Unlock public access to ArcGIS QuickCapture and ArcGIS Field Maps

[CoreyJMartz]

Introduction: Engage the public to collect data in the field

Efforts to crowdsource information sometimes send public participants into the field to collect data. For example, public officials engage community members in point-in-time counts of people experiencing homelessness, disaster responders deploy volunteers to assess damage after storms, and researchers work with citizen scientists to collect observations. All these efforts share a need for data collection tools like the suite of ArcGIS Field Apps—ArcGIS Survey123, ArcGIS Field Maps, ArcGIS QuickCapture—and the need to give public participants access to these tools. Survey123 readily supports public surveys, but Field Maps or QuickCapture better meet the needs of many field-based projects, even if there are additional requirements to enable public data collection. QuickCapture requires ArcGIS Hub Premium to share QuickCapture projects with the public, and Field Maps requires an ArcGIS account with a certain level of licensing. Yet, many community members, volunteers, citizen scientists, and other public participants do not already have the required ArcGIS accounts. We will explore how to unlock public access to QuickCapture and Field Maps using Hub Premium.

Discussion: Share a QuickCapture project with the public

QuickCapture is a tool for simple and fast field data capture with the click of a button. The simple interface makes QuickCapture a good option for working with public participants who have varying levels of technical experience and when there is little time for training. Although to access and collect data with QuickCapture, users need an ArcGIS account with a certain level of licensing, or a QuickCapture project must be public. To share a QuickCapture project with the public, the project owner's ArcGIS Online organization must have a license for Hub Premium, or the project owner can share a QuickCapture project with the public using ArcGIS Enterprise, without the need for Hub Premium. We will focus on ArcGIS Online. One way to know if an ArcGIS Online organization is licensed with Hub Premium is to go to the Share button in the QuickCapture designer. The option to share the QuickCapture project with Everyone (Public) is not available to select if the ArcGIS Online organization is not licensed with Hub Premium. The Everyone (Public) option is available if there is Hub Premium licensing.

Sharing options in the QuickCapture designer without Hub Premium licensing.   Sharing options in the QuickCapture designer with Hub Premium licensing.

Even if the QuickCapture project is public, we typically want to keep the project data private. When sharing a QuickCapture project with the public, particularly if the data are sensitive, best practice is to create a hosted feature layer view of the project’s data collection layer. Then, we make the feature layer view the project’s data collection layer. That allows us to configure the feature layer view to securely share with the public while keeping the source feature layer private. To securely configure the feature layer view, go to the layer’s Settings in ArcGIS Online to Approve this layer to be shared with the public when editing is enabled. Configure "What kind of editing is allowed?” so that public participants can only add features—so that it is not possible for anonymous public users to query, update, delete, or download the project data.

Editing settings for the feature layer view.

It is also worth considering “What features can editors see?” and “What access do anonymous editors (not signed in) have?” For public QuickCapture projects, it is good practice to only allow participants to see their own features they collect, or no features at all, and to select the option that confirms participants can only add new features.

Additional editing settings for the feature layer view.

Remember that participants in a public QuickCapture project are anonymous, which is valuable for public participants to collect data without signing in. But if we want to keep track of who collected data, we might consider unlocking public access to QuickCapture with Hub Premium in a different way. We can use Hub Premium instead to provide public participants with an ArcGIS account to use QuickCapture to collect data, rather than to share the QuickCapture project with the public. We focus here on public QuickCapture projects, but we will discuss how to use Hub Premium to provide public participants with an ArcGIS account to use Field Maps, and the same general steps apply to QuickCapture.

Once the QuickCapture project is public, and the data secure, we need to get it in the hands of public participants to capture data. We disseminate a QuickCapture project with a link and QR code that public participants follow to download the free QuickCapture mobile app. After opening the mobile app, public participants Continue without signing in and tap the Add project button to scan the QR code or enter the access code and download the QuickCapture project (note: anonymous users are unable to find a public project by browsing projects). The link, QR code, and access code (a code that can only be entered by anonymous users) are found in the Sharing options in the QuickCapture designer. So, QuickCapture adds the step of downloading an app, unlike filling out a public survey in a browser with Survey123 or Instant Apps. However, like Survey123 and Instant Apps, public participants do not need ArcGIS accounts to access a public QuickCapture project as anonymous users to continue without signing in and collect data.

Sign-in screen in the QuickCapture mobile app.     My workspace screen in the QuickCapture mobile app.

Tutorial: Unlock public access to Field Maps

Field Maps offers robust capabilities for engaging public participants to collect data in the field using a map-centric interface. Like with QuickCapture, we can enable public data collection with Field Maps using Hub Premium. But unlike with a public QuickCapture project, we do not have as many considerations for securing data with Field Maps. Instead, Hub Premium is the mechanism for providing public participants with community accounts to securely sign in to the Field Maps mobile app and collect data with web maps and layers shared to a (private) group in ArcGIS Online. Because public participants collect data with community accounts, rather than as anonymous users, we take advantage of the existing ArcGIS sharing framework to secure data. We also add the option to keep track of who is collecting the data.

The configuration of public access to Field Maps spans two ArcGIS Online organizations, a primary (employee) ArcGIS organization and a community organization. The community organization is a separate ArcGIS Online organization—connected to the primary organization—that can be activated with Hub Premium to provide community accounts to public participants (here is a blog with more on community organizations). Configuring public access to Field Maps requires:

1. ArcGIS Online organization with ArcGIS Hub Premium license
2. ArcGIS Online organizational account with a minimum Creator user type, Publisher role, and some administrative privileges
3. Community organization (if not activated, activate a community organization)
4. Community account with a minimum Creator user type and Community administrator role

We will walk through steps to configure public access to Field Maps with Hub Premium.

