's actually a bit problematic to do because grouping implies layer ordering. The layers in a web map can't be positioned anywhere in the TOC because of how they're getting drawn. For example, shapefiles can't be drawn below a layer that references a map service.

Mike

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