Add Data Widget - Add Option to change symbology

[SteveCole]

With the Add Data widget, I would like to see the option to change the symbology of the layer that is created when adding data using the Add Data widget. I've built an EB app that allows people to make their own geoPDFs for use in the field while doing groundtruthing. These maps typically include a raster of canopy height or perhaps an aerial photo. If someone adds a shapefile or KML file of polygons, those polygons will have a fill by default which will obscure the raster information that is important.

At the very least, I would like options to change polygons from solid to transparent fills as well as changing the color of polygon outlines.

[BobLoblaw]

I am also highly interested in this functionality.

The current Add Data widget allows to add new layers to the map by importing Geojson files which in my case adds points and polylines feature layers to the map however these features symbology are defaulted to orange points and orange lines and symbologies and are not editable via the Edit widget or any other way in ExB.

I have tested changing the symbology separately in the feature layer viewer and updated symbology is indeed reflected in the Experience Builder view. The updated line color and thickness and point icon and size which are from our company custom 2D web style group so we would need access to this group defined in our Settings as well. This test means that ExB can indeed already handle updated symbology but does not offer any ability to make these symbology updates from within ExB. Only the level of transparency can be changed today. We are very close to what we need and it seems that ExB is already halfway there!

This is an issue for my end users and makes my whole ExB solution unusable just because of that one issue.

I have logged this request for enhancement with the Esri team about a year ago now but it has been "Under Consideration" since then. Enhancement logged under reference ENH-000163386.

Any update on this from the Esri team would be highly appreciated.

[BobLoblaw]

Update on my previous post.

The related ENH-000163386 enhancement request has now changed from "Under Consideration" status to "In Product Plan" status with the following mention: "This issue has been added to the backlog, to be addressed in a near-term release".

This looks like a positive development to see this great feature added.

Could anybody at Esri or ExB product team clarify what specific capabilities are being worked on and what release (and when) we may see it implemented? I don't see it in the ExB 2025 Roadmap post.

Thank you very much for the hard work on this, more clarity on tentative timeline would help us plan for it.

[NateMurry]

Greetings Bob:

I am also interested in the functionality.  How are you going about the test you mentioned above, such that you are modifying symbology in the 'feature layer viewer' and the change is reflected in ExB?  I couldn't quickly find a way to do this, (unless familiar operations are termed differently that I am expecting).  Thanks.

--Nate

[BobLoblaw]

Hi Nate,

I misspoke as it’s in the “visualization” tab of the feature layer that I change the points and lines symbology to further test ExB rendering capability.

Here is how I proceed in my case: 

in Argis Online I create a new item, select a geojson file with my points and lines data, select “import and create a hosted feature layer” option, once it’s loaded I end up on the new hosted feature layer item page, I go in the “Visualization” tab (top right), there I go in the layers and change the points and lines styles to change points and lines coloring, then I save the hosted feature layer item (top left).

Once that’s done I go to my Experience Builder and use the “add data” widget that I have to add that layer from “My content”. The new Colors and Styles of the line and points that I updated before displays correctly and no longer in the default orange coloring.

Experience builder can display that if you modify the styles externally in the hosted feature layer but as of today you can’t simply give the “add data” widget a geojson file and change the resulting points and lines styles from within ExB.

I am being told that the enhancement to make this possible is coming in the late June 2025 update of Experience Builder. This enhancement is also listed here in the right columns bullet point #4 of the summary:

https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-experience-builder-blog/what-s-coming-in-arcgis-experience-buil...

Hoping that this update will allow us to do exactly that in a simple manner within ExB.

Thanks.