Own groups

As a group owner, you can edit the properties of your group (such as the thumbnail, description, and tags), manage your content and content shared with your group, and change some group settings including who can contribute content to your group and who can access (that is, search for and find) the group. You can also share items with the group using the Add items to group button on the group page.

Once you create your group, you can use the Settings tab at any time to change the way members can access and join the group, and the type of items (for example, maps or layers) displayed by default on the group's Content and Overview tabs. Depending on the settings you choose, you may need to perform additional actions as the group owner. For example, if you configure your group to only allow group members to search for and find the group (that is, if it's a private group), you must invite members to join the group. For groups that can be found by organization members or the public, you can invite members to join, or, if you prefer to have members apply to join, you must accept or decline their membership requests.

Tip:

You may want to allow anyone in your organization—and outside the organization, if they have privileges to join external groups—to join your group without needing to be invited or approved. You can do this by selecting the By adding themselves option under How can people join this group?. If you choose this option, members can request to join the group and are instantly granted membership without your involvement.

You can share public content with your group, which is useful when you find content that relates to the focus of your group but the content owner is not a member. Group owners can remove content and remove members from their groups, enable delete protection on their groups, and delete their groups as needed. Owners also have the option of changing a group member's role. For example, you can promote some group members to group managers, which allows them to help you with group ownership tasks. Group owners and managers can also curate featured content and organize items in the group into hierarchical categories to make it easier for group members to find the content they need. Group owners who are default administrators also have the option of hiding group membership information from some group members if needed.

Manage new membership requests

You will see a Membership requests link when someone requests to join a group that requires approval.

1. Verify that you are signed in.
2. Click Groups at the top of the site, and use the tabs, filters, sort options, and search as needed to find the group for which you want to manage membership requests.
3. Click Membership requests above the group name, and in the pop-up that appears, click Approve or Decline for each request. Optionally, click Approve all.

   Tip:

   You can also approve or decline group membership requests by clicking the Membership requests link on the Overview tab of the group page.

If you approve the user's request, the user is automatically added to your group. If you decline the request, the user is not added to your group. In either case, the user can check the status by opening the Notifications pop-up at the top of the site.

Invite members

Group owners and managers with organizational accounts can add members to groups they own or manage with or without the members needing to accept invitations. Administrators and members with privileges to assign members to groups can also add members directly to a group.

Note:

You cannot invite members to groups whose membership is controlled by a SAML-based group. You must work directly with the group to add or remove members.

1. Verify that you are signed in. If you want to add members directly, verify that you are signed in to your organization.
2. Click Groups at the top of the site, and use the tabs, filters, sort options, and search as needed to find the group you want to invite people to join. Click the name of the group to open its group page.
3. Click Invite members.
4. Search for members to add to the group, and apply filters to narrow the list.

   You can search for individual users by name or username, or by words users may have in their profile description, for example, Mike Jones Redlands GIS. If you are inviting members of another organization to your group, only those users who have made their profiles available to the public will be found in a search. However, you can still invite members who haven't set their profiles to be public if you enter their exact username.

   If your group has been configured to allow members of collaborating organizations, you can search for users from collaborating organizations using the Include this and partnered organizations' members toggle button. If your group has been configured to allow members of any organization to join, you can search for users outside of your organization using the Search all ArcGIS Online organization members toggle button.

   Note:

   You can only invite people who have the same type of account that you have. If you have an organizational account, you can only invite organizational accounts to join your group. If you have a public account, you can only invite public accounts to join your group. For groups that allow shared updates, you can only invite members of your organization or a collaborating organization who have privileges to create, update, and delete content.

5. Select the members you want to invite to the group.
6. To add members directly, check Add organization members without requiring confirmation. As the owner or manager of the group, you only see this option if you have an organizational account. In addition, those who don't own or manage the group will also see this option if they have privileges to view groups owned by members and assign members to organizational groups.
7. When you're finished selecting members, click Invite members to invite the users to join your group or Add members to group to add members directly.

