Add Split/Merge/Circle/Copy in Edit Widget

[Marokapara]

Hi there,

We'd really like to see some of the Smart Editor widget and Edit widget from WebApp Builder brought into Experience Builder. We're working with farmers to enable them to map their current farm layouts and then plan what it could look like over the next 30 years.

It's cumbersome to have to redraw/adjust the layout multiple times. If we could get them to copy what's already been made and then split or merge polygons from there, that would save a lot of time for them and make our product more appealing to use, especially for these users who are not GIS people. These features are usable in WAB, but they don't have the conditional visibility at the level we need that ExB has.

In addition, the ability to draw a circle out right via the Edit Widget in ExB would be a game changer for them as their are lots of pivots on farms!

This takes 8 clicks in ExB to draw, and it still isn't exactly what we want.

In WAB's Edit widget, this takes only 1 click and it's perfect (geometry wise)! Attribute conditional visibility is missing though.

Please consider adding in these improvements. It would definitely up the usability of the Edit widget in Experience Builder! If we could hide feature to feature and geometry guides from the user, but have it turned on from the back end, that would be great too.

[AlixVezina]

@Marokapara  The Circle drawing tool is coming this February release (planned for end of the month), so you can create circular features.

[TomasDeLeus]

That would be great!

[MichaelTorbett]

Just checking for an update. Has anyone heard when these enhancements will be included in ExB?

Thanks,

Michael

[Miralem_Zeljo]

Why are we going backwards? This was available in Web App Builder. It is really hard to provide consistent service to our clients when capabilities are being restricted as we go further in time. Esri please give us some answers why is this happening?

[Miralem_Zeljo]

Could you please clarify how many more updates or periods of downtime are expected before the tools we previously had in Web AppBuilder become fully available to mobile workers and editors? We greatly appreciate the improvements, but ensuring feature parity is important for our workflows.

[AbiDhakal]

Thank you for the great work you all do. Please make sure it has add, split, merge, autocomplete. Autocomplete is utterly important.

Thank you,
Abi

[AbiDhakal]

After such a long wait and so much anticipation, it's incredibly disappointing to see the direction Esri has taken.

To promote the new Web Editor application, Esri has chosen to restrict basic editing capabilities that were once available through the Edit widget in Web AppBuilder. This functionality that countless loyal users, including those supporting public-facing applications, have relied on for years. We were doing quite well with what existed.

Removing or withholding such a fundamental feature from Experience Builder feels not only unnecessary but like a calculated move to drive users toward a paid solution. This decision comes across as short-sighted, cutthroat, and deeply disheartening. The fact that the original Edit widget still functions in Web AppBuilder, yet remains absent in Experience Builder, only adds to the frustration felt by long-standing users.

Worse still, this is happening at the expense of usability and workflow efficiency. GIS professionals and end users once enjoyed a user-friendly, streamlined editing experience in Web AppBuilder. Now, for the sake of licensing, that tool has not only been downgraded in Experience Builder; it has been moved entirely to a separate Web Editor application, further complicating workflows and causing unnecessary disruption.

Despite repeated concerns voiced throughout the Esri Community, it seems those voices have not been heard. What was once a core, inclusive capability is now gated behind licensing, effectively betraying the trust of honest, loyal, lifelong users who simply need to perform basic edits in the modern web environment Esri is requiring us to transition into.

Esri and its users have long enjoyed a very symbiotic ecosystem, where Esri provides the capabilities, and users contribute honest, thoughtful feedback. In tandem, we have improved and learned from one another. Let us keep it that way and make this a selfless pursuit of capabilities that help the science of geography thrive.

Esri is, of course, free to innovate and promote the new Web Editor as a premium offering. But we strongly urge you to also restore the original Edit widget, with its full capabilities, within Experience Builder, and make it available across user types, especially for Creators and Mobile Workers.

This is not just a feature request. It is a plea from a dedicated community that has supported Esri for decades and now feels disregarded.

Please do the right thing. Restore this essential functionality where it belongs.

Thank you,
Abi

[Jianxia]

@AbiDhakal and all,  we highly evaluate your feedback and are taking actions. The following advanced editing tools are planned to be included in Experience Builder:

• Split (Cut) & Merge tools in ArcGIS Online Q4 2025, ArcGIS Enterprise 12.1
• Copy & Paste features in ArcGIS Online Q1 2026, ArcGIS Enterprise 12.1
• Reshape & AutoComplete tools in ArcGIS Online Q2 2026, ArcGIS Enterprise version after 12.1

The user types for utilizing these tools in Experience Builder is the same as Web AppBuilder. We will post an update on the road map to complete WAB planned parity features. We heard from you and greatly appreciate your effort to communicate with us!

[AbiDhakal]

@Jianxia 

Thank you for the update! The community and I sincerely appreciate you and are grateful for everything you do to make our work easier and more effective.

As we look ahead, it remains essential that all core capabilities are fully supported in Experience Builder before Web AppBuilder is phased out in future releases of ArcGIS Enterprise. Keeping Web AppBuilder accessible while Experience Builder continues to mature, particularly during the period where capability alignment is still being reached, will ensure a smooth and low-risk transition. Even after full feature match is achieved, allowing at least an additional year as a buffer would provide organizations like ours the time and confidence needed to migrate our applications without disruption. It simply would not be feasible to retire Web AppBuilder the moment Experience Builder catches up on paper.

As we pay close attention to the upcoming release of Advanced Editing widget in Q4 for ArcGIS Online, we hope that it will bring us closer to the editing capabilities we currently rely on in Web AppBuilder. Ensuring that Web AppBuilder apps remain accessible, particularly with the release of ArcGIS Enterprise 12.0 and 12.1, and potentially for some time beyond, is so vital. If Web AppBuilder were to be fully removed with these versions, it would place organizations like ours in a difficult position. We respectfully ask that Esri consider that we may not be able to transition at the same pace.

Should that situation arise, we hope Esri will consider providing a patch to backport the Advanced Editing widget to older versions of ArcGIS Enterprise allowing it to be available alongside Web AppBuilder. Without such a transition window, the shift could introduce considerable operational challenges for our teams and for the public users who rely on our applications every day.

Respectfully,
Abi