File management between online and desktop ArcGIS

[KaraG]

Hi everyone, I have a feature class containing about 120 polygons. Many of these polygons are likely to change in the future, so I'm using ArcGIS Pro to edit them. However, I also need to share them in a web map and an Experience Builder app for the public to see how they are changing. Furthermore, for one thing that I need to do, it seems like the best option is to create individual shapefiles of each polygon in ArcGIS Pro, share them as web layers on AGOL, and then add them all to a group layer in my web map. My question is what is the most efficient way to manage all of these versions/platforms (or just tips for doing so)? When I edit the layer in ArcGIS Pro, I know I can overwrite the existing web layer, but that means it will also overwrite any custom popups, transparencies, etc., on the web layer? Is there a way to do this that doesn't also remove everything I've customized on the AGOL version? And then is there a way to somehow have the individual polygon shapefiles linked to the original layer so that changes I make in the original also appear in the individual shapefile? Please advise. File management is one of my weaknesses! 

[AndreasHall]

Make the layer (or layers) in Online your master data and edit them from Pro when you need to edit. Nothing will be overwritten and all the changes will be immediately available in Online. With this workflow you might want to consider to download backups, that are stored locally, at regular intervals.

[RichardHowe]

Edit them in place live using Pro. In your catalog pane in Pro, click on the portal heading at the top and you can access all hosted feature layers in your portal, drag them into your Pro session and edit just like you would local data

[bbollin · Accepted solution]

Hi @KaraG, like @AndreasHall mentioned publishing the feature classes to ArcGIS Online will give you a much easier time managing your data and swapping between online and desktop. I wanted to lay out a few options for you.

Store in Online and edit in Pro

Once you publish your hosted feature layers, you can still access and edit them in ArcGIS Pro. To do that, simply click the "Portal" tab on the contents pane, add to map, and save the changes back to the hosted feature layer. This video should demonstrate how to do so: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHD5BrZx7Oc

Save feature layer configurations

You also mentioned wanting to be able to save configurations on your layers/sublayers. If you want to avoid having to reconfigure it again and again,  you can do this by going to the layer's overflow menu in Map Viewer and clicking "Save." Popups, symbology, forms, etc will all be saved to that feature layer item so any time you bring it into a map you'll have the same starting point!

You can then bring it into a new map and make any changes and save to the map itself. This allows you to override the feature layer's saved settings on a map by map basis


Updating data

Another option for data management I wanted to throw out was the ability to update your data from ArcGIS Online. This blog walks through examples and use cases: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-online/data-management/updating-data-in-arcgis-onli...