ArcGIS Web Editor: why another product?

MappyIan

I like the look of the new ArcGIS Web Editor that was released this week for ArcGIS Online.  But it does raise the question of why add this functionality to another new application rather than simply extend the editing functionality that already exists in Map Viewer.  I'm baffled by the continual development of new products that perform subtly different tasks from existing products (Quick Capture, Field Maps, and Survey 123; Experience Builder and Dashboards).  Surely a better approach would be to consolidate and enhance the functionality in a single application?  In the case of Web Editor, it does seem like this functionality could have been integrated in to Map Viewer.

Just my thoughts.

LarryYoung

Hi All,

First off, much time and thought went into whether to augment existing applications or create a new application.  In the end we decided a separate application was best and i'll give you two main reasons:

1. Creating a focused app - by creating an application just for editing it gives us the ability to streamline workflows for that purpose.  If you create a single app to do everything, then you have to genericize some process as a result.  An example would be the toolbars across the top of Web Editor which are context based knowing the user is editing.
2. Configuration - In a future release we will support configuration of  Web Editor to further support streamlining workflows.  For instance, you could configure Web Editor to support only updating attributes and save that as an instance of the application.  If the editing capabilities are rolled into Map Viewer, then the options for configuration are reduced if not eliminated.

Hope that helps.  Also worth noting much of the functionality of Web Editor will make its way into web components that will be available in Experience Builder and Map Viewer at the discretion of those teams (i.e., does it make sense for the application and its purpose) and in the context of those applications.