When you add or create an item, configure the item's details and settings. This helps people find and understand the item, and it helps ensure that they use it properly.
The item owner, organization administrators, and data curators can configure the details and settings for items in an organization.
The date that you last altered an item's details (Item updated) is displayed at the top of the Overview tab of the item's details page.
When you finish configuring the item, share it with the appropriate audience.
Configure details
Provide the information for each item that will help users find, understand, and use the content they need. Complete and accurate details are more useful for the people with whom you share the item.
Tip:
Use the Item Information score and improvement suggestions on the item page's Overview tab to determine what details you need to add to help people find, understand, and use your item. Click the Top Improvement suggestion to go directly to the section where you'll make the biggest impact, or click Learn more to go through a full interactive checklist of suggested improvements. As you make improvements, such as adding terms of use or adding to the description, the checklist tracks the sections you update and the status bar changes to reflect your progress.
Edit the item title
The title is the item name that is shown when someone accesses the item. Items always include a title when you create them, but the title added to the item by default may not clarify how the item is different from another item with a similar name, such as the source file from which you published the layer or the web map used to create the app. Provide a title that distinctly represents what each item contains.
Follow these steps to edit an item's title:
- Open the details page for the item.
- Click the Edit button
next to the current item title on the Overview tab of the item page.To change the title of a sublayer in a multilayer feature layer, open the details for the sublayer and click the Edit button
next to the sublayer's title. - Type a name that accurately represents the item or sublayer in the Title field.
- Click Save.
Provide a summary description
The summary is a short description of the item that provides people information they can scan at a glance. The summary is returned in the results list when people search for content on the website.
Follow these steps to add or edit a summary description for an item:
- Open the details page for the item.
- Click Edit next to the item summary on the Overview tab of the item page.
To add or change the short description for a sublayer in a multilayer feature layer, open the details for the sublayer and click Edit next to the sublayer's summary.
At this time, the summary content for sublayers in a multilayer feature layer is not included in search results.
- Type a short description of the item in the Summary field.
The limit for the summary is 2,048 characters.
- Click Save.
Provide a detailed description
The description provides more in-depth information to describe the item. When users open the item page, the description information helps them decide whether the item is useful for their purposes.
Follow these steps to add or edit the description for an item:
- Open the details page for the item.
- Click Edit next to the item description on the Overview tab of the item page.
To add or change the description of a sublayer in a multilayer feature layer, open the details for the sublayer and click Edit next to the sublayer's description.
- Type detailed information that describes the item in the Description field.
You can include images and hyperlinks, and format the description text.
- Click Save.
Set a thumbnail image
A thumbnail image is created by default when you add the item to your organization. For layer items, the default thumbnail displays the features or imagery in the layer. For other item types, the default thumbnail is a map of the world.
The thumbnail appears in galleries, search results, contents, and the item page.
You can create and load a different image if the default image does not convey the information you want. For example, if you create an item from a tile package, you can create a thumbnail that shows the geographic extent of the data stored in the tile package. Or if you create an item from a document file or URL, you can upload an image of a stack of paper to indicate the item is a document, or upload an image that represents the contents of the document.
Follow these steps to change the thumbnail image for an item:
- Open the details page for the item.
- Click Edit thumbnail above the current thumbnail on the Overview tab of the item page.
- Upload an image file or define a map to represent the item.
- To upload an image file, click Browse, choose an image file from your local computer or network, and click Open.
You can drag an image or browse to a file. For best results, add an image that is 600 pixels wide by 400 pixels high or larger with an aspect ratio of 3:2 in a web file image format such as PNG, JPEG, or GIF. PNG yields the crispest images. Pan and zoom to what you want to appear in your thumbnail. Depending on the size and resolution of your image file and how far you zoom in to customize the thumbnail, the image may be resampled and scaled when it's saved. If you add an image in GIF or JPEG format, it will be converted to PNG when it's saved.
- To define a map area, click Create thumbnail from map, choose a basemap, and set the map's extent by searching for a location or zooming in or out.
- To upload an image file, click Browse, choose an image file from your local computer or network, and click Open.
- Click Save.
Specify terms of use
Provide information about how the item can be used and by whom. For example, you might have a use constraint for a map layer that requires others to display copyright information on any screen capture that includes the layer.
Follow these steps to add or edit the terms of use for an item:
- Open the details page for the item.
- Click Edit next to Terms of Use on the Overview tab of the item page.
- Type restrictions, limitations, or requirements for using the item.
You can include images and hyperlinks, and format the text.
- Click Save.
Add metadata
If an organization has enabled metadata, you can use a built-in editor to include or edit standards-based metadata for your items. Metadata is viewed in the metadata style configured by the organization.
For multilayer feature layers, you can provide metadata for each individual layer in the feature layer.
If the organization disables metadata, the metadata is still part of the item and the layers, but you can no longer edit the metadata in ArcGIS Online.
Follow these steps to add or edit metadata for an item:
- Open the details page for the item.
- Click Metadata on the Overview tab of the item page.
The metadata editor appears.
- Define or edit metadata using one of the following methods:
- Click through the tabs in the editor and provide or change the metadata settings.
- Click Overwrite to upload a metadata file. The file must be in a format that is supported for the metadata style defined for the organization.
- Click Validate to confirm that the metadata you provided meets the requirements for the metadata style set for the organization.
- Click Save.
