Experience Builder Roadmap in 2021 and Beyond

[Jianxia]

Many of you would like to know the priority list of widgets that Experience Builder team will be working on in 2021 and Beyond. Here it is. Please keep in mind that things are subject to change. 

Thanks!

[jcarlson]

Can't wait to see the latest updates! I have a few diehard Web App Builder users who will be very happy to see the Query widget.

[Jianxia]

@jcarlson , the initial release of the Query widget in Experience Builder will not have the full functions as that in Web AppBuilder. More is to come.....

[SandraCHayden]

Really need that Edit widget, good to see it on the list.

[JayJohnsonWashoeCounty]

Is the general plan to replicate current WAB widgets within the ExpBuilder world?

At the moment I'm specifically longing for the "Near Me" widget...

[DougBrowning]

When will Show Related Records be coming back?  I can find no way to access my relationship classes in the new map beta or Builder.  The roadmap said Winter 2020 so maybe I am just missing it?

We use relationship classes extensively so I really need it.  Any update is appreciated since we are working on moving soon.

thanks

[Jianxia]

Hi @@JayJohnsonWashoeCounty,  the general plan is to reach the functional parity of WAB. However, as the most of functionalities in the Near Me widget are now available in the latest Nearby template , we don't plan to move the Near Me over to Experience Builder. Pls let us know if you have any concerns on this. 

[Jianxia]

@DougBrowning - support for related tables in the new Map Viewer is on the roadmap of 2021. Experience Builder would pick it up then.

[JayJohnsonWashoeCounty]

Thanks Jianxia. 

Users always want more.

I don't understand the rationale for including specific widget functionality in one app design framework and not in others (ExpBuilder vs. WAB).  The mobile-adaptive nature of ExpBuilder and the ability to create Pages is compelling and I WANT to build apps in it, to take advantage of the control it gives me over the user experience, particularly in mobile.

But Near Me-like functionality is also important to my audience.  

My wish list?  I want all the WAB widgets to be included in ExpBuilder.  

[Jianxia]

Thanks @JayJohnsonWashoeCounty.

You have good points! Will share them with teams. 

[Henry_PeleshBW]

I am very glad to see some of the core widgets in WAB included on this roadmap. I'm looking forward to the release of these widgets, especially the Print, Search, Sketch, Edit and Basemap Gallery. These are widget we use on an everyday basis.

I am also intrigued in the Image Gallery widget. Is there any word on if the widget will support 360 degree panoramic images? 

Thanks for the update!

Henry

[Anonymous User]

I understand that Exp Builder will honor layer grouping from Map Viewer Beta so really looking forward to moving to it but Search and Basemap widgets are essential for me.  I could live without Swipe for a while but the others I could not, so really looking forward to the additions. thank you

edit: And thank you for the update on the future plans!

[DougBrowning]

I just really wish you could group tables and feature classes together.  No idea why they are separated.  I have 3 diff areas in our group so we want to group the 3 groups with all the FCs and tables in one spot. Also you can not group tables for some reason.  So now we have a Group A with two FCs in it then the table section has 20 tables in it that are not grouped at all.  Very weird for the user.

We have more tables then FCs at this point so I wish they got more attention.

Now we are using a App with multiple layer widgets to pull this off and it works pretty good.  How would you do this in EB?

Overall until relationships classes are in we are just playing with it, some stuff is nice but its not ready for use yet.

thanks

[Geoeki]

We're right at the point of having to choose to commit to either of the platforms (WAB or EXB). We've hold on to this since Summer in hopes of seeing some significant improvements in EXB functionalities. While I really appreciate the roadmap, I have to admit, I'm disappointed in the progress. 4 new widgets in the March release is underwhelming, while probably the most important and basic widgets are still entirely missing (Edit! Basemap Gallery! etc.).

I'm aware of this recent blog post suggesting workflows (or: workarounds) for migrating widgets from WAB to EXB - but why can't Esri do this too with their own WAB widgets? That's why people generally commit to the Esri environment after all...to not do the work on our side.

I would love to have seen Esri coming out with EXB only when functionalities are on a par with WAB. This leaves us very insecure whether to still commit to WAB or use the bare bones of what's there in EXB already and do all the widget development on our own. EXB can be something fantastic, but right now (and for far too long already in my opinion) it's neither fish nor fowl.

[ccharping_patrickco]

Do you know what date the March 2021 update is set to release @Jianxia? I'm looking forward to seeing the new developments. Can you give us a tease on what functionalities will be included in the Query Widget or others? Crossing my fingers 🤞 that this 1st release for the Query Widget results settings has the option to export CSV.

[SandraCHayden]

Jianxia, any update on when the Experience Builder update will be released?

