Latest Contributions by BrianBaldwin

I've always struggled to understand the relationships between datums, projections, coordinate systems, etc... nevermind trying to explain and teach these concepts to others! For me, the biggest issue was always reading through definitions and descriptions of these concepts and trying to build the mental image to understand how they related. I was struggling to find a good diagram that explained the relationship, so I pieced the diagram below together (if someone has a better one... please post below!): I also created a video walking through each of the components of the diagram. The video builds the diagram from the ground up and attempts to explain each (hence why the diagram looks so un-polished...): If you have any thoughts, feedback, or better illustrations, please post them below! I'd love to hear how others are teaching these concepts (beyond just pulling apart an orange!). Credits to Heather Smith for a few of her articles on these concepts: GCS vs. PCS: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-pro/mapping/gcs_vs_pcs/ Coordinate systems: What's the Difference?: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-pro/mapping/coordinate-systems-difference/ ... View more

If you are reading this… it’s likely that you are among the ~70% of education based ArcGIS Online organizations that have yet to switch your homepage to the new format. During the March 2022 ArcGIS Online update, all ArcGIS Online organizations will have their homepages automatically switched over to the new format, unless you request an extension.  Old page So… why make the switch? There are a long list of great reasons to make the switch to the new homepage editor. Here are just a few of the good reasons to look at making the jump from the old homepage to the new format. Build your new homepage and launch when you are ready One of the benefits of the new homepage, is the fact that you can start creating a new page and then launch it when you are ready. If you want galleries configured with sharp new icons, description fields, etc., you can spend as much time as you need building it out (well, until March at least). Take control of your configuration If you don’t make the switch... then we will make it for you! When that happens, your homepage will take on the canned default view without maps, apps, or configured content. In only a few minutes, you can build out a new homepage and ensure that your users won’t be met with a generic landing page. Mobile friendly One of the biggest issues with the old homepage, is that the fact that it was not optimized for mobile devices. The new homepage is an adaptive framework and users can preview the UX as they configure the page.  Oooo... new homepage What’s holding you back? The ArcGIS Online team is looking for any feedback from users regarding the transition. We just want to ensure that your move to the new ArcGIS Online homepage is as smooth as possible. Please let us know what might be holding you back or how we can help. If you have already transitioned, please let us know in the comments below. Or, fill out this survey (included at the bottom of the blog). Also, if you have any screenshots of your new page, we’d love to see them! Here are some links to some additional resources and blogs detailing the change: Blog: Let’s transition to the new ArcGIS Online home page Blog: Time for a new home page Documentation: Legacy home page and Transition to the new home page ... View more

The workflow for adding custom basemaps (Bing) in this case to ArcGIS Online (and Pro) has not changed much in the past few years, but it has changed enough to warrant a better walk-through. This is a basic walk-through to help users get Bing basemaps added to their organization. 1) Get a Bing basemaps key You can go to this Microsoft link and sign up for a free developer account to get access to a Bing maps key: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/maps/licensing There are also (quite generous) accounts for education usage. After getting an account, start by creating a new key:  Copy the key: 2) Create Custom Basemap Group In ArcGIS Online, if you haven't already, you need to create a custom group to house your custom basemaps. Create a new group and call it 'Custom Basemaps', or 'Maps of the Base', or anything. Then, under your organizational settings, under the 'map' section, select your new group as the location of your custom basemaps and then click the 'Share Basemaps' button as well. 3) Enter your Bing key in ArcGIS Online Under your organizational settings, in the map section. There is a space to enter your Bing maps key. Enter the key and hit save.   4) Create Bing basemap To create your Bing basemap, you will need to use the Classic Map Viewer. Launch the Classic Map Viewer, and choose 'Add Layer from Web'  At the bottom of the dropdown list, choose 'Bing Basemap' and select the type of basemap you want to use. Now, you need to save your map. After saving the map, share it with the new basemap group you created and share it with the organization (or keep it all to yourself). Now, when any user goes to add a basemap in ArcGIS Pro or the Map Viewers, they will have the new Bing basemap as an option. ... View more