Assign categories
Categories are content groupings that are defined by organization administrators. Users can apply filters based on those categories when they browse the organization for content.
If your organization has configured categories, you can assign up to 20 categories to your item.
Follow these steps to assign or change categories for your item:
- Open the details page for the item.
- Click Edit next to Categories on the Overview tab of the item page.
A list of categories and subcategories appears.
- Optionally, use the Filter categories box to narrow the categories, or scroll to see the complete list.
- Select the categories to assign to the item.
- Click Save.
Add tags
Tags help people find your items when they initiate a search. The tags you specify should correspond to keywords you think people will use to search for your item. Organization members, those outside the organization, and public users can also use these tags to filter content when searching or browsing for items. Group members can use the Tags filter to find items shared with groups they belong to.
Follow these steps to add keyword tags to or remove tags from your item:
- Open the details page for the item.
- On the Overview tab of the item page, next to Tags, click Edit.
- Type keywords or phrases that represent the item.
Separate multiple keywords or phrases with a comma. For example, to add the tag phrases public lands and parks, type public lands, parks.
As you type, a list of existing tags appears. You can choose tags from the list.
- Press Tab or Enter after you add each keyword or phrase.
- To remove tags, click the x in the tag.
- Click Save.
Give credit to data providers
Your item may contain data provided by different agencies or individuals. You can give credit to the data providers in the Credits (Attribution) field. Indicating who created the data can also help build users' trust if the data originated with a reputable source.
When you set an attribution on a layer item and add the layer item to Map Viewer, the attribution appears at the bottom of the map.
You can set separate attributions for each layer in a feature layer item. If attributions are set on the sublayers only and not set on the feature layer item, the sublayer attributions appear in Map Viewer when you add the layer to a map.
- Open the details page for the item.
- Click Edit next to Credits (Attribution) on the Overview tab of the item page.
To add or change the attribution of a sublayer in a multilayer feature layer, open the details for the sublayer and click Edit next to Credits (Attribution) for the sublayer.
- Type information about the data provider, such as their name and contact information or a URL to their website.
- Click Save.
Configure settings
You can configure the following general settings for all item types:
All other settings vary by item type.
Enable delete protection
To prevent accidentally deleting an item that is part of your organization's featured content—for example, a layer in a featured map—you can enable delete protection as a setting of the item.
- Sign in to the organization as the item owner or an administrator.
- Open the details page for the item and click the Settings tab.
- Check the box next to Prevent this item from being accidentally deleted.
- Click Save.
If you later determine that the item is no longer needed—for example, the content is out of date—first mark the item as deprecated. After you give people time to find alternative content, you can disable delete protection by unchecking the box next to Prevent this item from being accidentally deleted, and then click the Delete item button on the Settings tab to delete it.
Define content extent
When users search for content based on a location, the search uses the extent (the geographic boundary) that you specify for the item. This allows you to add a geographic context to files and online resources as well as layers, maps, and scenes.
For example, if you add a Microsoft Word document that contains a report about Santiago, Chile, or a URL to a news report about Santiago, you can set the geographic extent of those items to the city's boundaries.
To set or change the extent of an item you own or administer, do the following:
- Sign in to the organization as the item owner or an administrator.
- Open the details page for the item and click the Settings tab.
- Click Set Extent to set the item's extent for the first time, or click Edit Extent to change the extent of the item.
- In the Set Extent window, do any of the following to define an extent for the item:
Tip:
You can use the zoom buttons to help navigate to the extent.
- To create an extent based on the default extent specified for the organization, click Organization's extent.
- To create an extent based on the region specified for the organization, click Organization's region.
- To create an extent based on the extent defined in the data source (for hosted feature layer and ArcGIS Server feature layer items only), click Current features in layer.
- To navigate to a place or address, type keywords in the search box. Keywords can include addresses, street intersections, places, points of interest, and longitude and latitude coordinates. The extent centers on the place or address you specify.
- To draw a shape representing the extent, click Drawing Tool and drag a box on the map.
- To create an extent by specifying coordinate values (in decimal degrees) for the extent boundaries, click Coordinates and type the coordinates in the Top, Bottom, Left, and Right text boxes.
- Make changes to the extent by dragging any of the vertices of the extent box or clicking in the box and dragging it to a new location.
- Click Save.
The extent setting for items such as files and some layer types are not dynamic. If you update the item so that the geographic boundaries of the data represented in the item change, update the item's extent accordingly.
Define content status
Items can be designated as authoritative or deprecated to indicate the item's status to others—whether it is the best version of specific content (authoritative) or whether the content is out of date and may be removed from the organization (deprecated).
Only organization administrators can designate an item as authoritative. See Manage content for more information.
If you are the item owner or an administrator, or you have administrative privileges to update content, you can designate an item as deprecated. This warns people that the item is outdated and may be removed from the organization, while providing them with time to find replacements.
Follow these steps to label an item as deprecated:
- Sign in to the organization as the item owner or an administrator.
- Open the details page for the item and click the Settings tab.
- Click the Mark as Deprecated button.
The item is identified with a Deprecated badge to all users. Organization members can use the Status filter to find content marked as deprecated when they browse or search for content in their organization.
Item-specific settings
Additional settings are specific to the item type. The following pages provide information about settings for specific item types and how and why you configure them:
| Item type | |
|---|---|
Layers | |
Web maps | |
Web scenes | |
Apps | |
Data stores |