Creating a web map in ArcGIS Pro vs. ArcGIS Online

[SarahSienaert]

I am an ArcGIS for Desktop user who is trying to come up to speed with ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online. I want to use an ArcGIS for Personal Use license to create maps of a personal (non-commercial) nature and share the maps with non-users of ArcGIS. In order to achieve this I know I need to create a web map, however I am unsure whether I should create a map in ArcGIS Pro and use ArcGIS Online to share the map, or whether I should create and share the map using ArcGIS Online only. I am struggling to find information on the key differences in functionality for web map creation between ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online. For those that are experienced in web map creation, do you create and share your maps using ArcGIS Online only, or do you create your maps in ArcGIS Pro and use ArcGIS Online to share the map?

[Egge-Jan_Pollé · Accepted solution]

Hi Sarah Sienaert‌,

I would say: you use ArcGIS Pro to prepare and publish your data and you use ArcGIS Online to author the actual web map.

Did you already have a look at these links below?

• Web maps—ArcGIS Online Help | ArcGIS 
• Get started with maps—ArcGIS Online Help | ArcGIS 

Advanced exercise (challenge):

After creating your web map you may want to login to ArcGIS Online Assistant to have a look at a JSON representation of the map. This comes in handy if you want to modify the map.

HTH,

Egge-Jan

[SarahSienaert]

Hi Egge-Jan,

Thank you for your reply, that's helpful. So if I've understood you correctly, I should use ArcGIS Pro to compile data, perform spatial analyses, and publish my map, then I should use ArcGIS Online to add interactive features to my map and to share it with others. That seems clear now - thank you.

Sarah