May 2023

ArcGIS Online
Implementation
Guide

Essential tasks and best practices for setting up

ArcGIS Online.
Task checklist

TASK COMPLETE
1. Explore ArcGIS Online
2. Activate your subscription
3. Set up your home page
4. Create groups
5. Add members
6. Create content
7. Learn more

Copyright © 2023 Esri. All rights reserved. 2

1. Explore ArcGIS Online
Welcome to ArcGIS Online. If you have little or no GIS experience, that’s okay—it’s
never too late to get started with Esri’s cloud-based mapping and analytics software.
ArcGIS Online allows you to connect people, locations, and data. Create interactive
maps to visualize and explore your data. Analysis tools help you discover and refine
your data's story. Share maps that tell that data's story and influence change.

Before setting up ArcGIS Online, complete a few quick guided tutorials to help you
understand the fundamentals of mapping and analysis.

The tutorials show how to do the following:

• Explore Paris with ArcGIS Online. Learn the basics of navigating and creating
maps in ArcGIS Online.

• Share a map. Share a map of recreational facilities.

• Create an app. Configure and share an app that puts a web map to better use.

• Use analysis for site selection. Use analysis tools to find potential locations for
a new hospital based on spatial criteria.

• Create a scene. Create a 3D web scene to illustrate a city council plan.

• Data basics. Learn about the main types of data layers supported in ArcGIS
Online and what you can do with them.

• Get started with ArcGIS Online. Create and share an evacuation map to
prepare for an incoming hurricane.

Start the mapping and analysis tutorials

Copyright © 2023 Esri. All rights reserved. 3

2. Activate your subscription
When you purchase an ArcGIS Online subscription, you can configure your site in a
way that makes sense for your organization. For example, you can set the security and
sharing policies, assign privileges and credits to members based on the work they
need to do, and configure your home page and gallery to reflect your brand. You can
also integrate your organization’s identity management system.

Main components
A subscription to ArcGIS Online includes the following main components:

Home page—Your home page can be an impactful first impression of your site.
Include an appealing banner and your own logo; feature your best maps and apps;
and provide descriptions, links, or resources to help people get the most out of your
site.

Groups—Groups are a way to organize your members and content around specific
projects, workflows, and initiatives. You can set up groups to allow access to specific
items based on your organization’s structure. Groups also allow collaboration
between members of other organizations.

Members—Add new members to ArcGIS Online by inviting them to join or adding

them directly. You can add members in bulk or one at a time. You can set up their
accounts for them, allow them to create their own accounts, or use your existing
organization-specific login system.

Content—Your ArcGIS Online content includes maps, apps, and layers. It also
provides resources to store, categorize, edit, and share what you’ve created.

These components work together to create the ArcGIS Online experience that meets
your organization’s requirements.

Copyright © 2023 Esri. All rights reserved. 4

Tips
You need to decide the following things when you set up ArcGIS Online:

A name for your ArcGIS Online site—The organization name appears in the banner on
the home page. Choose a distinct and accurate name that represents your
organization or the purpose of your ArcGIS Online site.

A short name—The short name appears in the URL link to your ArcGIS Online site (for
example, sample-org-name.maps.arcgis.com). Carefully consider the name you want
to use. You can change it later, but you may need to manually update the URLs of
some of your content.

Administrative contact—Consider having two or more administrators as points of

contact. These administrators and their email addresses are listed in automatic emails
sent from ArcGIS Online when members request password resets, help with their
usernames, modifications to their accounts, or any issues related to the allocation of
credits to their accounts. Administrative contacts also get email notifications about
the subscription.

Learn how to activate your subscription

Copyright © 2023 Esri. All rights reserved. 5

3. Set up your home page
Start by configuring ArcGIS Online to meet your organization’s needs. For example,
you can specify whether members can search for and share content outside the
organization. Some configuration is done as part of the subscription activation—for
example, setting up your organization’s URL. As you get started, focus on the
appearance of your home page and the security settings of the site.

