.MPK and ArcGIS Online

[deleted-user-s_pSF_cCqVzk]

Is it true that you can upload Map Packages (.mpk) but you can't import the layers and symbology into ArcGIS Online? So the only thing you can do is upload a .mpk to make available for other people to download and import into ArcGIS Desktop? If this is true, it's a big disappointment.

Can someone please clarify this for me?

Thanks,
Lyndy

[JonathanQuinn]

That's correct.  If you're uploading a map package to ArcGIS Online, it's only a file; you can't interact with it in the map viewer or in Explorer online, you can only download it.  Do you have an organizational account?  If so, you can publish directly to ArcGIS Online to create a hosted feature service or a hosted tiled map service.

[deleted-user-s_pSF_cCqVzk]

That's correct.  If you're uploading a map package to ArcGIS Online, it's only a file; you can't interact with it in the map viewer or in Explorer online, you can only download it.  Do you have an organizational account?  If so, you can publish directly to ArcGIS Online to create a hosted feature service or a hosted tiled map service.

Thanks for your reply. I am currently looking at options for publishing my organization's content online in an interactive environment. For example, ArcGIS Online versus CartoDB. 

Not being able to import .mpk is a drawback for ArcGIS Online. I did apply for a free trial version of ArcGIS but this version is pretty limited in what one can do and doesn't really demonstrate full potential of this service. For example, I couldn't even upload a layer with more than 1,000 records. It'd be really cool to be able to drop layers and their symbology from ArcGIS desktop into ArcGIS Online.

Best,
Lyndy

[JonathanQuinn]

The free trial of ArcGIS Online contains all of the functionality of the full version.  Do you have 10.1?  10.1 is fully integrated with ArcGIS Online, so while you still won't be able to upload map packages to ArcGIS Online to consume in a map viewer, you can publish directly to ArcGIS Online.