Getting to Know Web GIS. Pinde Fu

Configure your web app

      Once you have determined that your app’s tour points and their order, captions, and descriptions are correct, your app is complete. Optionally, you can enhance your application’s features by using the template’s builder mode. In this mode, you can add or import new tour points; update and delete existing images; set or update locations and descriptions; update the app title, subtitle, and logo; and change the app layout.

      1 If you are continuing from the previous section, go to step 3; otherwise, sign in to ArcGIS Online or your Portal for ArcGIS.

      2 Click the Content tab, in your content list, find and click the web app you just created to go to its details page, and then click Configure App.

      3 Familiarize yourself with the builder mode.The pencil icon means that you can update nearby text, such as titles, subtitles, image captions, and descriptions.The Change media and Change thumbnail buttons can be used to change the URLs of media and thumbnail locations.The Add, Organize, and Import buttons allow you to interactively add more locations, change the order of points, and import media from Flickr, Picasa, Facebook, YouTube, or a CSV file.

      Now, you will change the Esri photo into a video.

      1 Click the Esri thumbnail image. Click Change media, then click Video. Remove the current URL, enter https://www.youtube.com/embed/RM0eMdrPhEA, and click Apply.The video loads into the picture frame. Refer to the “Questions and answers” section to learn how to get video URLs for use with the Map Tour template.Next, you will change the thumbnail for Esri to a new one that indicates a video.

      2 Click Change thumbnail. Replace the current URL with https://bit.ly/2J4o2FI, and then click Apply.

      3 Click Save to save your changes.In the following steps, you should save your work regularly to prevent losing your changes.

      4 Above the thumbnail carousel, click Organize.The Organize the tour window allows you to delete tour points and drag pictures to change their order.

      5 At the bottom of the Organize the tour window, select the check box for Use the first point as introduction (does not appear in carousel). Click Apply to close the Organize the tour window.Selecting the check box sets the first record in your CSV as the introductory image to your app. This selection allows you to start your tour by showing a compelling image and an introductory caption to set the scene. The location of this record will not be shown on the map as a numbered point in your tour.Optionally, you can click the Import button next to the Organize button to import tour points and media from Flickr, Picasa, YouTube, or an additional CSV file. You can also add additional tour points manually by clicking the Add button and filling in the media, name, and location information.

      6 In the page header, click Settings.Clicking Settings opens the Story settings window with the following tabs:Layout: Choose between the Side-panel Layout, Three-panel Layout, and Integrated Layout.Colors: Choose from predefined color themes or define your own theme.Header: Set the header logo and share links.Data: No configuration is needed here. The sample CSV you use has all the fields named properly for the map tour template to use.Extent: Define the initial map extent that users will see when the app first opens.Zoom Level: Specify a scale to which the map will automatically zoom whenever the app user goes from one tour point to another (but if users manually zoom in or out, the map tour app respects their choice and no longer applies your auto zoom level).

      7 Click the Zoom Level tab and set the Scale/level to 1:5K (level 17) as illustrated.This scale allows users to see the selected POI and its adjacent area.

      8 Click the Header tab, change the logo and text if needed, and then click Apply.For example, you can add your name to the header so that your instructor can easily tell who created your application. Optionally, you can also exchange the logo for your organization’s logo.Examine the application to see if there is anything else you would like to configure. If so, you can make and apply further changes.

      9 In the page header, click Save to save your work.1.6 Share your web app

      In step 5 of section 1.4, you created and shared this web app with the same people with whom you shared your web map. Now you will share the URL of this web app with your audience so that they can see your web app.

      1 Click Share in the page header. If you see a message saying your tour is not shared, share your tour publicly.

      2 In the Share your Tour window, click Open to preview your web app.

      3 Share the tour URL with your audience (for example, by copying and sending the URL through email, or by displaying the URL link on your organization’s home page).

      4 Test your web app on smart mobile devices.

      Open your app in your smart device’s browser. To do this easily, send the URL to yourself, check your email on your smart device, find the message, and then click the URL.

      Configurable apps use responsive web design technologies and can change their layouts to best fit various devices with different screen sizes. You will find they work well on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone tablets and phones.

      In this tutorial, you have created a user-friendly, informative, and cross-platform web app. The app meets all the requirements listed earlier in this chapter—it displays a basemap and POI locations, their descriptions, and any photos or videos; is engaging and easy to use; and works on desktops, tablets, and smartphones.

      You can create a map tour app using other workflows. In addition to pictures and videos, you can also display webpages and 3D web scenes. See the Resources section for more information.

Questions and answers

      1 How can I get the latitude and longitude coordinates of a location or address?Answer: You can use ArcGIS Online or Portal for ArcGIS map viewer to do so.If you know where the location is, navigate there directly on the map. If not, you can type the address in the map viewer Search text box, and click the Search button. After the address is found and the map is centered to the location, click the zoom in button until you can no longer zoom in. Next, click the Measure button , click the Location button , and then click the location on the map. The location’s longitude and latitude display under Measurement Result.

      2 Locating longitudes and latitudes manually (one by one) can be slow work. Is there a more efficient way to define the locations of my points?Answer: Use addresses, feature classes, or geotagged media if you have them. In your CSV, specify the addresses of your points in one or multiple address fields such as Address, City, State, and ZIP. When you create your feature layer, ArcGIS Online and Portal for ArcGIS will geocode these addresses and find their locations automatically.If you have your tour points in a shapefile or file geodatabase, you do not need to create a CSV file. You can zip your shapefile (do not include a folder) or file geodatabase (include the folder of the file geodatabase), and then create your feature layer using this zip file.If you have geotagged media, for example, photos taken using your smartphone with location enabled for your camera, you can create an empty web map and import these photos using the app builder mode.

      3 After publishing my CSV to ArcGIS Online as a feature layer, I need to update my CSV. Will the changes to my CSV automatically update in my feature layer, web map, and web app?Answer: No, but you can overwrite the feature layer, or edit your data directly in ArcGIS Online or Portal for ArcGIS. Once your CSV data has been published to ArcGIS Online, it is uploaded to the cloud. Your feature layer, web map, and web app will use this cloud copy, rather than your local copy. To use your new CSV data, go to the details page of your feature layer, click the Update Date button, select Overwrite Entire Layer to re-create your feature layer using the new CSV. This will preserve your feature layer id, and thus won’t break the web maps and web apps using your layer.You can also edit data directly in ArcGIS Online or Portal for ArcGIS. You can go to the details page of your feature layer, click the Data tab, and double-click a value in the table to change it. Or you can click the Overview tab, click Open in Map Viewer, select Add layer to new map with full editing control, click the Edit button in the map viewer, click a tour point on the map, and click Edit in the pop-up.