Share public surveys with ArcGIS Survey123 and ArcGIS Instant Apps

CoreyJMartz

Introduction: Engage the public to fill out a survey

Public data collection depends on information contributed by the public, whether for disaster response, citizen science, community engagement, or other crowdsourcing efforts. Surveys are one way to collect information with volunteers, citizen scientists, community members, and other public participants. However, a public audience brings a wide range of technical experience. Other challenges of public participation include securing the information participants share, without adding barriers to the survey like requiring participants to download apps, create new accounts, and sign in. With ArcGIS Survey123, we can make it easy for public participants to fill out a form-centric survey directly in a browser, and we can share public, map-centric surveys using ArcGIS Instant Apps—no app, no account, no sign-in necessary.

Discussion: Share a form-centric public survey with Survey123

Survey123 is a tool for creating and sharing form-centric surveys where respondents enter location and other information into a form. Public surveys are a built-in capability of Survey123, so sharing a survey with the public is easy and getting started with public surveys is well documented. To share a published survey in the Survey123 Web Designer, we go to Collaborate, then Share survey, and under "Who can submit to this survey?" we select Everyone (public). Once it is set up for anyone to access the survey with no account or sign-in, under Share this survey, we choose how anyone can access it, directly in an online browser or from the Survey123 field app, which also supports offline use. We can disseminate a public survey with a link and QR code, or embed it in a website.

While the survey is public, we usually want to keep the data private. You can read more about securing data in public surveys. Basically, we want everyone to access the survey to submit data, but not to access all the underlying survey data, which Survey123 is designed to do by default. Best practice is to configure a survey’s sharing in the Survey123 Web Designer, rather than in the ArcGIS Online or Enterprise portal, to avoid accidentally exposing the survey data. To configure secure sharing in the Survey123 Web Designer, leave the default setting for “What can submitters do?” to Only add new records. As a result, it is not possible for the public to query, update, delete, or download the survey data through the Survey123 browser-based or field apps, nor is access possible from other Esri apps, third party apps, or programmatic access.

Now the survey data are secure, but sometimes we want certain people to have access to the survey results. We control “Who can view results of this survey?” by going to Share results and selecting whether Everyone (public), Members of my organization, or members of the following groups (chosen from existing groups) are able to access the survey data. We can also control whether viewers can see all records or just records they submitted, and whether they can export survey data or view only. That wraps up some of the basics of sharing and securing public surveys with Survey123 but be sure to check out the documentation for more on limiting access to public Survey123 responses.

Sharing options in the Survey123 Web Designer.

Tutorial: Configure a map-centric public survey with Instant Apps

In some cases, we may want to administer a map-centric public survey for respondents to enter location and other information on a map, rather than in a form. ArcGIS Field Maps is the ArcGIS Field App for capturing data in a map-centric interface. Field Maps requires downloading an app and signing in to an ArcGIS account with a certain level of licensing—important requirements for many data collection workflows (e.g., offline data collection, editor tracking). But app downloads and account sign-ins can present barriers to public participation. Moreover, many volunteers, citizen scientists, community members, and other public participants do not already have the required ArcGIS accounts.

While there is a way to unlock public access to Field Maps with ArcGIS Hub Premium, Instant Apps offers an alternative option for administering map-centric public surveys with no app, no account, and no sign-in necessary. Instant Apps is a tool for quickly creating and sharing web apps for users to interact with maps and data in different ways. Like Survey123, the Instant Apps Sidebar template supports public participants to enter information in a browser-based interface without signing in to an ArcGIS account. And like Field Maps, the Instant Apps Sidebar template supports entering information on a map—that is, drawing a point, line, or polygon on a map, then adding comments, photos, and other information associated with the feature in a form that appears alongside the map. In what follows, we walk through steps to set up a map-centric public survey with the Instant Apps Sidebar template. We will act as a local government parks department collecting field notes with the public about what is valued and what needs improvement in city parks.

Create folder

Go to arcgis.com and sign in. Here are system and account requirements for creating apps with Instant Apps.
Go to Content and select Create folder. Under Folder name, type Field Notes [Your Initials] and click Save.

Create feature layer

From Content, select New item, and select Feature layer.
Select Use a template and click Next.
Search for “field notes,” select the Field Notes template, and click Next.

Field Notes feature layer template.

For Layer details, accept the default configuration and click Next.
For Options, accept the default configuration and click Next.
Add a title: Field Notes [Your Initials]. Under Folder, select the Field Notes [Your Initials] folder. Add tags if desired and under Summary, delete the existing text and type: “Layer for capturing field notes about what is valued and what needs improvement in city parks.” Click Save.
Once the feature layer is created, go to the Settings tab, and under Feature layer (hosted) and Editing options, ensure that Enable editing is toggled on, toggle on Keep track of who edited the data (editor name, date and time), and leave the rest of the settings in the default configuration. Click Save.

Editing settings for the Field Notes feature layer.

Create view layer for public data collection

If necessary, go to Content and the Field Notes [Your Initials] folder, go to the Field Notes [Your Initials] layer, select the three dots, and click View details.
In the Overview tab, on the right under Open in Map Viewer, select the Show more down arrow, if necessary. Select Create view layer. Choose the View layer option.
For Choose layers, accept the default and click Next.
For Define view (optional), accept the default and click Next.
For Create view, change the title to Field Notes [Your Initials]_public.
Under Folder, select the Field Notes [Your Initials] folder. Add tags if desired and under Summary, delete the existing text and type: “Public data collection layer for capturing field notes about what is valued and what needs improvement in city parks.” Click Create.
- Note: It is best practice when doing public data collection to create a hosted feature layer view of the source hosted feature layer. That allows us to configure the feature layer view to securely share with the public to collect data while keeping the source feature layer private.
Once the view layer is created, go to the Settings tab. Under General and Public data collection toggle on the switch to Approve this layer to be shared with the public when editing is enabled.
Under Feature layer (hosted, view) and Editing options, toggle on the switch to Enable editing.
Go to Editing capabilities and "What kind of editing is allowed?" Ensure that Add is toggled on, then toggle off the switches for Delete and Update.
- Note: This is best practice when configuring a public survey to secure the data. Limiting respondents to only add new records keeps the survey data private so that survey respondents cannot update or delete the responses of other respondents (or their own responses), and so that it is not possible for anonymous users in the public domain to query, update, delete, or download the survey data.