I am stalled on my development until I get new widget functionality.

The Edit and Query widgets are the ones I need most. Also, a zoom on Filter would impressively highlight the map.

Thanks!

[Jianxia]

Hi @SandraCHayden , as ArcGIS Online has a new release date on April 13, the Experience Builder update is moved accordingly from March 30 to April 13 due to dependencies on JSAPI 4.x. I should have informed of you earlier. Sorry for that. In the April update, besides Query, you can do attribute editing in the Table widget. Unfortunately a zoom on Filter is not there yet. Understand this is a common workflow.  We are currently working on it and hopefully will have it in the next update in July.

[Jianxia]

@Henry_PeleshBW , the Image Gallery widget is to add items from a group. The name seems misleading. We will come up a better name. Support for 360 degree panoramic images is in the product backlog and your request has been added to it.

[Jianxia]

@DougBrowning, good point for grouping tables and layers together. I would recommend submitting an enhancement request to new Map Viewer. The Map Layers widget in ExB picks the group layer from new Map Viewer, so, it does not group tables. In my opinion, this should be enhanced at the platform level. I will pass this to the Map Viewer and JSAPI teams as well. 

[Jianxia]

@Geoeki , Thanks for letting us know your concerns. We are working on migrating WAB widgets over. For a new project, we would recommend using Experience Builder developer edition as the framework is ready for developers like you to wrap up Search, BaseMap Gallery, Edit widgets etc, from JSAPI 4. In addition, the product life cycle of JSAPI 3.x has been changed since last December. There is no longer a fixed retired date. The Web AppBuilder developer edition product life cycle has been changed accordingly.

[Jianxia]

@ccharping_patrickco, as ArcGIS Online has a new release date on April 13, the Experience Builder update is moved accordingly from March 30 to April 13 due to dependencies on JSAPI 4.x. The Query widget has support for exporting to CSV, GeoJSON, and JSON in the upcoming April update. Meanwhile, with the Table widget you can edit attributes in a row and export all or selected records.

[PhilLarkin1]

Here is another vote for Edit Widget.

[NaomiBegg]

I'd love to see a Search widget that is removeable from the map but can be placed elsewhere on the Experience Builder page.

A lot of our maps that our customers used are based off the idea of 'tell me how this affects my address'.  Therefore it would be awesome to have the search bar as the main feature at the top of the page, then below this the map respond to their search.

[JamieLambert]

@Jianxia  its great to see there is plenty of progress! It would be good to know which widgets wont be migrated. I like that there is new stuff being introduced, though there is already a lot of great stuff still to be pulled across from WAB... 

I would specifically like to hear more about the timing of some of the emergency response widgets - Situational Awareness and Emergency Response Guide. At the moment we are stuck with WAB and cant take advantage of some of the Map Viewer Beta functionality.

It would also be great to see the Batch Attribute Editor widget migrated (or an improvement on this widget included in Experience Builder). This adds a lot of value for bulk editing.

Thanks,

Jamie.

[RobertScheitlin__GISP]

@Jianxia 

I personally would love to see the Widget Controller remain visible when placed on the map in mobile view. Currently the only controller that remains visible in mobile view is the one in the header widget of the foldable theme. If you attempt to pace one on the map like the WAB onScreen widget place holders they will disappear when the app is in mobile view.

[NaomiBegg]

Will the coordinate conversion tool include more coordinate systems.  Because we are outside of the USA, the coordinate systems available in the current Web App Builder are useless to us.

[KevinGonzago]

@NaomiBegg Enhances were made to the WAB Coordinate Conversion widget in past releases to accommodate for capturing coordinates in various map coordinate systems. We took the same approach during development of the Coordinate Conversion widget in ExB. Which coordinate system to you mostly work in?

[TanGnar]

@KevinGonzago , @Jianxia 

I see Print on the list. Do you all know of a timeline for a print widget for exp builder?  Thanks!

[Jianxia]

@NaomiBegg Your request for the standalone Search widget has been submitted. 

[Jianxia]

@JamieLambert Even though Situational Awareness and Emergency Response Guide are not in the road map for 2021, your feedback is taken into account. As for the batch attribute editor, we may consolidate it into the Edit widget when applicable.

[TaupoDistrict_Council]

Hi @KevinGonzago 

In New Zealand our main coordinate system is NZTM New Zealand Transverse Mercator. 

Within our internal mapping system we currently have the ability to convert between NZTM, NZ Map Grid, WGS84 Lat-Long, WGS Decimal Degrees.

 

It would be great to be able to offer these to our external customers who use our webapp builder maps (Looking forward to rebuilding these in experience builder!).

An added bonus would be having the ability to add in even more localised coordinate systems which are more commonly used by designers in NZ.  I imagine this would be a massive job for an international tool though!

