Create a custom basemap gallery

A basemap provides the geographic context for the layers displayed in a map. When you create a web map or a web scene, you can choose a basemap from the basemap gallery. ArcGIS GeoBIM also uses the basemap gallery of your organization to define your project’s spatial reference. This allows you to select any spatial reference by selecting a basemap for the ArcGIS GeoBIM project created in your organization. The selected basemap is then used on the tools page and in the project’s web map.

Customize basemaps

If you are the administrator for your ArcGIS Online organization, you can configure which basemaps are available in your organization and which basemap is displayed by default when  Map Viewer is opened. ArcGIS GeoBIM also uses your organization’s basemap gallery and the default basemap selected. You can use the default basemap gallery provided in ArcGIS Online or define your own group as the basemap gallery. When you add or remove maps from the group set as the basemap gallery, the maps are also added or removed as basemap choices.

When you create a group for the basemap gallery, you can use the following to create custom basemaps:

• Existing basemaps—All the basemaps in the default basemap gallery show the entire world. If your organization only creates maps of smaller areas, you can save maps at those extents. For example, if your organization uses data and creates maps specific to the southern region of Iceland, you can create basemaps with an extent that only encompasses Southern Iceland. You can place these maps in the basemap gallery group for your organization and choose one of those maps to be the default basemap used in  your web maps or ArcGIS GeoBIM projects.

  Note:

  Do not do this if you want to take web maps offline.

• Web maps—You can create web maps that contain a single layer and share them with the basemap gallery group. To use multiple layers in a basemap, publish a map service that contains those layers and add that map service to a web map. Then save the web map and share it with the group set as the basemap gallery.

  Note:

  It is recommended that you use cached map services for basemaps, although a dynamic service may still be used. Cached map services use a tiling scheme to establish scale and level of detail for a rapid return of map images. Dynamic map services draw a map image each time the user zooms or pans. If a cached map is overlaid on a dynamic map, the cached map service no longer uses the tiling scheme to establish level of detail and is therefore treated as a dynamic map.

Create a basemap gallery group

Follow these steps to create a group to store the basemaps for your organization.

1. Sign in to ArcGIS Online.
2. Open Group and click Create New Group.
3. Enter the Name, Summary, Description, and Tags for the group.
4. Leave Who can view this group? set to Everyone (Public) if you have publicly shared web maps and web applications. If you use ArcGIS Online only within the organization, consider setting it to All organization members.

   Note:

   Everyone (Public) sharing is needed so anyone from outside of your ArcGIS Online organization using your ArcGIS GeoBIM app or any web application has access to basemaps.

5. To allow members of your organization to request membership to the group so they can contribute maps, choose Those who request membership and are approved by a group manager. If you are inviting members instead, choose Only those invited by a group manager.
6. Choose who can contribute basemaps to the group.
   • If other group members are creating basemaps to share, choose Group members.
   • If you are the only user creating and sharing basemaps with this group, choose  Only group owner and managers.
7. From the Sort group content by drop-down list, choose how the basemaps are sorted by default, and choose whether they will be listed in ascending or descending order by checking or unchecking Ascending.
8. Click Create Group to create the group.

   You have now created a basemap group for your organization.

Create and share basemaps

Now that you have a group to use for the basemap gallery, you must create web maps to populate the gallery. Once you create the web maps that are used as basemaps, share them with the group you use as your basemap gallery. You must also share the web maps with everyone (public) so all  ArcGIS GeoBIM  users can access your custom basemaps.

1. Open  Map Viewer. Click Basemap.
2. To use an existing basemap from the current basemap gallery, follow these steps:
   1. Choose the basemap from the gallery.
   2. Zoom to the extent you want to use as the initial extent of the basemap to show a more focused area.

      Note:

      As noted previously, do not use basemaps created from default basemaps if members of your organization are taking maps offline.

3. To use a tile layers (a vector tile or an image tile layer) service as a basemap, follow these steps in Map Viewer:
   1. Click the Add drop-down button, and select the Add Layer from URL option.
   2. Choose An ArcGIS Server Web Service for an ArcGIS Online or Enterprise hosted tile layer service, or choose WMS OGC Web Service, or  WMTS OGC Web Service  from the drop-down list for an OGC web service.
   3. Type or paste the URL for the map service in  URL.
   4. Check Use as basemap.
   5. Click Use as basemap to add the new layer as basemap into your web map.
4. Click Save in Map Viewer.
The Save As  dialog box appears
5. Type Title, Tags, and Summary text or the map, choose which folder to save it in, and click Save.

   You can share the map now while you are still in  Map Viewer, or wait until you have created all your basemaps and share them at once from the My Content  tab of the content page.

6. Follow the steps below to share the map from  Map Viewer:
   1. Click Share map.
   2. Check the Everyone (public) box.
   3. Click Edit group sharing.
   4. Check the box next to the group you created for the basemap gallery and click OK.
   5. Click Save  to apply your changes and to close the  Share  window.
7. Follow the steps below to share multiple maps:
   1. Open the My Content  tab of the content page.
   2. Check the box next to every web map you want to use for the basemap gallery and click Share.
   3. Check the box next to the group you created for the basemap gallery.
   4. Check the box next to  Everyone.
   5. Click OK to share all the selected maps.

Set the basemap gallery and default basemap

Finally, change the map  settings to specify the group you created as the basemap gallery, and choose one map from the basemap gallery to be the default basemap. The default basemap is the basemap that is shown as default when you create a project in ArcGIS GeoBIM or when you first open Map Viewer. Follow these steps to set the basemap gallery and default basemap:

1. Verify that you are signed in as an administrator and you  can configure general settings for the site.
2. Open the  Organization  page.
3. Click the  Settings  tab.
4. Click  Map  to open the page to configure  basemap gallery.
5. Choose your basemap group from the  Basemap Gallery  drop-down list.

   You already set the default sort criteria, so you do not need to change it here.

6. Choose one of the basemaps from the  Default Basemap  drop-down list.

   Choose the basemap that is most frequently used by your organization.

7. Click  Save  to apply your changes.

Now when you create a project in  ArcGIS GeoBIM or open a new map in Map Viewer in your ArcGIS Online organization, the default basemap is the one you specified. When you click the  Basemap  widget in  ArcGIS GeoBIM, the maps from the new basemap gallery you created are displayed.