Customize the appearance

Think about your brand and how to best represent it on your site. The following are
recommendations for creating an effective home page:

• Make your home page professional looking and well organized. Use a custom
banner and logo and describe the purpose of your site.

• Showcase your best maps and apps as featured content on your home page.

Learn how to set up your home page

Security considerations
ArcGIS Online is a secure, reliable, and flexible site. You can configure the privacy
and security controls that make sense for your organization. For example, you can
configure the password policy, including the password length, complexity, and
history requirements. You can allow members to share content outside your
organization or only allow sharing within the organization. You can also set up
organization-specific logins and multifactor authentication.

Access to your ArcGIS Online organization, your data, and all other assets must be
through HTTPS only. This helps protect your information.

Learn how to set up your security policies

You can also review ArcGIS Trust Center for additional details about security, privacy,
and compliance.

Copyright © 2023 Esri. All rights reserved. 6

4. Create groups
Groups create structure for your organization and are a way to organize items you
want to share with members of your organization and with the public. You can set up
groups that are private and by invitation only or public groups that are open to
everyone. You can use groups as a tool to support your workflows and ensure that
finished content is shared with the intended audience. For example, you can create a
working group and a broadcast group for items related to a project. The working
group can be a private group used for sharing in-progress work. The broadcast
group can be a public group used for sharing finished content with everyone.

You can also use groups to feature content on the home page and gallery and build
custom galleries for basemaps and apps.

Creating groups when you set up your organization allows you to organize members
and content into groups as you add them.

Learn how to create groups

Collaborations
Collaborations are trusted relationships that allow organizations to work together on
content through groups. Partnered and distributed collaborations offer various
methods of sharing maps, apps, layers, and more with other organizations.

Learn more about collaborations

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5. Add members
ArcGIS Online has a flexible system for adding members to your organization. You
can add members automatically or invite them to join your organization. You can add
and invite members one at a time, or you can upload a file and add and invite
members in bulk. You can enable your existing organization-specific login system, set
up member accounts yourself, or allow members to create their own accounts. As
part of the invitation process, you also designate user types and roles and assign
members to the groups you’ve created.

Learn how to add members

Best practices
Best practices for adding members are described below. Most can be done as part
of the invitation process.

• Configure organization-specific logins—If you use an organization-specific

login system such as Okta or Google Workspace, add members using their
SAML or OpenID Connect logins. This allows members to sign in to ArcGIS
Online with their existing logins instead of creating new ArcGIS accounts.
Learn how to configure logins

• Assign user types—User types determine the privileges and apps for members.
There are a variety of user types to match the way a team works. Assign user
types based on the members’ needs and requirements. For example, the
Creator type has access to all the capabilities in ArcGIS Online and most of the
apps, while the Viewer type can only view items that are shared with them and
have access to a small set of apps.
Learn more about user types

• Select roles—Consider the privileges each member needs. You can assign
privileges through a default role, or you can create custom roles based on the
specific privileges you want that role to have. Every subscription must have at
least one administrator role.
Learn how to configure custom roles

• Automatically add members to groups—Specify the groups you want members

to join. Members are added automatically without needing to request

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 membership or accept an invitation.
Learn how to add members to groups

• Allocate a credit budget—You can manage member credit usage by setting a

specified number of credits that the member can use for transaction-based
services and tools such as spatial analysis.
Learn how to allocate credit budgets

• Manage Esri access—Enable Esri access for members who need to use other
web resources such as support, training, and forums or to manage their email
communications from Esri.
Learn how to enable Esri access

• Manage add-on licenses—Each user type includes access to specific apps.

Apps that are not included with an assigned user type can be licensed and
assigned as needed to specific members as add-on licenses.
Learn how to manage licenses

• Categorize members—Set up hierarchical categories for organizing and

filtering members in your organization according to characteristics, such as
department, location, and expertise.
Learn how to set up member categories

• Set new member defaults— Specify member properties to assign by default

when adding new members to your organization. You can configure properties
such as user type, role, credit allocation, and groups.
Learn how to configure new member defaults

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6. Create content
ArcGIS Online includes everything you need to create and share maps, scenes, apps,
notebooks, and layers. You can add existing content such as spreadsheets and
ArcGIS Server services, and create content such as maps, apps, and hosted web
layers.

