Public Notification widget

Public Notification is a configuration of Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS that allows local government staff to identify a collection of properties and create mailing labels, or a structured text file, of owners and occupants. This application is typically used by planning and zoning officials, but it can be used by any agency looking to notify property owners or occupants of a formal action being taken.

Configure the Public Notification widget

These steps will show you how to configure the Public Notification widget in your app.

1. Hover over the widget and click the Configure this widget button to open the configuration window.

   Note:

   If you need to add the widget to the app first, click a widget placeholder on the Widget tab. In the Choose Widget window that opens, select the widget and click OK.

2. Optionally click Change widget icon and replace it with your own image.

   A file explorer window appears, allowing you to select a local image file to use as the widget icon.

3. On the Search and Buffer settings tab, add single or multiple search sources from your map. These search sources will be used to buffer and select addresses for label creation.
4. Update the default buffer distance and default units for each search source.

   Tip:

   If you would like to notify within a particular area, such as a school district, specify a 0 length buffer distance.

5. In the Drawing tools for specifying area section, choose the tools to make available for drawing the label notification area of interest.

   Tip:

   If you would like use interactive selection tools to add or remove selected features from the map, check the box for Use selection drawing tools.

6. On the Address Layers tab, select the layers in the map that contain mailing label pop-ups and specify if you would like to use the layer’s related table pop-up.

   Below is an example mailing label pop-up.

   

   Note:

   The Public Notification widget can use multiple label configurations. Multiple label configurations will appear as drop-down lists in the widget at run time.

7. On the Notification Options tab, select the appropriate mailing label formats that you would like to use.

   Note:

   The Public Notification widget can use multiple label formats. Multiple formats will appear as drop-down lists in the widget at run time.

8. In the Options for printed label pages section, use vector fonts (Latin fonts only) for faster performance.

   Note:

   If selected, the vector font option will produce a multipage PDF output. If not selected, raster fonts will be used, and these produce a set of single-page PDFs because of their very large size.

9. Click OK.
10. Hover over the widget and click the dot at the lower left, which turns it dark green. This will cause the widget to automatically open when the app starts.
11. Save the app.
12. Open your Public Notification app.

Use the Public Notification widget

Learn how you can use the Public Notification widget.

1. Select or search for a feature in the map.
2. Optionally apply and update the search distance using a buffer.

   Note:

   The buffer distance set during the configuration will be used as the default for each layer.

3. Choose the Addressee layer used for the notification.
4. Choose the PDF label format or CSV output for the notification.
5. Click Download.

   Note:

   Print using the actual size setting in Adobe Reader, so that addresses appear within the label boundary.