Editing settings for the Field Notes feature layer view.

Under "What features can editors see?" select Editors can only see their own features (requires editor tracking) so survey respondents cannot see the responses of others. Under "What access do anonymous editors (not signed) in have?" select Only add new features, if allowed above (requires editor tracking). Click Save.

Additional editing settings for the Field Notes feature layer view.

Create view layer for sharing results from public data collection

Go to Content and the Field Notes [Your Initials] folder, go to the Field Notes [Your Initials] layer, select the three dots, and click View details.
In the Overview tab, on the right under Open in Map Viewer, select the Show more down arrow, if necessary. Select Create view layer. Choose the View layer option.
For Choose layers, accept the default configuration and click Next.
For Define view (optional), accept the default configuration and click Next.
For Create view, change the title to Field Notes [Your Initials]_results
Select the Folder dropdown and select the Field Notes [Your Initials] folder. Add tags if desired and under Summary, delete the existing text and type: “Layer to share with stakeholders who need to see field notes about what is valued and what needs improvement in city parks.” Click Create.
Once the view layer is created, in the Overview tab, on the right, select Share. Ensure that Set sharing level is set to Owner.
- Note: Depending on the project, having a separate feature layer view for the survey results allows the layer owner to keep the source feature layer private and configure specific editing settings and sharing levels—privately with the owner or a specific group of stakeholders, or more broadly with an organization or Everyone (public)—depending on who needs to see the survey results and what they need to do with the results.

Create a web map

If necessary, go to Content and the Field Notes [Your Initials] folder, go to the Field Notes [Your Initials]_public layer, select the three dots, and Open in Map Viewer.
In Map Viewer, in the Contents toolbar on the left, go to the Layers tab if necessary, expand Field Notes [Your Initials]_public, and select Field Notes (Points).
In the Settings toolbar on the right, select Styles, and under Pick a style and Types (unique symbols), select Style options.
Check the boxes next to Category 3, Category 4, and Category 5, and select Remove.

Styles settings for the Field Notes (Points) layer in the Map Viewer.

Click Done and Done.
In the Settings toolbar, select Configure editing and choose Templates. Under One or more templates are out of sync with layer’s style, click Update.
Select Category 1 and change the Display name to “valued”.
Select Category 2 and change the Display name to “needs improvement”. Click OK.

Template settings for the Field Notes (Points) layer in the Map Viewer.

Repeat the preceding steps for Field Notes (Lines) and Field Notes (Areas).
In Map Viewer, go to the Contents toolbar on the left, select Save and open, then click Save as. Title the Map: Field Notes Map [Your Initials]. Click the Folder dropdown and select your Field Notes [Your Initials] folder. Add tags and a Summary if desired.

Build Instant App

In Map Viewer, go to the Contents toolbar on the left, select Create app, and select Instant Apps.
Scroll down to find the Sidebar template and select Choose.
Title the app: Field Notes App [Your Initials]. Add tags if desired, select the Field Notes [Your Initials] folder if necessary, and click Create app.
In the Instant Apps Builder toolbar on the left, toggle off Express mode. Select Continue if necessary.
In the About tab, go to Introduction window, and toggle on Introduction window. Under Introduction window title, type: “How to submit a field note” and under Introduction window content, click the Edit button. Add instructions for public participants, for example: “Choose a point, line, or polygon to best capture what is valued (in green) or needs improvement (in red) at the park. Click “Find address or place” and either Use current location or search for the park. Drop the point, trace the line, or sketch the area of what is valued or needs improvement. Add the name of what is valued or needs improvement, describe the location, add the current date, comment on why the location is valued or needs improvement, and add a photo attachment from your device. Select Add, then Create.” Click Close.
In the Sidebar tab, go to Editing tools and toggle on the Edit tools.

Editing tools in the Instant Apps Builder.

In the Theme & Layout tab, click the dropdown under Select which panel to open at start. Select Edit tools.
Select Publish and click Confirm.
Under Share, select Change share settings.
Select Everyone (public) and click Save.
A window should appear with a button to Review sharing. Select Review sharing and select Update sharing to also share the Field Notes [Your Initials]_public layer and Field Notes Map [Your Initials] with Everyone (public).

Review sharing settings in the Instant Apps Builder.

Collect data

In the Instant Apps Builder toolbar, go to Share and select Copy link.
Go to an incognito/private browser window on a computer or mobile device to act as an anonymous public participant with no ArcGIS account.
- Note: It is good practice to test any devices that public participants might use to collect data.
Paste and follow the link.
Act as a public participant to collect one or more test field notes.

Review data

In ArcGIS Online, go to Content and the Field Notes Map [Your Initials], select the three dots, and click Open in Map Viewer.
Explore the field note(s) collected by an anonymous public participant.

Conclusion: What's next?

We just built our own map-centric public survey with Instant Apps! We also discussed considerations for sharing a form-centric public survey with Survey123. For further training on data collection with ArcGIS, check out Esri's Field Data Collection and Management Using ArcGIS course: https://go.esri.com/field-data-mgmt-course.