Layer package doesn't maintain symbology, and I can't change the symbology.

[AvaFarouche]

Greetings,

I created a Layer Package in Pro and shared it to my content, and then added it to a preexisting AGOL map. 

It added to my map - but the symbology I created in Pro was not maintained. No big deal, I can at least change the color to distinguish it from another point layer, right? No. I get this when I try to edit the style:

I've changed symbology and color in AGOL countless times, I just did it in one of the other layers in the same map w/no problem. But with this particular layer, it will not allow me to select any of the other color options or to create a new one.

I tried just adding the layer as a shapefile and I get the same result. I can't change the color. I can change it to another shape or symbol, but I don't want to do that. What am I doing wrong?

Thank you for any advice you can offer!!

[Teri_Dane]

In my experience, the way to keep the symbology you selected in ArcGIS Pro to show in AGOL is to publish the layer from Pro. AGOL does not always have the same symbology as Pro if you upload a shapefile. 

[CodyPatterson]

Hey @AvaFarouche 

I agree with Teri, you may have better luck publishing the layer itself as a web layer instead of a layer package, I've never had luck with symbology sticking in a layer package, use this here:

Cody

[AvaFarouche]

Thanks for chiming in! So, that was what I would have liked to do, and what I tried in the first place, but that publishes the whole map as a web layer, as opposed to just the one layer I'm interested in. Maybe I'm missing something obvious there, but I couldn't figure out a way to get it to just publish the one or two layers. I guess I just need to put the one or two layers I'm interested in in their own map and publish that as web layer.

Or I guess I can Overwrite Web Layer with all of the layers together. It just gets complicated, as I perform additional analyses and whatnot I get extra layers in the map that I don't necessarily want to publish online, but I don't want to remove them from the map either, because I want to be able to continue to work with them or check things, etc. And then I end up saving these multiple versions of Pro maps, so some are all pretty and public-facing and others are messier and allow me to see my work, etc. I'd like to just be able to select the specific layers I want to publish as Web Layer but I haven't figured that out.

[CodyPatterson · Accepted solution]

Hey @AvaFarouche 

It definitely is an option to publish one at a time if you move the layer temporarily into a different map, I've done that in the past to separate the layers. I'm curious if it would be possible to publish all if it's a small amount, and add the entire group to a map and remove the ones you wouldn't want from that map?

From what I've seen as well, if there's layer you're not wanting to publish, as long as they're present in the local GDB or EGDB then those can be right clicked and removed to be stored back in the GDB for the time until publishing is completed. Also, you can try this here:

If you right click on the layer in the map, go to sharing, and then share as web layer, you should be able to publish just one:

Cody

[AvaFarouche]

Thanks Cody and Teri!

Well, the problem was that I am an idiot and I was missing something obvious!!! I know I had looked at the right click options from the specific layers I wanted to publish before, and yet somehow I missed seeing it as an option there. I kept trying to do it from the Sharing ribbon at the top of the app. Thanks to you both!!!

I have developed a little system now of having a "publish" map version and a "draft" map version. If I have them both open at the same time, then I can easily move layers back and forth as needed and know that I'm using the correct layer version in the publish map, etc. Then I can keep all of my working layers in the "draft," and add or remove layers from the "publish."

[Teri_Dane · Accepted solution]

Hi @AvaFarouche, 

In your Arc Pro map, right-click on the layer you want to publish. Go to Sharing, then Share As Web Layer.

This will open the geoprocessing tool where you can give it a Name, Summary, Tags, Categories, specify the Layer Type, where to store it on AGOL, and the Sharing Level if you want others in your organization to see it. 

Once it's published, you can bring that layer back into your Arc Pro and make edits to the data without needing to republish. 

This is how I have created layers in a web map with the specific symbology I wanted, then updated that data. 

[AvaFarouche]

Thanks Cody and Teri!

Well, the problem was that I am an idiot and I was missing something obvious!!! I know I had looked at the right click options from the specific layers I wanted to publish before, and yet somehow I missed seeing it as an option there. I kept trying to do it from the Sharing ribbon at the top of the app. Thanks to you both!!!

[Teri_Dane]

You are welcome!