Open a web map

In ArcGIS Web Editor, data editing is performed in a web map. You can open a web map in Web Editor to create and modify features in layers on the map.

Note:

You cannot create a web map or add layers to a web map in Web Editor. Use Map Viewer to add layers to a web map, then open the web map in Web Editor.

For best results, layers for editing should not be styled using aggregated symbols such as heat map, bins, or clusters.

Find and open a map

You must open a web map before you can start editing layers in Web Editor. You can open a web map by clicking Open in Web Editor on the item page for the web map, or find and open the web map in Web Editor.

To find and open a web map in Web Editor, complete the following steps:

1. Open Web Editor and sign in to your ArcGIS organizational account.
2. Do one of the following:
   • On the Contents (dark) toolbar, click Open map .
   • Use the Alt+O shortcut for Windows or Option+O shortcut for Mac.

   The Open map pane appears showing maps in My content.

3. Click My content and choose a different location to search from the menu (for example, My organization) if necessary.
4. Find a map by doing any of the following:
   • Type search terms in the search box. You can also use advanced search to narrow the search results.

     Learn more about search in ArcGIS Online

   • Click the filter button to narrow the search results.
   • Click the title of an item to see its details. In the item pane, expand Overview, Description, and Details to see more information about the item.
5. Click Open map on the search result.

The map opens in Web Editor.

Change the layer visibility

Not all layers on a map are necessary for editors to see. If a map has more than one layer, the additional layers may make it more difficult for the editor to create or modify features from the layer they're editing. You can turn layer visibility on or off so the map is only showing layers necessary for editing.

To turn the visibility of a layer on or off, complete the following steps:

1. Open a map in Web Editor.
2. Do one of the following:
   • On the Contents (dark) toolbar, click Layers .
   • Use the Alt+Shift+L shortcut for Windows or Option+Shift+L shortcut for Mac.

   The Layers pane appears.

3. Hover over a layer and click Visibility to turn the layer on or off.

Reorder layers

The order the layers are drawn can also impact which layers can be accessed when editing. You can reorder layers so the layers you're editing are drawn on top of other layers.

Note:

Web maps cannot be saved in Web Editor. The layers will be reverted to the original order if the web map is closed and re-opened.

To reorder layers, complete the following steps:

1. Open a map in Web Editor.
2. Do one of the following:
   • On the Contents (dark) toolbar, click Layers .
   • Use the Alt+Shift+L shortcut for Windows or Option+Shift+L shortcut for Mac.

   The Layers pane appears.

3. Click Reposition and drag a layer to a new location in the layers list.

The order of the layers changes.

Change a basemap

Basemaps provide geographic context to your features, such as topography, streets, and building locations.

To change the basemap for a web map, do the following:

1. Open a map in Web Editor.
2. Do one of the following:
   • On the Contents (dark) toolbar, click Basemap .
   • Use the Alt+Shift+B shortcut for Windows or Option+Shift+B shortcut for Mac.

   The Basemap pane appears.

   All basemaps in your organization are listed in the Basemaps pane. Basemaps with an incompatible spatial reference are listed but are unavailable to select.

3. Click the thumbnail of the basemap you want to use in the map.
4. View information about the basemap you've added by completing the following steps:
   1. At the top of the Basemaps pane, click Current Basemap.
   2. On any of the listed reference layers or base layers, click Options and choose Show properties.

      The Properties pane appears. This pane displays information about the layer, such as its symbology, transparency, blending, and visible range settings.

The basemap updates.

Some basemaps include separate base and reference layers. To turn off layers from a basemap, click Current basemap at the top of the Basemap pane, expand the Reference or Base group if necessary, and click Visibility to turn the layer on or off.

View the map legend

A legend shows the meaning of the symbols, colors, and styles used to represent geographic data on the map. Legends consist of examples of the symbols on the map with labels containing explanatory text. Legends have patches that match the map symbols, which are often points, straight lines, rectangles, or color ramps.

To view the map legend, complete the following steps:

1. Open a map in Web Editor.
2. Do one of the following:
   • On the Contents (dark) toolbar, click Legend .
   • Use the Alt+G shortcut for Windows or Option+G shortcut for Mac.

   The Legend pane appears and displays information about each layer that is visible at the current map scale. Not all layers contain legend information.

Search a map

Search is used to find a location or features on a map.

To access the search bar, click Search on the general toolbar.

Note:

Feature search must be configured for a web map to allow searching features within a dataset in Web Editor. For more information, see Configure feature and table search for maps in the ArcGIS Online help documentation.

Use bookmarks

Bookmarks provide shortcuts to places on a map. As a map author, you create bookmarks in Map Viewer based on the current location, scale, and rotation of the map. When an editor clicks a bookmark in Web Editor, the map zooms to that location.

Learn more about creating bookmarks in Map Viewer

To zoom the map to an existing bookmark, complete the following steps:

1. Open a map in Web Editor.
2. Do one of the following:
   • On the Contents (dark) toolbar, click Bookmarks .
   • Use the Alt+K shortcut for Windows or Option+K shortcut for Mac.

   The Bookmarks pane appears.

3. Click the name of the bookmark you want to zoom to.

The map zooms to the bookmark extent.