Create a group

• In the primary ArcGIS Online organization, go to Groups and select Create group.
• Name the group Field Notes [Your Initials].
• Under Summary, type: “Group for members of the public participating in efforts to collect field notes.” Add tags if desired.
• For “Who can view this group?” select Only group members, especially if protecting the privacy of participants is important. Select All organization members or Everyone (public) only if there is a need to provide wider access to see the group in ArcGIS Online.
• For “Who can be in this group?” select Partnered collaboration and my organization's members only. Select Any organization’s members only if there is a need to allow participants to join from outside both the primary ArcGIS Online organization and the community organization.
• For "How can people join this group?" select By invitation, recommended so members of the public do not need to search for the group to request to join.
• For "Who can contribute content?" select Group owner and managers, recommended to control who can contribute content to the group. Select All group members if there is a need for anyone in the group to be able to contribute content.
• For “Who can see the full list of members on the group's Members tab?” select Group owner and managers, especially if protecting participant privacy is needed.
• Leave the rest of the settings in the default configuration. Click Save.

Settings for the group where public participants will be invited once their community account is set up.

Create a map for data collection

• In the primary ArcGIS Online organization, from the app launcher, launch Field Maps Designer.
• Go to New map and select Start with a map template.
• Under Select a template, go to the From Esri tab, and select the Field Notes map template. Click Next.
  • Note: If the From Esri tab is not visible, an ArcGIS Online organization administrator will need to go to the Field Maps Designer home page, select Map Templates, select From organization, select Organization’s map template settings, and check Allow organization to use Esri templates.

Field Notes map template in the Field Maps Designer.

• Title the map: Field Notes [Your Initials]. Click Save.
• In the Field Maps Designer, go to Sharing and select Set sharing level.
• Leave the sharing level at Owner and select Edit group sharing. Search for, if necessary, and check the Field Notes [Your Initials] group. Click Apply and click Save.
• A window should appear with a button to Review sharing. Select Review sharing. Select Update sharing for the Field Notes feature layer so that it is also shared with the Field Notes [Your Initials] group.

Review sharing settings in the Field Maps Designer.

• Exit the Field Maps Designer.
  • Note: We used a template to quickly create a map (tutorial) and share the map. But getting started with Field Maps Designer can also involve using new or existing layers, configuring the map, and building the form (tutorial), among other configurations depending on the project.

Add members of the public to the community organization

• In the community organization (if not activated, activate a community organization), go to the Organization tab, select Members, and click Invite members.
• Select Add members and notify them via email to have members join the organization by responding to an email to create their own password.
  • Note: Select Add members without sending invitations to set up a username and temporary password for each member (and they will change the password when they first sign in), which works with or without a member’s email address. If you don’t have an email for a member, use an administrator’s email address. Adding members without sending invitations is another good option depending on what is best for engaging public participants.
• Click Next.
• Select New member to manually add one member at a time.
  • Note: To add multiple members at once using a CSV file, select New members from a file.
• Add your First name, Last name, and (personal) Email. Under Username, type [Your Initials]_fieldnotes with no spaces. Ensure that the User type is set to Hub Community Member and the Role is set to Publisher. Click Save.
  • Note: We are setting up a test community account, so use a personal email just like a public participant would in a real scenario.

Settings for adding a member to the community organization.

• Under Review and fix, check the box next to your name and select Next.
• For Set member properties, leave the default settings.
• Select Next.
• Select Add members.

Invite public participants to the group

• In the primary ArcGIS organization, go to Groups and select the Field Notes [Your Initials] group.
• Select Invite members.
• Enable Include this and partnered organizations’ members, then select the filter for your community organization.
• Check the box next to [Your Initials]_fieldnotes.
• Click Invite members.

Public participant accepts invitation to join community organization

• Go to your personal email and open the invitation to join the community organization.
• Follow the link to finish setting up the account.
• Add and confirm a new password, then select Change Password.
• Add a security question and answer.

Public participant accepts group invitation

• Signed in to the community organization as a public participant, go to Groups.
• Select Invitations.
• For the invitation to Field Notes [Your Initials], select Join this group.

Public participant collects data

• Download ArcGIS Field Maps on a mobile device for iOS or Android.
• Go to ArcGIS Field Maps mobile app and click Sign In with ArcGIS Online.
• Sign in with your community account credentials that you created as a public participant.
• On the Maps page, under the Field Notes [Your Initials] group, select the Field Notes [Your Initials] map.
• Select the blue button with a plus sign to collect data.
• Under FIELD NOTES (POINTS), select Category 1, take or attach a photo if desired, type “Test” into the Name, Location, and Comments fields, select Add Point, and select Submit.

Maps page in the Field Maps mobile app.    Collect screen in the Field Maps mobile app.

Review data

• In the primary ArcGIS organization, go to Groups and select the Field Notes [Your Initials] group.
• Under Recently added content, go to the Field Notes [Your Initials] web map, click the three dots, and Open in Map Viewer.
• Explore the field note collected by a public participant.

Data collected by a public participant, reviewed in Map Viewer.

Conclusion: What's next?

We just unlocked public access to Field Maps! The same general steps would also work to provide public participants with an ArcGIS account to use QuickCapture and Survey123. We also discussed how to share a QuickCapture project with the public for public participants to use QuickCapture without signing in. For further training on field data collection with ArcGIS, check out Esri's Field Data Collection and Management Using ArcGIS course: https://go.esri.com/field-data-mgmt-course.