Enable Public Self-Registration for Emergency Shelter Guests

[JeremiahLindemann]

The Emergency Shelter Management solution includes a Registration Management app that allows shelter staff to check guests in as they arrive. This app also includes the ability to look up and check out guests, so it should not be shared publicly.

During large-scale incidents, shelter intake operations often become a critical bottleneck, requiring organizations to process high volumes of guests quickly while maintaining accurate records. Enabling streamlined, flexible registration workflows can significantly reduce wait times, improve the guest experience, and allow staff to focus on higher-priority response activities.

Some organizations have requested the ability for guests to self-register to help the registration process move faster during large-scale incidents. To support this need, you can extend the solution with a secure, public-facing Survey123 form that enables guests to self-register upon arrival while preserving data integrity and operational control. By configuring a survey with a QR code based on the GuestRegistrations hosted feature layer, guests can scan and submit their information upon entry. Shelter staff can then look up guests in the Registration Management app to update guest information or check out registered guests.

The following steps discuss how to create a secure, public-facing registration workflow within the Emergency Shelter Management solution. Note this only allows guests to check in at your shelter; shelter staff can still manage updates and check out guests as needed.

First, create a view for the public to add records that will not share any other information with other users.

1. Sign in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the GuestRegistrations hosted feature layer.
2. Click the Overview tab and click Create view layer > View layer.

Tip: You may need to click Show more button to see all options

1. On the Choose layers tab, leave both Registrant and GroupMembers checked and click Next.
2. On the Define view tab, click Next.
3. On the Create view tab, for Title enter GuestRegistrations_publicupdate.  Accept all other defaults and click Create.
4. The new GuestRegistrations_publicupdate item appears, click the Settings tab.
5. Check the box under Public data collection.
6. Under Editing options, check Enable editing.
7. Under Editing capabilities, uncheck Delete.
8. Click the options for Editors can’t see any features, even those they add.
9. Click Save.
10. In the URL of the item, copy the ID of the item to a text editor, which you will use later.

 

Next, you will create a survey that utilizes this view that can be shared with the public.

1. Start ArcGIS Survey123 Connect and sign in to your ArcGIS organization.
2. Click Guest Registrations to open the survey.
3. Click Files.
4. In Windows Explorer, copy the path to the survey.
5. In Survey123 Connect, in the upper left click the back button.
6. Click + New Survey.
7. For Title, type Public Guest Registration.
8. For Create a new survey from: choose File.
9. Click Select and browse to the path you copied earlier.
10. Select Intake survey.xlsx and choose Open.
11. Click Create survey.
12. The xlsx for opens.  Change the values of A37 and A43 to hidden.
13. Save the xlsx form and close it.
14. In Survey123 Connect, click Publish.
15. Open ArcGIS Online, click the Apps button  in the header of the site and click Survey123.
16. Click the Public Guest Registration survey.
17. Click the Collaborate tab.
18. Click Show the QR Code that you can use to share with the public.
19. For Who can submit to this survey? Choose Everyone (public).
20. Click Save.

While this process may help with large scale guest registrations, using shelter staff to register guests will likely provide a more accurate way to manage guest registrations.