ArcGIS Configurable Apps templates

ArcGIS Configurable Apps templates allow you to build web apps from your web maps, scenes, and groups without having to write code. Esri provides the following options to build apps from an ArcGIS Configurable Apps template:

• Open your map in Map Viewer, choose the map from My Content, or open the map's details page to build an app that includes your map.
• Open your scene in Scene Viewer or choose the scene from My Content to build an app that includes your scene.
• Open the group page for your group to build a gallery app that accesses the group's contents.
• Download an ArcGIS Configurable Apps template from the portal and deploy it on your web server. You would do this if you want to customize the template before deploying applications from it.

Tip:

Other options for creating web apps include using the interactive ArcGIS Web AppBuilder and ArcGIS Experience Builder apps.

The following are some considerations to keep in mind as you decide which app template to use:

• Purpose—The most important consideration is the purpose of your app. Embedded in this goal is your intended audience: Who is going to use your app and what are the key points that you want them to take away from the experience?
• Functionality—What is the critical functionality needed to support that goal?
• Aesthetic—How does the app’s layout and color scheme support your brand or message?

The following sections organize the ArcGIS Configurable Apps templates available in ArcGIS Enterprise into categories based on their purpose. Some templates appear in more than one category, as they meet multiple purposes.

The Story Map templates described in this page are classic Esri Story Maps templates. You can access existing apps created from these classic templates in My Stories. To open My Stories, click Manage all your stories on the Share dialog box for a map. To use the new story authoring experience in ArcGIS Enterprise, see the ArcGIS StoryMaps website.

The final section discusses downloading and customizing these templates.

Build a story

The following apps help you to tell a story by combining authoritative maps with narrative text, images, and multimedia content.

• Story Map Basic—Present a map through a minimalist user interface. Apart from the title bar and an optional legend, the map fills the screen. This is a good choice when you want the map to be the focus of the app.
• Story Map Cascade—Create immersible, full-screen, scrolling stories using narrative text, maps, scenes, images, and videos.
• Story Map Journal—Create a compelling map-based narrative presented as a set of journal entries. This is ideal for creating multimedia stories that combine text, maps, images, and video, especially when you have lots of text or a rich array of content.
• Story Map Series—Present a series of maps or media. The app can be configured to use tabs, numbered bullets, or an expandable side accordion. You can also include images, video, and web content in side panels to help tell your story.
• Story Map Swipe and Spyglass—Compare two maps or two layers in the same map. This is a good choice for showing before and after imagery or other changes over time.
• Story Map Tour—Present a sequential, place-based narrative in the form of a series of geotagged photos and captions linked to an interactive map. This is a good choice for walking tours or for presenting locations you want users to follow in a sequenced order.

Collect and edit data

The apps in this category are primarily focused on data collection. The source of the data can be either a subject matter expert or the general public.

• Crowdsource Manager—Provide the ability to review crowdsourced information and update attributes such as status and assignment. This is a good choice for collecting crowdsourced data across multiple layers and maps since the data is collected using apps such as Crowdsource Reporter or ArcGIS Survey123. It requires a group that contains at least one map with an editable feature layer. Because the Crowdsource Manager app is created through a group, it is not available in Map Viewer.
• Crowdsource Polling—Allow for collecting feedback and assessing public sentiment for a series of proposals, plans, or events. Users are presented with a map and list of features containing the details of each proposal, plan, or event, including any attached documents. These users can submit feedback in the form of votes and comments.
• Crowdsource Reporter—Provide the ability to collect a variety of crowdsourced issues or observations in a single app. This is a good choice for collecting crowdsourced data across multiple layers and maps. It requires a group that contains at least one map with an editable feature layer.Because the Crowdsource Reporter app is created through a group, it is not available in Map Viewer.
• GeoForm—Provide a form-based experience for entering data through a form instead of a map pop-up. This is a good choice for users who find forms a more intuitive format than pop-ups for entering data.
• Basic Viewer—Provide editing capabilities in the context of a general-purpose mapping app. This is a good choice when your audience needs additional tools or information about the map to support their editing activities.

Compare maps and layers

These apps focus on comparing geographic phenomena; the nature of the comparison you choose may depend on your end goal.

• Compare—Provide side-by-side or stacked comparison of two maps, two scenes, or one of each. For example, you could use this app to present the results from a variety of different analytic methods, the difference between household incomes in multiple places, or the difference between household income and home values in a single location. The app also provides the ability to open the pop-ups for the same feature in each map or scene to compare the values.
• Story Map Series—This is a good choice when you have a large number of maps or locations to present or if you want to include text and other content with each map.
• Story Map Swipe and Spyglass—Display the difference between two maps or between two layers in one map. For example, you could show the difference between current sea level and a projected rise in sea level, or visualize an area before and after a tornado where the user may want to closely inspect the difference between the scenarios at a large scale. This supports using the swipe or spyglass option by either configuring a swipe layer in one map or setting up two maps for comparison.