   Note:

   You only see one button option in the Invite members window. The button changes from Invite members to Add members to group when you check the option to add members of the organization immediately without requiring confirmation.

Users receive a message in their Notifications pop-up. They can view the invitation on the Groups page and accept or reject it. If they accept the invitation, they will automatically be added to your group, and their name will appear on the Members tab of the group page.

Change a member's group role

After inviting members to your group, you can update their group role as needed.

Group owners and administrators with privileges to manage groups can promote group members to group managers to help with group ownership tasks. Group managers can invite members to the group, process membership requests for groups that allow requests, remove content and members, and edit group properties.

Note:

Organization administrators and those with the appropriate privileges can also change a group's owner.

1. Click the Members tab of the group page.

   Note:

   The Members tab does not appear for groups whose membership is controlled by a SAML-based group.

2. Search for members by full name and apply filters to narrow the list of group members. Sort the list as desired.

   Tip:

   To find specific members in your organization who belong to the group, turn on the My organization view toggle button to see additional filter options—for example, member categories, user type, and login type. The options you see depend on your privileges in the organization.

   Active filters are shown at the top of the results page. Click the x next to a filter to clear it. To clear all active filters at once, click Clear.

3. Select the member or members whose group role you want to change and click Update member's group role.
4. Select another role (Manager or Member) and click Save.

   Note:

   You can only promote group members to group managers if they are from your organization or a collaborating organization and have privileges to create and own groups. It is recommended that you only promote members who have similar privileges to yours so that their ownership capabilities in the group match yours. For example, if you only have privileges to share groups privately (make them accessible to group members only) but want to promote a member who has privileges to make groups accessible to the public and to people in your organization, that member will have more capabilities in managing the group than you do as owner.

Remove members

If you no longer want a member to participate in your group, you can remove them from the group. Their items are also removed from the group. The user's account and items are not removed from ArcGIS Online or your organization. To remove a member, do the following:

1. Click the Members tab of the group page.

   Note:

   The Members tab does not appear for groups whose membership is controlled by a SAML-based group.

2. Search for members by full name and apply filters to narrow the list of group members. Sort the list as desired.

   Tip:

   To find specific members in your organization who belong to the group, turn on the My organization view toggle button to see additional filter options—for example, member categories, user type, and login type. The options you see depend on your privileges in the organization.

   Active filters are shown at the top of the results page. Click the x next to a filter to clear it. To clear all active filters at once, click Clear.

3. Check the box to select the member you want to remove. You can select as many members as you want.

   Tip:

   You can remove all members from the group at once by checking the check box above the members list to select all members and then clicking Remove member from group. Remember to deselect the group owner before removing the group members.

4. Click Remove member from group.
5. In the Remove access window, click Remove.

Hide group membership information

In some cases, a group owner may not want the list of group members to be visible to everyone in the group. For example, to protect the privacy of members of public groups such as community and crowdsourced groups, a group owner may choose to hide group membership information. If you are a default administrator and owner of the group, you can hide the full list of members (with the exception of the group owner and managers) from everyone except yourself, the group's managers, and those with administrative privileges to view all members and groups.

Note:

This setting only applies to the Members tab of the group page. The item owner will still be displayed on the item page of individual items in the group. Organization members can see the group as a filtering option when inviting members to a group or when managing members from the organization page Members tab. This setting is not available for SAML-based groups.

1. Verify that you are signed in as a default administrator of your organization.
2. At the top of the site, click Groups.
3. On the My Groups tab, select your username under the Owner filter, and select the group for which you want to hide membership information.
4. On the group page, click the Settings tab.
5. Under Group membership visibility, click Hide group members.

   Note:

   The Hide group members button will not be visible if you selected Group owner and managers for the question Who can see the full list of members on the group's Members tab? during group creation.

6. In the Hide group members window, click Hide.

   Caution:

   This action cannot be reverted. Once the full list of members is hidden, it can't be made visible again for the group.

