Latest Contributions by JasonBalmut

Updating services is the biggest hindrance to using ArcGIS Online (AGOL) in its current version.  There are more than a dozen posts in the forums related to the issue and although there are work-around solutions they don't address the difficulties in maintaining what could be a vast library of map products and services in each organization.  I'd like to propose a few ideas on how to do this:   ArcMap Desktop   Proposal:  All of the information for publishing a service should be stored directly in the MXD. Problem:  If a service is not published right away it is saved under Drafts, but once it is published the draft goes away.  These drafts hold a lot of valuable information such as metadata, credits, and map functionality that go to waste once it is published.  Drafts are effectively a template for how the service should be published each time.  Currently the only options in ArcCatalog for Drafts are Open and Delete. Idea:  If the input fields from the Service Editor window were incorporated into the Map Document Properties window as tabs it could alleviate the need to fill in all of the required metadata fields and adjust the settings each time a service needs to be published. Fields for Access Use and Constraints need to be added to this window and default attributes for these fields should be allowed in both ArcMap and ArcGIS Online especially for organizations.  These last two suggestions have been submitted to the Esri Ideas page (see hyperlinks and Promote them, please!).   Proposal:  The HTML Popup tab from the Layer Properties window in ArcMap should be used to store the ArcGIS Online feature service pop-up information. Problem:  It is lengthy, painful process to reconfigure the feature service's pop-up windows each time a the service is updated in AGOL. Idea:    Reconfigure the ArcMap HTML Popup window to include some of the same functionality from AGOL with the ability to add charts, hyperlinks, change fonts, use dynamic text, etc.  Allow the configuration in ArcMap to carry over to the feature service in AGOL. ArcGIS Online   Proposal:  There should be a way to trace the occurances of services within Web Maps. Problem:  Once a feature or map service is updated there is no way of figuring out how many Web Maps will need to have the service replaced with the updated version. Idea:  There should be an inventory tool that can find the occurrences of a service throughout the Web Maps in an organization.   ... View more

Within the administration settings of ArcGIS Online there should be a section for setting the default Access Use, Constraints, Credits, and tags for the Organization.  The problem with the system now is that users have to copy and paste the use and contraints from other services into the one they are working on which is time-consuming and increases the View tally on each page they switch to. The map credits can be carried over from the MXD Properties in 10.1 but there is no field for the Access Use and Constraints yet (https://community.esri.com/ideas/2989).  That would solve the problem for publishing the services to ArcGIS Online.  (Yes, the user has the option of filling that in at the time of publication but they'd have to copy and paste it at that time instead of storing it in the MXD.)  ArcGIS Online Users and Publishers that are creating maps in their organizations would benefit from having this bit of legalese filled in each time they created a web map/app. As far as tags go, some organizations need to have the same ones repeated for the public to be able to search for them (City & County of Honolulu, USGS, NOAA, ESRI).  It would be nice to have these tags set as defaults for new maps/apps and data published from within the organizations ArcGIS Online account. ... View more