Members of the default administrator role and members of custom roles with the appropriate administrative privileges can control the following settings that affect the items in an organization:
- Enable a comments section on the item page of each item in the organization.
- Allow the storage of metadata for items, and configure the default metadata style used by the organization.
- Create hierarchical categories to help organize items in a systematic and centralized way.
- Take advantage of term synonyms (beta) in the item search.
- Enable or disable a temporary location (recycle bin) to hold deleted items for 14 days so they can be restored before they are permanently removed from the organization.
Follow these steps to configure item settings for the organization:
- Verify that you are signed in as a member of the default administrator role or a custom role with the administrative privilege to manage the organization website.
- At the top of the site, click Organization and click the Settings tab.
- Click Items on the side of the page.
- Configure any of the following item settings:
- Comments
- Metadata
- Organization categories
Note:
To configure organization categories, you must be a member of a role that has the administrative privilege to manage categories in addition to the privilege to manage the organization website.
- Recycle bin
- Search using related terms (Beta)
Comments
Keep the Show and allow comments on items in the organization toggle button turned on to show and allow comments on items in the organization. When turned off, comments cannot be added and are not displayed for items owned by the organization.
Metadata
Keep the Enable metadata for your organization toggle button turned on to enable metadata for your organization and choose a style from the drop-down list: FGDC CSDGM Metadata, INSPIRE Metadata Directive, ISO 19139 Metadata Implementation Specification GML3.2, ISO 19139 Metadata Implementation Specification, North American Profile of ISO19115 2003, or ISO 19115-3 XML Schema Implementation.
By default, metadata is opened in a new metadata editor, but you can open the older editor (metadata editor classic).
The style controls how the metadata appears and which fields are available for creating it. By enabling metadata, members of your organization can include additional standards-based metadata in their items using a built-in metadata editor. When this metadata is included, anyone with access to the item can view the metadata in the style configured for the organization.
Organization categories
Click Configure categories to define hierarchical categories for organizing content. If you choose to set up categories for your organization, you can create your own custom categories or use standard category sets from ArcGIS (presented in ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), or INSPIRE as a starting point. Once categories have been configured, they can be used to organize items in your organization so that members can more easily find the content they need when searching or browsing.
Note:
You can add, delete, rename, or reorder the categories at any time by clicking Configure categories. Your edits are applied to any items that were categorized previously.
Recycle bin
When you or other organization members delete items, most item types can be placed in a temporary holding location called the recycle bin. This allows the member or you to restore items that were deleted in error. After 14 days, items in the recycle bin are automatically deleted.
Each member who has privileges to create content has a recycle bin 
. Administrators have access to content in all recycle bins, including their own. As the administrator, you can manage the content of all items in the recycle bin for the organization or manage the recycle bin of an individual member.
Recycle bins are enabled by default in new organizations. If your organization does not want to take advantage of the recycle bin, or you enabled it for an existing organization and decide you do not want to use it, you can disable the recycle bin for the organization. When the recycle bin is not enabled, though, all deleted items are immediately removed from the organization and cannot be recovered.
To disable the recycle bin, follow the steps below:
- Click Opt out of the recycle bin and read the message about the ramifications of disabling the recycle bin.
- If you participate in the Esri User Experience Improvement program, type the reason for disabling the recycle bin.
- Check the box to confirm the decision, and click Opt out.
If you later decide to use the recycle bin, you can return to this section and opt in to using the recycle bin for the organization.
Search using related terms (Beta)
Turn on the toggle button to display search results based on synonyms and other related terms. This beta setting is currently only available for organizations that have their default language set to English.