Initiatives to Sites – change management FAQ
All previously created initiatives in Hub Premium will now be accessible as sites.
Hub Premium capabilities – like following and events – can be managed in the corresponding site workspace.
When: As of July 2nd, when Initiatives were re-introduced with additional functionality for Hub Premium users.
Why: ArcGIS Hub is introducing a reimagined version of 'Initiatives' that will allow organizations to effectively monitor their progress towards long-term objectives. Separating sites and initiatives will help distinguish a website (with URL, theme and brand
ing, drag-and-drop layout, and a search catalog) from a way to track and provide updates around high-level goals.
Who: This modification will only apply to Hub Premium subscriptions.
How: Hub premium customers do not need to act, as ArcGIS Hub will handle the transformation of existing initiatives to site. However, customers can tidy up their ArcGIS Online environment to align with the new change.
Find more information below.
Q: What new functionality has been introduced to Hub Initiatives?
A: Hub initiatives are now stand-alone items in ArcGIS Hub and ArcGIS Online, which allow you to organize large-scale efforts within your organization and across partnered organizations. Hub initiatives have a unique live view that can provide context on the goals of the work, show where things are happening on a broad map, and measure progress using metrics. Hub initiatives can organize Hub projects, which have a narrower scope or location, through two-way associations. Initiatives can be featured on one or multiple sites that highlight the initiative’s work (either through a gallery card on the site layout, in the site’s header, or by being shared to a group that feeds the site’s content catalog).
Q: How are two-way associations managed?
A: Hub initiatives and Hub projects that serve the same goals can request, review, and approve association requests from one another within their workspaces. The editor of a Hub Initiative can set up an association group within initiative workspace to oversee and manage associations with Hub Projects; and they can bring in others as group managers to help. Hub Project editors manage associations with Hub Initiatives from project workspace.
Q: What happens when Hub Initiatives and Hub Projects are associated?
A: Once both sides approve association, fully associated Hub Projects will appear on the initiative’s view and fully associated Hub Initiatives will appear on the project’s view. If the initiative has selected to display a map as its Hero element (configured during creation or on the Details pane of initiative workspace), the locations of fully associated Hub Projects will appear on that map. This allows visitors to spatially browse the projects that contribute to the initiative’s success.
Q: How do I try the re-introduced version of Hub Initiatives?
A: You must opt in to workspaces, a new management experience in Hub, to use the re-introduced version of Hub Initiatives. You can opt in at any time by selecting Settings from your user profile menu and selecting the button to enable workspaces.
Once opted in, site managers can create and manage initiatives within their sites. To create an initiative, log in to your live Hub site, select the New menu and Initiative.
Q: What other changes will I see in my Hub ecosystem?
A: Following changes will be observed:
- Instead of creating and managing previously created initiatives in Hub Premium, you'll be working on sites
- Initiative pane on Hub overview will be rebranded as ‘Site.’
- Any existing references to initiative items, such as in events, will automatically redirect to the corresponding site item.
Q: How does this transformation affect ‘following’ on my site?
A: While most changes will be automatic, some require your action:
- Followers groups will be linked to sites automatically.
- Follow cards will be swapped from referencing the initiative item to the site item if the follow card is linked to the site's corresponding initiative (this goes for pages, too; the swap will happen if the follow card references the site's corresponding initiative).
- Follow cards referencing any other initiative will continue to work. However, we suggest manually swapping these cards to reference those sites instead so that the initiatives can be safely deleted.
Q: How does this transformation affect ‘events’ on my site?
- Events will be linked to their corresponding sites instead of initiatives.
- Upcoming events cards will continue to reference initiatives; and may still work if the initiative is deleted. However, we'd suggest swapping references to corresponding sites.
Q: Will there be any changes to my existing initiatives?
A: All content shared to the content library or search catalog will not be removed or affected by the transformation. The content will continue to appear on site and page layouts as before.
Q: Will I lose any content I currently have in Hub?
A: No, there will be no changes or loss of information in any of your existing items and their corresponding groups.
Q: Can I continue to build and manage my previous initiatives the same way?
A: Currently, you can create a Site in Hub, which was previously referred to as an initiative. The process of creating and managing a Site will remain unchanged, and you will not notice any differences in the experience.
Q: What changes can I observe in my Content and Groups in ArcGIS Online?
A: There will no longer be automatic creation of an initiative item when you create a new site, resulting in less content to sift through in ArcGIS Online!
Q: How do I tell my Basic and Premium Sites apart?
A: Premium sites will retain the same features and functionality as they had previously in an initiative. Premium sites can utilize events, projects, community identities, and other capabilities that are not available in the basic version.
Q: How do I know I have a Premium subscription in Hub?
A: The Hub overview now includes a badge that indicates whether you have a Premium subscription.
Q: Are there any changes to ‘Follow’ experience I need to alert my community members about?
A: You will not lose any of your followers because of this change. Community members can continue to follow your site as before. You can manage your followers in the site’s workspace.
Q: What actions can I take?
A: While ArcGIS Hub will automatically make all the changes mentioned above, Premium users will have the opportunity to declutter their ArcGIS Online Content by deleting old initiative items.
Q: How do I delete my old initiative items without accidentally deleting the wrong item?
A: The Hub team will provide a link to a pre-filtered list of initiative items for easy deletion. Admins and initiative owners can access this link from the Hub overview or their user profile. If you have opted into workspaces, you will see a link to manage old initiative items from Hub Overview and from your user settings in Hub. This link will be pre-filtered to only show old initiative items.
Q: What happens to my site when I delete the associated initiative item?
A: Deleting the corresponding initiative item will not have any adverse effects on the site. In cases where the Initiative item ID has been used or referenced, we will be provided with an option to select a new Site to add or reference.
Q: What would happen if I chose not to delete my existing initiative items?
A: If you or your organization choose not to delete the existing initiative items, there will be no adverse effects or changes to the way your Sites function.
Q: How long do I have to take the delete action?
A: You will have access to a pre-filtered link within Hub for 8 weeks (about 2 months). After this period, you can find and delete old initiative items in ArcGIS Online by searching for type: "Hub Initiative" & !typekeywords: "hubInitiativeV2"
As you start using redefined initiatives, we welcome questions and ideas. Reach out to us on the ArcGIS Hub Community page. Learn about new features such as redefined initiatives by signing up for the ArcGIS Hub e-newsletter.