esri scotland conf 2016 glasgow city council

Keep it simple – Web Apps for Non Developers

Oliver Penman , Liz Irvine – Glasgow City Council GIS

ESRI Scottish ConferencePerth 4th October 2016

Glasgow City Council GIS

• GIS since late 80s, ESRI seat since 1993

• GIS in all services governed by corporate user group

• Approximately 250 desktop users (floating)

• Web mapping applications first launched in 2003 utilising ArcIMS

• Currently at ArcGIS 10.2.2, ArcSDE 10.1, ArcGIS for Server 10.1

• 2015 upgrade to ArcGIS 10 and retirement of ArcIMS requires existing web apps to be developed in a relatively short space of time

• Phasing out of LocalView Fusion and IT infrastructure influence decision to create new apps using ArcGIS Online (AGOL)

• Previous experience of sharing data with partners using AGOL during 2014 Commonwealth Games

Pre application development

• Data owner and user involvement

• Familiarisation with AGOL and ArcGIS Server Manager consisting of an initial mentoring day with ESRI (another would follow after a few weeks)

• Opened dialogue with council web team. Advised that over 65% of public use a phone device to access apps and ours should be designed to suit – responsive web design

• Original remit of project to replace existing web mapping applications ‘as-is’

• Main criteria to keep applications as simple and user friendly as possible i.e.

• Internal versions of apps replacing AtOM (access to online mapping) and external public facing apps replacing e-Citizen

App your Gran could use!

Even the more IT challenged users!

Infrastructure

ArcGIS Online

ArcGIS for Server

ArcMapMXD

Web Adaptor

Glasgow City Council Public Mapping Applications

Ad-hoc web mapping

applications / embedded maps

AtOM Internal Mapping

Applications

Central GIS Server (SDE)

WMS/WFS

Data

Create and host maps

and applications

Responsive web design

• Initial stage is to create web map services (WMS) and web feature services (WFS)

• MXD created for each WMS and WFS , decision to be made which layers can be grouped and which require a unique service

• Symbology, thresholds and field properties were managed at this stage . Alternative to carrying this out in AGOL

Infrastructure

ArcGIS Online

ArcGIS for Server

AtOM Internal Mapping

Applications

Glasgow City Council Public Mapping Applications

Ad-hoc web mapping

applications / embedded maps

ArcMapMXD

Web Adaptor

Central GIS Server (SDE)

• The WMS or WFS is published from the MXD to ArcGIS for Server using the ‘Share as Service’ dialogue / wizard. Data source must be registered with ArcGIS for Server

• Important to have a ‘naming system; for services and enter as much description and tags as possible

• Once the service is published the REST URL is noted for upload to AGOL

Infrastructure

ArcGIS Online

ArcGIS for Server

AtOM Internal Mapping

Applications

Glasgow City Council Public Mapping Applications

Ad-hoc web mapping

applications / embedded maps

ArcMapMXD

Web Adaptor

Central GIS Server (SDE)

• A folder to host layers should be set up under ‘My Content’ in your AGOL Organization

• The services are then added to AGOL from the web using the REST URL from ArcGIS for Server taking steps to make the service ‘secure’

WMS / WFS shared publically

• GCC took the decision to create individual apps each covering an area of council business e.g. Parking , as opposed to a single generic app containing all layers

• The applications can be displayed in a customisable gallery template available in AGOL

• Two galleries – one for internal applications and one for public facing

Initially an attempt was made to use a selection of default templates available in AGOL each selected to suit the nature of the content

This was abandoned in favour of using Web App Builder for the majority of applications for several reasons

• It proved difficult to create a consistent look and feel for all apps using different templates

• Functionality and widgets available to each template is not consistent

• Using functionality for purposes it was not intended for

• Became evident we were trying to squeeze apps into customised templates

Decision made after some trial and error to use Web App Builder for the majority of applications creating a consistent look and feel. Further influenced by enhancements made to web app builder around this time

Approach taken to create a template using Web App Builder and simply using the ‘save as’ function to create applications for each desired council operation

Take time to plan these e.g. which fields should be included? Should links open in a new page

Pop-up configuration

Pop-up configuration can be carried out at • MXD level i.e.

‘hiding fields’

• Map stage in AGOL

• Layer stage in AGOL (If layer is able to have a default pop-up for each app it is included in)

Not all proposed apps were suitable for the functionality available in web app builder. The MyNearest Builder was purchased from ArcGIS Marketplace to create the minority of apps requiring a ‘Find my nearest …….’ function.

AtOM – Internal version, includes 21 applications including a generic application with all layers available

Gallery template (several available in AGOL) used to display applications, can be changed to icons

Typical standard application

Public facing version

• No generic app• Less datasets• Less attribution

available in pop-ups• Less widgets and

functionality

BasemappingAlthough there are various basemaps available in AGOL it was decided to create a WMS consisting of the core OS products with thresholds at suitable scales. This can be made default for all applications within your organization’s settings

Gazetteer

Although there are various gazetteers available in AGOL it was decided to use GCC Corporate Address Gazetteer utilising LocatorHub. This can be made default for all applications within your organization’s settings

Usage functionality in AGOL

Lessons learned

• Data clean and up-to-date

• Stakeholder involvement

• Regular testing of applications by proposed users during development

• Keep up-to-date with ESRI updates via newsletter etc. and be aware that changes to templates can affect your applications

• Keep applications as simple as possible

• Document your work

• Test your applications in a variety of browsers and versions

• If possible arrange mentoring day with ESRI

Future Applications

• City Plan

• Nature and Biodiversity

• Street Cleansing and Litter Bins

• Water Safety Features

• Structures

• Roads Inspections

• Cemetery Inventory

• Street Furniture

• …………………………

Glasgow.gov.uk

Links also available from relevant pages