Groups are a great way to organize content – for others and also for yourself. Any item that is publicly shared, or shared within your organization, can be referenced in a group that you own. If you’re a frequent map author, you probably have some favorite layers that you often use. Here’s a tip on how to use groups to make a “favorites” list of layers to streamline your layer search.
When you author a map you can limit your search to layers in a specific group by choosing Add, then Search for Layers:
And then choosing the group you want to search from the drop-down list.
The last group you choose is remembered during your session, making this is a handy way to add multiple layers from one particular group.
You can streamline your layer search by creating a group containing your favorite layers. And by naming your group starting with the letter “A” you can ensure that the group always shows up at the top of the group drop-down list (something that’s handy if you own, or are a member of, many groups).
First, create a group to hold your favorite layers. Click Groups (1), then Create a Group (2)
We titled our group “A List Layers” so it would display alphabetically at the top of our group list. We also made the group private since it’s only for our own use to streamline our map authoring workflow.
Next, add layers you frequently use to the group. Remember that they must be map services (layers) to appear in the list when adding layers to your map:
Open the item details, click Share, then add the item to your group:
Below we’ve added our favorite demographic layers that are publicly shared by Esri to our A List group:
Now when we author maps, our A List of layers is readily available, making it easy to find and use our favorites.
For more information see the Creating groups and Sharing items help topics.
