Introducing Public Notification (Beta)
The Public Notification (Beta) template is a new Instant Apps template that allows users to create a list of selected features that they can export as a .csv or .pdf file. The app template also includes theme settings and a basic set of navigation tools to explore the map, such as zoom tools, a legend, the layer list for changing layer visibility, and a basemap switcher.
Use this app to export lists of addresses or contact information for people or places to notify the public about important updates such as road closures or policy changes. Here are two potential use cases:
- Export structured mailing labels. For example, a city needs to alert residents about an upcoming road closure, and they need to identify people living within 2 miles of that segment of road that will be closed.
- Generate an organized list of features within a boundary. For example, a property owner wants to generate a list of occupants throughout their properties. That property owner could use building features to notify occupants that are within or intersect the boundary.
Use Public Notification
To generate lists of features to export, an addressee layer must be defined. The pop-ups of the features in the addressee layer are used in the exported .csv or .pdf file. Once the layer is defined, a user can start selecting features to include in a list.
There are two methods for selecting features to add to lists in Public Notification: search and sketch.
- Search uses the search widget in the panel where users can enter addresses or points of interest. Once a location is returned, they can create a search radius using miles, kilometers, meters, and feet to add features within the buffer.
- Sketch uses a basic set of drawing tools for drawing a point, line, rectangle, or polygon. The drawn graphics are used to select features from the addressee layer that intersect.
Among the sketch tools, there is also an option to use layer features. This allows for features from another layer in the map to be used to select intersecting features from the addressee layer. For example, this option could be used to export all the addresses within a school district.
To export the lists of features that are created in the app, use the Download PDF or Download CSV buttons at the top of the app panel. If there are multiple lists, users can choose which lists to include in the export and remove duplicate addresses if the same feature exists in the lists.
If the goal is to export mailing labels, users can choose a label layout prior to exporting lists to PDF. You must confirm that the pop-up configuration for the addressee layer is set up like a mailing label would be (full address, city, state, postal code, and so on).
Like other Instant Apps templates, Public Notification has more configurable tools and options, such as bookmarks and navigation boundary. With the theme settings, you can change the look of the app by updating the font and colors used. Choose light or dark mode, select a preset color scheme, or customize your own. You can also add a logo in the header next to the app title.
Try it out
We appreciate your feedback so we can continue improving our templates. Comment below or use the ArcGIS Instant Apps Ideas page. Explore the Public Notification (Beta) sample app in ArcGIS Online or create your own app.