ArcGIS Online Web Mapping and Dashboard Design Training Course

Course overview

Organisations often hold authoritative spatial data but struggle to turn it into web maps and dashboards that operational teams can use without GIS support. Poorly configured layers, unclear symbology, slow web maps and dashboards without decision context lead to duplicated analysis, misread patterns and delayed action. This course addresses the practical work of publishing reliable ArcGIS Online content for audiences who need to monitor assets, programmes, incidents, environmental conditions or service performance through a browser.

Participants build the skills to prepare and publish hosted feature layers, configure web maps, apply scale-dependent visibility, create meaningful symbology and labels, and control editing, sharing and item ownership. They learn to use ArcGIS Online groups, content categories, feature layer views, pop-ups, filters, expressions and bookmarks to create maps suited to defined user tasks. The course then moves into ArcGIS Dashboards, covering indicators, gauges, charts, lists, tables, selectors, actions and layout design. Participants also use ArcGIS Experience Builder to assemble a focused browser-based application around maps and dashboards.

Delivery combines instructor demonstration with guided build exercises based on realistic organisational scenarios, including asset inspection, service requests and performance monitoring. Each participant develops a publishable web mapping and dashboard solution: a documented ArcGIS Online content structure, one or more configured web maps, a role-appropriate operational dashboard and an Experience Builder application or sharing plan. The final review tests whether the solution answers identified operational questions, performs acceptably and protects data appropriately.

The course is suited to GIS professionals, analysts and digital service teams already working with spatial data who need to design usable ArcGIS Online products rather than simply publish maps. Managers gain staff who can establish repeatable patterns for governed, decision-ready web GIS delivery.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Publish and manage hosted feature layers, tables and attachments in ArcGIS Online
• Configure web maps using symbology, labels, pop-ups, bookmarks and scale ranges
• Create feature layer views that restrict fields, records and editing permissions for defined audiences
• Apply Arcade expressions to calculate map and dashboard display values
• Design operational dashboards using indicators, serial charts, gauges, lists, tables and selectors
• Configure dashboard actions and filters that connect maps, charts and operational metrics
• Build an ArcGIS Experience Builder application that presents maps and dashboards in a task-focused workflow
• Produce a governed sharing, ownership and maintenance plan for an ArcGIS Online solution

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• GIS Analysts — who need to publish trusted maps and dashboards for non-GIS colleagues
• GIS Officers — who manage organisational spatial content and web mapping requests
• Spatial Data Managers — who need consistent sharing, ownership and governance patterns in ArcGIS Online
• Business Intelligence Analysts — who need to combine location-based analysis with operational performance reporting
• Asset Management Analysts — who monitor condition, inspections and work activity across geographic areas
• Digital Service Managers — who commission public-facing or internal location-based applications

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should be comfortable working with spatial data and understand vector layers, attributes, coordinate systems, basic cartographic principles and common GIS data formats such as shapefiles, CSV files and GeoJSON. Prior use of ArcGIS Online is helpful, including signing in, browsing content and opening a web map, but participants do not need previous dashboard or Experience Builder experience. Bring an ArcGIS Online organisational account with publishing privileges where possible; a suitable training account can be used for exercises. ArcGIS Pro experience, Python programming, JavaScript development and advanced spatial analysis are not required.

Training methodology

The instructor alternates short ArcGIS Online demonstrations with guided configuration tasks in a supplied organisational dataset. Participants publish layers, build web maps, configure Dashboard elements and test Experience Builder layouts at their own workstation. Case discussions examine audience needs, sensitive-data handling and the difference between a map for exploration and a dashboard for monitoring. Peer review sessions use practical criteria such as readability, filter behaviour, loading performance and decision relevance. On the final day, participants refine their solution and complete an implementation plan for an identified workplace use case.

Course outline

Day 1: ArcGIS Online content, data and publishing foundations

• ArcGIS Online organisational structure, user types, roles and privileges
• Content lifecycle, item pages, metadata and content categories
• Preparing tabular and spatial data for hosted feature layer publishing
• Publishing hosted feature layers, hosted tables and attachments
• Coordinate systems, geocoding checks and spatial data quality controls
• Sharing settings, groups, item ownership and transfer considerations
• Feature layer editing settings, tracking and editor permissions

Workshop: Participants publish and document a hosted asset-inspection feature layer, configure editing controls and share it with a defined operational group.

Day 2: Web map design for operational use

• Web Map Viewer interface and map property configuration
• Smart mapping, class breaks and categorical symbology selection
• Scale-dependent visibility, layer ordering and basemap selection
• Label classes, visual hierarchy and map readability
• Pop-up configuration with field formatting, media and attachments
• Bookmarks, layer effects, clustering and feature reduction
• Filters, feature layer views and audience-specific map versions

Workshop: Participants create an inspection-priority web map with configured symbology, pop-ups, bookmarks and a restricted viewer-facing layer view.

Day 3: Arcade and data-driven map behaviour

• Arcade profiles used in ArcGIS Online maps and dashboards
• Attribute expressions for calculated pop-up fields and labels
• Conditional formatting and status classification with Arcade
• Date, null-value and coded-domain handling in expressions
• FeatureSet functions for related and aggregated information
• Map filtering, definition queries and time-aware layer configuration
• Testing expression performance and maintaining readable expression logic

Workshop: Participants write Arcade expressions that calculate inspection status, days overdue and a display-ready priority message for their web map.

Day 4: ArcGIS Dashboards for monitoring and action

• Dashboard purpose, target users and operational question definition
• Dashboard layout, panels, headers and visual hierarchy
• Indicators, gauges and reference values for key metrics
• Serial charts, pie charts and bar charts for categorical comparison
• Lists, tables and embedded content for record-level follow-up
• Selectors, category filters, date selectors and URL parameters
• Dashboard actions, map synchronization and element filtering

Workshop: Participants build an operational inspection dashboard with a map, overdue-work indicator, status chart, priority list and interactive selectors.

Day 5: Experience Builder, governance and solution review

• ArcGIS Experience Builder templates, pages and responsive layout design
• Adding maps, dashboards, tables and search widgets to an experience
• Widget actions, data connections and cross-widget interaction
• Mobile and accessibility checks for web GIS applications
• Performance optimisation through layer design, scale ranges and content choices
• Sharing models for internal users, partners and public audiences
• Maintenance plans, ownership records and dashboard quality assurance

Workshop: Participants assemble and present a task-focused Experience Builder application with their map and dashboard, then produce a sharing and maintenance plan.

Tools & standards covered

ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Dashboards, ArcGIS Experience Builder, Arcade

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions