How to restrict the number of basemaps in the basemap widget.

[RobertBuckley1]

Having the basemap widget in the map is obviously a great thing to have. But I really need to be able to optionally reduce the number of basemaps shown. Some of my users only need 2-3 at most. The list is far too long and irritates users as it costs time and effort to sift through the options. Let this be the administrators job instead of the users job!

Is there maybe a hack to restrict this somewhere?

[jcarlson]

Not a hack, but a built-in setting! By creating your own "basemap" group, you can winnow that list down to just the essentials, and even add new ones to it not in the list of default basemaps.

[MichaelVolz]

Josh:

Is this an all or nothing solution where you have changed the basemap available to all users throughout your organization?  What if different depts want a different list of basemaps available in their apps?

[jcarlson]

Not at all! While sharing a map to the basemap gallery group makes it available to the basemap widget, the visibility of an individual map depends upon that map's sharing settings.

Consider my 2003 Imagery basemap. It's in the basemap group, but is not shared publicly. When logged in:

When not logged in:

Of course, you may only want the gallery to appear differently for different users, but not necessarily restrict access to those basemaps. In that case, you're out of luck. Mostly.

The Web App Builder's Basemap widget does let you define a custom list of basemaps per app. But otherwise, it's based on the basemap group and each item's sharing settings.