Categorize content

As a group owner or manager, or if you have the administrative privilege to update group content, you can set up hierarchical categories to organize the items in a group. Once the categories are set up, you can assign items in the group to those categories so that group members can more easily find the items they need when they browse or search for group content.

Note:

Categories help others quickly discover maps, scenes, apps, and other items. You can configure categories to organize content across the organization or content shared with specific groups (as described below).

Set up categories

Group owners and managers can configure categories to organize group content. 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.

1. Click the Content tab of the group page.
2. Under Group Categories, click Set up group categories.

   Note:

   If you've already created categories for this group, click the Configure group categories button next to Group Categories to add, rename, delete, or reorder categories for the group.

3. Select one of the following:
   • Custom categories—Create your own categories to organize content in the group.
   • ArcGIS categories—Use ArcGIS categories as a starting point. You can customize them or leave them unchanged. These categories are presented in ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World.
   • ISO categories—Use topic categories from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as a starting point. You can customize them or leave them unchanged. ISO publication 19115 provides a method to describe and catalog geographic information.
   • INSPIRE categories—Use theme categories from the INSPIRE Directive as a starting point. You can customize them or leave them unchanged.
4. If you selected Custom categories in the previous step, create a category hierarchy as follows:
   1. Type a name for the category (using up to 100 characters) and click the Add button . Click the Add category button to add additional categories.
   2. To create subcategories, click the Expand button and click the Add subcategory button below an existing category, type a name for the subcategory (using up to 100 characters), and click the Add button .
   3. Create additional top-level categories and subcategories as needed.
5. If you selected ArcGIS categories, ISO categories, or INSPIRE categories, do any of the following to review or make changes to the category hierarchy:
   • Expand and collapse categories in the category tree as needed using the expand button and collapse button next to the categories.
   • To add a category or subcategory, click the Add category button or Add subcategory button below an existing category, type a name for the category or subcategory (using up to 100 characters), and click Add.
6. Do any of the following to make additional changes to the categories as needed:
   • To rename a category or subcategory, click the Edit category button for the category or subcategory you want to rename, type a new name (using up to 100 characters), and click Update.
   • To delete a category or subcategory, click the Delete category button for the category or subcategory you want to delete.
   • To change the order of categories at the same level in the hierarchy, hover over the expand button or collapse button next to the category and drag it to a different location.
7. When you are finished setting up group categories, click Finish setup

   Your categories are listed under Categories and are ready to be used to categorize the items in your group.

   Note:

   You can have up to three levels of categories in the hierarchy, with a maximum of 900 categories and subcategories in total. For efficiency, it is recommended that you create a comprehensive and complete category hierarchy and naming scheme before assigning items to categories.

Categorize items

Once group categories are configured, you can categorize items in your group. Categorizing content allows group members to find the content they need.

1. Select one or more group items you want to categorize and click More .
2. Click Categorize.
3. Do any of the following:
   • To categorize all selected items at once, check the boxes to select the categories and subcategories as applicable. Each item card updates to show the categories you selected.

     Note:

     Selecting a subcategory automatically selects all associated categories and subcategories above it in the hierarchy. However, selecting a category does not automatically select its subcategories.

   • To categorize items individually, click Assign Category on the item card and select the categories you want. You can assign up to 20 categories to each item. You can also use the Filter categories box to narrow your options.
   • To remove all selected items from a specific category or subcategory, uncheck the boxes to deselect the appropriate category or subcategory. Each item card updates to reflect the category you removed.

     Note:

     When deselecting categories and subcategories, the following occurs:

     • Deselecting a category or subcategory automatically deselects all of its associated subcategories.
     • Deselecting a subcategory when no other subcategories are selected at the same level also deselects the associated categories above it and subcategories below it.

   • To remove an individual item from a category, click the remove button next to the category on the associated item card.
4. When you are finished categorizing the items, click Save.