Thanks,

Naomi

[Grant-S-Carroll]

@TaupoDistrict_Council this is on our road map for LocalMaps with the switch to using Experience Builder. We have already had some requests for the use of local circuits, so we have this on our backlog to bring in to the application. 

I can't give you any firm timeframes on that yet, but we are actively working on it.

Cheers

Grant

[Jianxia]

@RobertScheitlin__GISP I can't reproduce the issue. The Widget Controller remains on the map in the mobile view when there are widgets in it. You may use the Custom button to resize and reposition it.

If you just want to have a placeholder and add the widget later, you may use the Placeholder widget.

[Jianxia]

@TanGnar We do not have time line for the Print widget yet.

[elpinguino]

Please add in relates to Map Viewer. It works in Classic and has a great interface in Field Maps mobile, but it's not in Map Viewer 😞 This is the main function the users are going to want to see when they're on their dashboards back at the desk.

[CraigShephard]

@Jianxia Our apps (built in WAB and published on AGOL) are no longer performing on mobile devices, the UX has degraded to such a point they are no longer usable.

We urgently need the edit / smart editor widget to rebuild and deploy under ExB to recover our UX. I've noted it's on the road map and flagged by others in this thread, can you provide a timeline?

Will we see this edit widget in ExB at UC? 🙏

Cheers, Craig.

[AlixVezina]

Hi @CraigShephard ,

Thank you for reaching out. Please would you be able to provide more details regarding the issues you are currently experiencing on mobile? Which applications are affected, and what are the issues you have observed? A description and some screenshots would be most helpful.

Thank you for helping us improve these tools!

[CraigShephard]

Hi @AlixVezina , have posted the issue on the WAB page here. Note that our WAB apps are working fine at desktop it's just on mobile (both Android and iOS) interacting / navigating the map is impossible. Can't touch the tools (+/-) to navigate in the map!

We love the performance of ExB (our dashboard is embedded in one and works amazing well), just need the widgets we rely upon in WAB to migrate across!

Happy to assist you further, Cheers, Craig.

[RodWoodfordOld]

Please add the infographics widget to the list and the nearme widget is an important one to our business as well.

[DouglasWilder]

We eagerly await the sketch widget for ExB! This widget will make the platform more usable for shared maps supporting park planning and operations. We look forward to incorporating it into the park service's Park Atlas. 

[Jianxia]

Hi @RodWoodfordOld, Chart widget will replace the Infographics widget in the future. Understand Chart now has limited functions. As for the Near Me widget, have you had the chance to check out the Near By template? If it does not fit your business, could you help articulate the reason?

[Jianxia]

Hi @DouglasWilder , thanks for letting us know.

[RodWoodfordOld]

Hi Jianxia,

Thanks for the reply. We use the NearMe widget extensively internally and externally. See link to our hub below for public access apps we have built. Dog exercises area App, playground App, etc. We also use the Infographics and some are available in the hub App link below.

City Maps Home Page (arcgis.com)

Hope this helps.

cheers

[Jianxia]

@RodWoodfordOld , thanks for sharing the link. I am impressed and touched by apps you have created. A great WAB gallery indeed 🙂  Will share it with the team.

[RodWoodfordOld]

Thanks Jianxia our goal is to migrate to EB as seamlessly as possible minimizing changes to our business and communities App workflows and expectations. All the best.

[TaupoDistrict_Council]

Hi @Jianxia 

Its great to see the March updates!

We appear to have the same issue as @CraigShephard that Mobile browsers are no longer coping with our main webapp builder app.

I'm trialing out a smaller EB version with people that have raised the mobile issue with us.  They have come back asking about measuring needs.  I don't see measuring mentioned in the above list.  Is this to be expected further down the list of priorities, or is it going to be contained within another widget such as the draw widget?

[RobertScheitlin__GISP]

@TaupoDistrict_Council There is a custom widget available already for measuring.

https://community.esri.com/t5/experience-builder-custom/measurement-widget-eb-1-4/ta-p/1062509

[Jianxia]

@TaupoDistrict_Council , the measurement tool is available on the map. Does that work for you? The standalone Measurement widget currently is not on the priority list yet.

[TaupoDistrict_Council]

Thanks @Jianxia 

That works for our current needs.

[TaupoDistrict_Council]

Awesome @RobertScheitlin__GISP 

We haven't reached into Developer Edition yet, but I hope to at some point.  I'll definitely be checking out your widgets then.

[Jianxia]

@CraigShephard and @TaupoDistrict_Council , for the WAB zoom in/out issue on mobile, @AlixVezina has submitted an issue. Looks like it is related to the point-cluster layer. We are looking into it and will keep you updated.