Add content to ArcGIS Online, share your content, and create groups in just a few steps

On January 15, 2010, in ArcGIS Online, by ArcGIS Content Team

01/15/10–With the recent Haiti earthquake, we had many inquiries from users who want to know where they can find maps, or how they can share their maps and other content. To find maps in ArcGIS Online, type Haiti in the top right search box and click Go.

Below are steps on how you can quickly add your own content, share your content, and create a group in ArcGIS Online to share your content with others.

If you have already registered your ESRI Global account for ArcGIS Online, skip to the section on Adding your content to ArcGIS Online.

Registering your ESRI Global Account for ArcGIS Online

If you haven’t joined ArcGIS Online yet, first you need to register
your ESRI Global Account, then you sign in with your ESRI Global
Account information. If you don’t already have an ESRI Global Account,
you need to create one before you can register it with ArcGIS Online
and sign in.

Go to ArcGIS Online and click the Sign In link on the upper right.
Click the register your ESRI Global Account with ArcGIS Online link below the
Sign In button.
On the registration page, enter your ESRI Global account username and password, and click Register. You will need to sign
up for an ESRI Global Account if you don’t already have one. See Registering for an account in ArcGIS Online Help for detailed steps.
Read the ArcGIS Online Terms of Use, and click I Accept to agree to
the terms. Once you accept the terms of use, you are automatically signed in, and you
will see your My Content page.

Adding your content to ArcGIS Online

Make sure you are signed in to ArcGIS Online.
On the My Content page, click Add Item.
Fill in the Add Item form and click Add Item.NOTE: If you are adding content specific to Haiti relief activities, include the following in your Tags: Haiti,earthquake.
Once you add the item, it appears in My Content. Click the item name, then click Edit to upload a thumbnail image; to add a summary, description, and access and use constraints; or to change the item’s title and tags.

For more information on adding and editing your ArcGIS Online content, see Adding items in ArcGIS Online Help.

Sharing your content

You can share your items with everyone (public), or with a group or groups.

Make sure you are signed in to ArcGIS Online.
On the My Content page, click to select the checkbox next to the item(s) you want to share and click Share.
Choose the group(s) you want to share the item(s) with, and click OK.
NOTE: If you want your content added to the Haiti Earthquake group that is published on ArcGIS Online, go to the page for that group and click Join this Group to submit a request to become a member of that group. Once approved, you will have the ability to share content to that group.

For more information on sharing your content, see Sharing your items in ArcGIS Online Help.

Creating a group

You can create a group to share content with other users who have a common interest.

Make sure you are signed in to ArcGIS Online.
Click My Groups.
On the My Groups page, click Create a group .
On the Group Name page, include a name, summary, description, contact
information, tags, and upload
an image. Tags are important since they determine if your group shows up in the search results when someone enters a keyword that matches one of your tags.

NOTE: If you make your group Public, then anyone will be able to find it through the search function. If you choose to make your group Private, then only users whom you invite will be able to see your group.
Once you fill in all the information and upload a thumbnail, click Save. You will now see the group on your My Groups page.
For more information on creating groups, see Creating and editing groups in ArcGIS Online Help.
If you made your group private, you can invite members by clicking your group name, and clicking Invite Users .
Fill out the Invite Users form. See Inviting people to join a group in ArcGIS Online Help for instructions on filling out the form.
A notification will be sent to the users you invite. The user(s) will be alerted that they have a pending notification via the Notification link in the top right of ArcGIS Online.
For more information on notifications, see Notifications in ArcGIS Online Help.