ArcGIS Online Group Question: Content Visibility

[BrandonKeinath1]

We're trying to track down some interesting behavior in our ArcGIS online organization.  The first is related to content shared with the featured apps group.  I recently added a new user, Cosmo Jr‌, to our organization without adding him into any groups.  Our featured apps group is visible on the home page of the organization and I told him that content wouldn't work for him until I added him into some groups.  But clicking the content loaded everything up just fine.  Is this the expected behavior of the featured apps group?  My concern would be apps accidentally being shared with the feature apps group and it overriding group based security.

Similarly I'm wondering about the expected behavior of "sharing with the organization".  I have some anecdotal evidence from another of our organizational account users that doing that cause the content to not be visible to anyone except the user who shares it.

[JakeSkinner]

Hi Brandon,

Check to see if the data shared with the Featured Apps group is also shared with the Organization.  If it is, the user Cosmo Jr will be able to access it.  Sharing data with the Organization will allow anyone to discover this data by performing a search in the Organization.

[BrandonKeinath1]

Hi Jake,

The content was shared with everyone (public) so it makes sense to me why Cosmo Jr would have been able to see it.  But when I share with the organization the content is no longer visible to anyone.  I haven't checked on the sharing with any groups.  Does sharing with the organization only make the content discover-able via search and not just in the list of items in the group?

-Brandon

[JakeSkinner · Accepted solution]

Yes, sharing with the Organization will only allow the content to be discoverable via a search.  If you want the data to be available within a specific group, you will need to also share the data with that particular group. 

[BrandonKeinath1]

Thanks Josh!  I appreciate the help and information.

[KendellRyan]

I have added an item (layer) to my content (as an administrator) and shared it with the organization. However when a user (within our organization) searches, the item does not show up.  I wanted to avoid having to create a group (yet another step) for these layers that I wanted everyone in our organization to be able to search and add to a map.  What am I missing?

[Reynaldde_Castro]

Did you check to see if that user is part of the group you have it shared with?  Are they searching within your organization?

[KendellRyan]

I didn't share it with a group, I was hoping that by sharing it with the organization i wouldn't have to put the item in a group.  We want to add in many layers and have them accessible to anyone within the organization. If we have to also add those items to a group that adds one more step (to invite everyone in the organization to that group).  What is the point of having the option to share an item with the organization if you still have to share it with a group? 

[KendellRyan]

So it seems it was the item type, not the sharing type. I added a layer file (lyr).  I guess you can add them but they aren't really supported.  The sharing with organization worked fine when I shared a feature service.

[MikeMinami]

Desktop items are excluded from search results by default, unless you check the box that says "Show ArcGIS desktop content" on the left side in the search results. Once checked, it will remain until you clear your browser cache, I believe.

Thanks,

Mike