The world's of GIS and BIM (Building Information Management) have been coming together more seamlessly over the past few years. One recent advancement, has been the release of ArcGIS GeoBIM, which provides a web-based interface to combine hosted GIS data, with projects and data in an AutoDesk Construction Cloud account. The goal is to provide a more seamless way for communication and collaboration to occur among project stakeholders. The point of this blog though, is to let you know that as part of your education site license, you have access to this new application today. Simply log into ArcGIS Online, go to the ‘app launcher’ at the top of the screen, and you can launch GeoBIM.  From there you will need to create a project and then log into an AutoDesk Construction Cloud account. What is ArcGIS GeoBIM? If you want to learn more or get started using ArcGIS GeoBIM, please refer to some of these resources: Introducing ArcGIS GeoBIM: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/1a41c0147d5a4df4af50d1f520e2ceac ArcGIS GeoBIM Overview: https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/products/arcgis-geobim/overview Setting up ArcGIS GeoBIM: https://doc.arcgis.com/en/geobim/latest/get-started/an-introduction-to-arcgis-geobim.htm Lastly – please reach out and let me know if you have questions, or if you start using the tool! I’d love to hear how educators (or campus operations) are using, or envision using this new product. ... View more

"You're hired!!!" I regularly tell students that if they built out a 'custom' dashboard for the non-profit, local government, or company that they were applying for (internship or job), they would get hired on the spot. I always back this down a little bit (maybe you won’t get hired on the spot… but you’ll be a top candidate!), but I believe strongly in the sentiment. The ability to configure dashboards and other information products is a critical skill set that students taking just 1 GIS course can and should possess. Even without creating or managing datasets, the wealth of ‘open data’ and public data provides a simple way for students to begin visualizing and presenting information. The fact that many of these municipal datasets are updated in real-time, gives students the ability to create ‘real-time’ dashboards looking at building permits, transportation, crime, mosquito treatments, covid cases, the list goes on and on. I recently presented this basic outline to a group of students in an introductory planning GIS course. The same concepts and workflow could be applied using any other open data sets in any locale. Traffic Accidents in John’s Creek GA The Mayor of John’s Creek, GA just rushed into the transportation planning office because of the bad press she is receiving related to traffic accidents. It was recently reported that accidents have been rising sharply since April. She wants something to show to the public and the press that this is just related to the seasonal spike in accidents and that accidents have been trending down during her tenure. She wants it now. This took me about 15 min. to configure... This is obviously a hypothetical story, and a silly one at best, but, it’s also very common. Thinking of our hypothetical Mayor, I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t want a map… or a spreadsheet. Maps are great, they can help us tell amazing stories as well as visualize and contextualize massive amounts of data. Yet, for many purposes, the ability to combine a map, along with charts and statistics is the sweet spot. Before we get started... we need some data. Data Time! The first problem is just getting access to data, but there’s a ton of great stuff out there in a ready to use format (it's still a great skill to run over to the US Census website and get data from the source... but it's not the only way). There are so many communities and agencies with open data websites and the real power of these, it just connecting to the services. Rather than downloading a shapefile or geodatabase, we can add the service to a web map. The Atlantic Regional Commission has a great open data site (that also consolidates regional open data sites, ex. John’s Creek). From this site, you can simply search for data, and then add the layers to a map and get started. Just add the services to your map! Adding the Icing When you save the map, students now have their own ‘copy’ of a map that they can configure, which is connected to the source data set. As new features and records get added… their map will update. Directly from the Map Viewer, students can launch one of the ‘application builders’, which are configuration frameworks for sharing the map. The one that I focused on here is ArcGIS Dashboard, which I’ll configure with a summary stat, date/time bar chart, and a pie chart to show accidents by ‘lighting condition’. Get that dashboard configured Conclusion I don’t think the Mayor of John’s Creek GA is drafting an offer letter to me right now, but the ability to build an ArcGIS Dashboard or configurable web applications will put graduates resumes at the top of any application pile. The time required to introduce these frameworks in a GIS class is minimal, but I think the potential application and usability of these tools speak for themselves. ... View more

The table widget has been working great, but I have a quick question: There is the 'Allow Editing' option when I have 'Default' selected: But when 'Selected Features' is selected - it no longer displays: Is there a reason that Selected Features can't have editing enabled? ... View more

I have a floor-aware map that follows the schema/configuration found in the help documentation for configuring an 'indoors' schema. Field Maps recognizes the schema and presents the floor picker options. Yet - in the Map Viewer - there are no floor options presented. This documentation: https://doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-online/get-started/view-floor-aware-maps-mv.htm makes no reference to ArcGIS Indoors licensing (yet following the link to 'Floor Aware Maps', there is a note that ArcGIS Indoors licensing is required). Is an ArcGIS Indoors license required to have a 'floor-aware map'?   ... View more