Test your map

Note:

The ArcGIS Collector help site is retired and no longer being updated. To learn about ArcGIS Collector retirement and to find the latest information on data collection, see Collector retirement.

With your map prepared and the form configured, it is ready for testing. While you can test it outside in the field yourself, it is recommended that you also get feedback from mobile workers before sharing the map to a wide audience—make sure the people who are going to use the map can be successful with it.

What to test

Before distributing your map for use in the field, make sure it functions as expected. Make sure to test it outside, and not just in your office, because what works on a mobile device screen is influenced by glare and lighting. Pay attention to the following:

• Symbology—It should be clear and easy to see.
• Labels—These should contain helpful information and be present where needed.
• Scale dependency—Thresholds are correct and relevant information is visible at the same time. Test for both symbology and labels.
• Clean map—Your map shouldn't be cluttered, as that makes it harder to work with the assets and observations it contains.
• New asset and observation templates—If assets and observations can be added, the choices of what can be added should be understandable by mobile workers. They should set appropriate default values. Any templates mobile workers won't use when working with this map should be removed.
• Domains and values—Expected choices appear.
• Attachments—Are supported where expected. The configured photo size provides photos with sufficient quality for your project.
• Offline—If your map is authored for offline use, make sure you can take it offline, collect, and sync your work.
• High-accuracy collection—If your map is authored for use with a high-accuracy GPS, make sure that GPS metadata is recorded (if desired), the locations provided by the GPS are accurate, and the app enforces your required accuracy.
• Form—Test what you configured in the form, such as the order of fields, use of aliases, and any Arcade expressions used.
• Search—If assets or observations are authored to be searchable, search for some. Pay attention to the hint text for the search, and make sure it is appropriate.

Share your map with testers

It is recommended that you also get feedback from others in your organization, and in particular some of the mobile workers that will be using it. The maps available in Collector are those with editable data that are owned by you or shared with a group of which you are a member. Share the map with a group containing your testers to give them access to it in Collector. See share the map with a group in ArcGIS Online or share the map with a group in ArcGIS Enterprise.

Based on the feedback you get, testing can be an iterative process. You should evaluate the feedback you receive, update as needed, and have the map retested.

Troubleshoot

When testing your layer and map, you might experience some common issues. Learn how to fix them in the following sections.

Map isn't available in Collector

Collector displays maps that contain an editable layer and are either owned by you or shared to a group of which you are a member. If you aren't seeing your map in Collector, check that these conditions are both met. Maps shared with you by sharing with your organization but not a group don't appear. Maps excluded from Collector also don't appear.

Editable data

• Make sure your map contains an editable layer. Open it in Map Viewer and make sure you can edit.
• If your layer was made editable after the map was created, save the map again.

Access to map

• If you made the map, make sure you are signed in to Collector with the same ArcGIS account.
• If the map is shared with you, make sure it is shared with a group of which you are a member, and not only shared with your ArcGIS organization.
• If the map was created by ArcGIS Workforce, it won't be available in Collector.

Available for use in Collector

If the map meets the data and access requirements and you don't see it in Collector but do see it when viewing content in a web browser, make sure it is enabled for use in Collector. See Available maps.

Unable to add or update assets or observations

There are a couple of issues that may prevent a mobile worker from adding assets or observations. It could be due to the permissions of that specific mobile worker, an issue with a setting on the layer or map, or a setting in Collector.

If only certain mobile workers are unable to add or update assets, make sure their accounts in the ArcGIS organization have either Edit or Edit with full control Features privileges. These mobile workers won't see Add when viewing maps, nor will they see Edit , Copy , Delete , or Collect Here when viewing the details of an existing asset or observation.

If the issue is common to all mobile workers, you might have restricted edits on the layer or map more than you wanted. For hosted feature layers, see Manage editor settings in ArcGIS Online or Manage editor settings in ArcGIS Enterprise. If you're using a feature service hosted in ArcGIS Server, see Editor permissions for feature services.

If your mobile workers are unable to add related records, make sure your layer isn't restricted to attribute updates only. Since the related table shares the same permissions as the layer, preventing mobile workers from adding new assets and observations also prevents them from adding new records. If you'd like to prevent them from adding new assets or observations, or changing existing ones, but enable them to add related records, disable editing on the layer of assets and observations (leaving it enabled on the table). This is covered in Make a map.

If your data has related features and your mobile workers are unable to capture related assets and observations directly, without indicating the feature to which they are related, turn on the Collector setting Show related types.

Can't add attachments

If mobile workers are unable to add attachments, make sure the layer is configured to support them. How you configure this for your layer depends on when you enable them:

• While creating the feature class in ArcGIS Pro—Run the Enable Attachments tool on your feature class.
• Once the layer is hosted in ArcGIS Online—See Allow attachments for hosted feature layers in ArcGIS Online.
• Once the layer is hosted in ArcGIS Enterprise— See Allow attachments for hosted feature layers in ArcGIS Enterprise.

Can't access related records

Your data has related records, but you can't access them in Collector. Make sure you enabled pop-ups on the related table. See Enable and remove pop-ups in ArcGIS Online or Enable and remove pop-ups in ArcGIS Enterprise.