Assignment 1

First web map

In this assignment, we will follow Esri’s ArcGIS Online “Get Started” guide to create a web map showing three layers of data: hurricane evacuation routes, car ownership, and a basemap. The map will be displayed in an app that also provides tools to navigate the map, zoom, toggle layers, and other controls.

Web GIS developers usually provide a “Get Started” type of guide for their products like Esri has done for ArcGIS Online. See this list of first-step tutorials for examples. The ability to find and follow technical tutorials is a skill in itself, and learning how to read through developer documentation will prepare you to learn new tools and technologies independently well beyond the scope of this course.

Data

This exercise uses data layers that are available on ArcGIS Online. For reference, their ArcGIS Online Item Details pages are linked below. Note that you will not download the datasets; you will add them to your map as web services.

• Hurricane Evacuation Routes
• Houston Demographics by Census Tract
• Light Gray Basemap

Steps

1. Sign into your ArcGIS Online account.
2. Follow the tutorial Get Started with ArcGIS Online. Look ahead to the “Try it” section below to see which parts of the tutorial you will customize after completing it.

Try it

Edit your map or create a new one with customizations of your own, then create an app to show your map:

• Select a new basemap (see Change the basemap).
• Pick your own symbology for both layers to make them easily distinguishable from your new basemap (see Style demographic data, Steps 4 and 5).
• Publish your map in an app. See Step 9 in the Create an app tutorial.
• In Step 10 of the Create an app tutorial, choose your own configurable app template instead of the Sidebar template.
• Configure your app. The available settings will depend on which template you chose. For guidance, you can use the Configure the app steps in the tutorial, which are meant for the Sidecar template, but use settings that you think make sense for your map.
• Launch your app and copy the URL. You will submit the URL to your instructor.
• Take a screenshot of your app and use it for the thumbnail on the app’s Item Details page (see Edit the item details).

Submit

The finished product will be an app similar to the one completed in the Esri tutorial, but with your own customizations from the Try It section. Turn in:

1. The URL to your app.

The URL should look something like this:
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/instant/sidebar/index.html?appid=12345ABCDE