Consider how your content will be used and optimize it for the best experience. For
example, refine layers with appropriate transparency, scale ranges, and labels;
configure pop-ups in your maps; and create multiple views of your feature layers with
different access and editing properties.

Include complete details so the item is easy to find and use. Designate items as
authoritative when you want to promote them as reliable and boost them in search
results. Set up content categories for your organization and groups so the content is
easy to find.

Tips

• Create a map by combining a basemap with your data. You can apply smart
defaults to quickly style the map.
Learn how to create maps

• ArcGIS Online includes a variety of templates and widgets to help you create
focused web apps.
Learn how to create apps

• Choose from several templates to create layers for use in your maps and apps
to collect data.
Learn how to create feature layers

• When you save or add your content to ArcGIS Online, it’s stored as an item in
My Content, where you can search all your items or browse by filters such as
item type and date.
Learn how to add items

• All content has an associated item page for additional details. You can also
modify item settings and access more options to interact with the item.
Learn how to use item pages

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 • Use content categories to organize group content and content across your
organization.
Learn how to set up content categories

• Share your content with groups, your organization, or everyone.

Learn how to share content

• If your map is picked up by social media and is viewed by thousands or

millions of users at once, you’ll want the map to load as quickly as possible.
Learn how to optimize maps for high demand

Copyright © 2023 Esri. All rights reserved. 11

7. Learn more
As an administrator, you’re responsible for setting up ArcGIS Online. It’s equally
important to maintain members, items, and groups to keep your organization
uncluttered and up to date. The resources in this section can help you with these
maintenance tasks. They also help you learn more about ArcGIS Online.

Monitor activity
Access activity-based metrics and real-time usage reports to help monitor content
and members. An interactive dashboard provides details about your organization's
credit usage, member status and activity, content usage, apps, and groups. You can
also create, export, and save detailed reports of your organization's members and
items.
Learn how to use reports

Credit usage
ArcGIS Online is a paid subscription service. Esri assigns each subscription service
credits that function as currency. You use credits when using certain content,
analytical functions, and data storage. You can enable credit budgeting to manage
credits for transaction-based services and tools such as spatial analysis. Assign a
flexible allocation of credits to some or all organization members or set a default
allocation for new members.
Learn more about credit usage

Additional resources
• ArcGIS Online help is a key resource for learning how to use the software in
general and to perform specific tasks. It also includes best practices for
organization maintenance, what’s new, troubleshooting, and FAQ.

• The documentation gallery has a collection of guided tutorials to help you

learn about ArcGIS. It also includes tutorial series of related resources about a
specific subject, such as administration.

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 • Esri Academy includes instructor-led courses, webinars, learning plans, and
other training resources to help you learn more about managing an ArcGIS
Online organization.

• The GIS community, including Esri, shares thousands of ready-to-use

authoritative datasets in ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World. ArcGIS Living Atlas
covers everything from historical census data to environmental conditions
derived from live sensor networks and earth observations.

• ArcGIS API for Python can help you expedite and maintain administrative tasks.
For example, use the API to set up the folder structure in My Content. You can
also use it to update URLs for service or app items.

• ArcGIS Marketplace includes solutions from Esri partners to help with

administrative tasks.

• Get the latest information on service availability from ArcGIS Online Health
Dashboard.

FAQ

Can I try ArcGIS Online before purchasing a subscription?

Yes. If you don’t have an account yet, you can get a free ArcGIS trial. With an ArcGIS
trial, you are the administrator of your trial organization. You can purchase a
subscription at the end of the trial and continue using the organization and content
you created.

Can I add more members or credits?

Yes. Your ArcGIS Online subscriptions can grow with your organization. You can add
more members or credits at any time.

Where can I get answers to more questions?

Read the ArcGIS Online FAQ, explore Esri Community discussions, or contact Esri.

Copyright © 2023 Esri. All rights reserved. 13