   The group items are organized into the group categories you specified. Group members can use these categories to filter content when browsing or searching for items in the group.

   Note:

   When you categorize an item, it is recommended that you choose the most specific and relevant category possible to ensure that the item is displayed and discovered as expected in an appropriate grouping. For example, to categorize a web map, choose Maps > Web Maps instead of Maps.

Curate featured content

By default, the Overview tab of the group page displays a gallery of content items most recently added to the group. Alternatively, group owners, group managers, and members with administrative privileges to manage content in groups can curate a gallery of featured group content instead of showing recently added items.

Note:

If an administrator chooses to display curated featured content from a group on the Gallery page of your organization website, the group's featured items are displayed in the gallery in the same order they appear on the Overview tab of the group page.

To curate featured content for a group, do the following:

1. Verify that you are signed in to your organization.
2. At the top of the site, click Groups, and use the tabs, filters, sort options, and search as needed to find the group.
3. On the My Groups tab, click the name of a group you own or manage.
4. On the Overview tab of the group page under Recently added content, click Edit.

   The Showcase group content window appears.

5. Click Featured content.
6. Click Select featured items.
7. Use the filters, sort options, and search as needed to find items to include in the featured content gallery.
8. Select items to include and click Done.

   Note:

   If the group setting to display a specific item type such as maps or layers in the gallery was applied to the group, only items of that type are available for selection.

9. Click Save.
10. To make changes to the featured content gallery, click Edit and do any of the following:
    • Click Add or remove featured items, select different or additional items, and click Done.
    • Drag the cards in the gallery to change the order of featured content items.
    • Click Recently added content to display recently added items instead of the curated gallery.

      If you decide to curate featured content later, the original item selection is automatically applied. You can keep these items in the featured content gallery or make changes to the selection as needed.

Share public and organizational content

Once an item has been shared with your organization or with the public, you can share it with your group. If the content owner makes the item private, it is automatically removed from your group.

1. Click Content at the top of the site and find the item you want to share with your group.

   Items that have been shared with everyone (public) are marked with a globe icon . Items shared with your organization are marked with a building icon .

2. Click the name of the item to open its item page.
3. Click Share.
4. Click Edit group sharing and check the box next to the group with which you want to share the item.

   You can select more than one group if you want to share the item with multiple groups you own.

   Tip:

   Use the search to help you find the desired group or groups.

5. Click OK and click Save.

Remove content

If a group member has shared an item you do not think fits into your group, you can remove it. The item no longer appears in the group, but it is not deleted from the owner's account. It is still available to the item owner and retains its other sharing properties—for example, being a public item. To remove an item from your group, do the following:

1. Click the Content tab of the group page.
2. Do any of the following to find the items you want to remove from the group:
   • Enter keywords in the search field.
   • Use the search filters to narrow the list of items. For example, you can filter by item type (map, layer, app, and so on), location, the date the item was last modified, tags, how it was shared (everyone, organization, or group), and whether it is from a collaborating organization.

     Tip:

     Active filters are shown at the top of the results page. Click the x next to a filter to clear it. To clear all active filters at once, click Clear.

   • Sort the list of items by title, owner, view count, or rating. You can also click the arrow to reverse the alphabetical sort order.
3. Select the item you want to remove from the group.

   You can remove one or multiple items at once.

   Note:

   To select an item, check the box next to the item name.

4. Click Remove from group.
5. Click Yes to confirm that you want to remove the item or items from the group.

Share your group

If you have sharing privileges, you can use the Share button on the Overview tab of the group page to share the group.

Enable delete protection

You can prevent groups you own or manage from being accidentally deleted. This setting is especially important to protect special groups such as Open Data groups. To enable delete protection on your group, click the Settings for your group tab and turn on the toggle button under Delete protection.

Delete your group

To delete a group that you own, manage, or administer, go to the Settings tab of the group you want to delete and click Delete group. In the Delete window, click Delete. This option is not available if delete protection is enabled on the group.