Display a scene

Use the 3D Viewer app to interact with scenes. Provide a dual view of your area of interest with optional tools for navigating the scene, including slides and search.

Explore and summarize data

The apps in this category allow your users to interact with attributes and, in some cases, other services to facilitate a deeper exploration of the content of your map to create visual, interactive representations of your data.

• Attachment Viewer—Provide an immersive experience for users to page through a layer's features and review image, video, and PDF attachments. This is a good choice for presenting data and images collected with ArcGIS apps such as ArcGIS Collector and ArcGIS Survey123. The app is optimized for use on both desktop and mobile browsers.
• Elevation Profile—Generate an elevation profile graph based on a selected line feature in the map or a line drawn with the measure tool. This is a good choice for showing changes in elevation along a trail or route.
• Interactive Legend—Create a focused view of a feature layer in the map by clicking the desired categories or ranges defined in the legend. This gives users the ability to explore the map holistically or to focus on the categories that are most relevant to them.

Interpret imagery

Use these apps to extract meaning from imagery using tools for querying, visualization, analysis, and recording observations.

• Image Mask—Identify areas of an image that have changed over time or that meet user-set thresholds for calculated indexes.
• Image Visit—Review the attributes of a predetermined sequence of locations in imagery.
• Imagery Viewer—Visualize and explore imagery through time and space.

Make a gallery

Use these apps to create a gallery of maps, apps, or other content that can be used as a convenient access point for all of your geographic content. These apps require a group.

• Category Gallery—Build a gallery of apps, maps, and layers, and provide an interactive experience to filter the content in the gallery. App authors can categorize group content into themes or topics and then expose them to users as a filtering option.
• Layer Showcase—Display a collection of layers. Users can explore layer-based content from a group, view layers in a map or scene, and create a map or scene based on the layers in the app.
• Minimal Gallery—Display items from a group in a minimal card-based gallery.

Map social media

Use the Story Map Tour app to include social media content in your map to supplement your message with content related to your theme and location. Present a sequential, place-based narrative in the form of a series of geotagged photos and captions linked to an interactive map.

Provide local information

Use these apps to highlight the resources available at a location. Options include highlighting all of the features within a certain distance of a location and informing a user that their address is located within a certain geographic area.

• Crowdsource Polling—Provide a forum for soliciting citizen feedback on proposals or issues in a local area.
• Nearby—Help people find sites of interest close to an address. This app is useful to help people find focused types of locations (such as schools) within a search distance of an address or place they specify. Optionally, they can edit distance values to adjust the search radius and get directions to locations they select. The app is optimized for use on both desktop and mobile browsers.
• Story Map Tour—Highlight points of interest as part of a sequential narrative. This is a good choice for highlighting a collection of historical landmarks, presenting municipal development projects, or showcasing a town's iconic river walk.
• Zone Lookup—Facilitate finding which zone or district intersects a specific location or address. With this focused app, users can learn more about a location and features of interest in the surrounding area. The app is optimized for use on both desktop and mobile browsers.

Route and get directions

Use the Nearby app to help people find sites of interest close to an address. This app is useful to help people find focused types of locations (such as schools) within a search distance of an address or place they specify. Optionally, they can edit distance values to adjust the search radius and get directions to locations they select. The app is optimized for use on both desktop and mobile browsers.

Showcase a map

This category of apps includes many options for presenting thematic or general maps. The apps include legends, descriptions, and other basic tools to assist users in understanding the message of the map. They also support a configurable search experience, and all but Story Map Basic support using URL parameters to open the map to a specific feature. These apps do not have any requirements—they can be used as is and do not require any map or app configurations. They are good choices when you want the map to be the focus of the app.

While there are some differences in functionality between these apps, the primary differences are aesthetic. It is recommended that you preview these apps from Map Viewer and explore the various configuration options.

• Basic Viewer—Display a set of commonly used tools in a floating pane. This is a good choice for balancing the need for a collection of tools while still maximizing the amount of screen real estate dedicated to the map. The app includes the ability to switch layer visibility, print a map, and show pop-ups in the floating pane.
• Media Map—Display an interactive map with basic tools and a set of options for limiting map navigation. Optionally include an interactive slider to animate time-enabled data. This app is designed to fit into small spaces on a web page or as a stand-alone app.
• Minimalist—Present a map with a zoom slider and a scale bar, maximizing the amount of screen real estate dedicated to the map. The app includes the option to show a legend, description, or pop-up information in a side pane.
• Story Map Basic—Present a map with a title bar, maximizing the amount of screen real estate dedicated to the map. The app includes the option to show a legend.

Download and customize

You can download Configurable Apps templates from your portal, alter them, and deploy them in your own web server. You must alter the sharing host to use your portal, change the JavaScript API references to point to the JavaScript API copy that is local to the portal, and add a map ID for every configurable app template you download and deploy to your own web server. Additional steps may be needed for individual app templates. These instructions are in a README file that is included with the .zip file you download.