Create a new report from a web map

This tutorial describes how to create a new report from an ArcGIS Online web map.

Step 1 – Create a report and choose a web map

On the Report Builder home page, click the orange New Report button top right. Choose the from Web Map option.

The Choose Web Map window will open. This will list web maps saved in your organisation or all public web maps, depending on the only search in my organisation toggle at the bottom of the bottom of the window. For this tutorial, turn off the toggle to only search in your organisation and type ‘BRFSS United States – Demo Map’ into the search box to the left of the toggle.

 

Click on the web map called ‘United States – Demo Map’ to select it (ignore the copies of this web map that other ArcGIS Online users have made!). Then click the Choose button.

You will be prompted to choose the layer in the web map to use for the report. In this case there is only one layer so tick the US_States_Data layer and click the Choose button.

 

The report will be created in your ArcGIS Online organisation and you will be presented with the Report Builder editor page.

Report Builder for ArcGIS Editor Screen

Step 2 – Choose Feature ID and Feature Name field

Before you start editing your report you must tell Report Builder which fields in the layer hold the IDs and names for each of the features in your layer. The IDs must be unique for each feature. In the Report Builder editor, click Report in the top menu bar and click Settings. The Report Settings window will open.

Under Features, use the menus to set ID Field to ‘ST_FIPS’ and Name Field to ‘STATE_NAME’. Then click the OK button.

Report Builder for ArcGIS Report Settings screen

Step 3 – Add a Text widget to your report

You are now ready to add a widget to the report from the list on the left hand side of the editor. We will start with a Text widget to create a heading for your report. Scroll down in the list of widgets until you get to the ‘Text’ group. Click on the  Text widget and drag it onto the page.

Report Builder for ArcGIS Text Widget

The widget is populated with dummy text. Click in the middle of the widget to select it. The widget toolbar will appear in the top left corner of the widget. Click the Edit Text & Rules button (second from the left). The dummy text should already be highlighted (if not, press Ctrl+A on your keyboard to select the text). Press the Delete key on your keyboard to delete the text.

Now type ‘Demo report for ‘ and then click the Insert Feature Value button (identified with a red box in the image below) in the text widget editor toolbar that displays above the widget. Click the Feature Names(s) option.

Report Builder for ArcGIS Edit Text Widget screen

Then click the Save Changes button in the text widget editor toolbar. Your report should now look like this.

Report Builder for ArcGIS Text Widget Example

 

You can see that the feature name from the web map is displayed. You can switch the feature you are viewing the report for if you like using the View menu in the Report Builder editor top menu. You will see that the feature name in the text widget will change.

To make the text look like a title, click in the middle of the text widget to select it and click the Edit Text & Rules button once more. Highlight the text by pressing Ctrl+A on your keyboard. Click the Blocks button (identified with a red box in the image below) in the text widget editor toolbar and click Heading 1.

 

Then click the Save Changes button in the toolbar. The text widget will automatically resize to show the text. Your report should now look like this.

Report Builder for ArcGIS report with demo text widget

Step 4 – Save your report

Now is a good idea to click the Save button on the right hand side in the Report Builder editor toolbar. This button is shaded orange if the report has unsaved changes. Whilst designing a report, it is good to click at frequent intervals on the Save button to ensure you do not lose your work.

Step 5 – Add a Data Table widget to your report

You can now add further widgets to your report. For example, drag a Data Table widget onto the page below the text widget. By default, the table will show the selected area in one row and a selection of fields from the feature layer in columns.

 

Report Builder for ArcGIS demo report with table

Click in the middle of the table widget to select it and click the Data & Settings button in the widget toolbar. The Data & Settings window will open. Click the Data tab and expand the content of the US_States_Data folder. This will display the fields from the layer in the web map. Change the selection so that only the three dates for the ‘Population’ indicator are selected.

Report Builder for ArcGIS Data and Settings screen

 

Then click the Settings tab. Scroll down to the Text & Labels settings group (you can collapse the groups above to make this easier if you like). Locate the Indicator Labels setting, click in the box to the right and type to change the value to ‘#NAME (#DATE)’. This will ensure that the table will display the date as well as the name of the indicator.

Report Builder for ArcGIS Indicator Labels setting

 

Then click the OK button at the bottom of the window. You will see the changes have been applied to your data table widget.

It would look better with more space between the text and data table widgets. Click in the middle of the data table widget to select it and click Margins in the widget toolbar.

Report Builder for ArcGIS Margins options

 

Click Custom. The Custom TableWidget Margin window will open. Type in the first box from the left (or use the arrows) to set the top margin to 30px. Then click the Apply button. You will see that there is now more space between the text at the top of the report and the table.

Step 6 – Add a Bar Chart widget to your report

Drag a bar chart from the list of widgets on the left onto the page just below the data table widget.

Report Builder for ArcGIS demo report with bar chart

 

 

Click in the middle of the bar chart widget to select it and click the Data & Settings button in the widget toolbar. The Data & Settings window will open. Click the Data tab and edit the selection so that only one checkbox is selected for ‘% Poor Health 2010’.

Then click the Settings tab and click the Toggle advanced settings & controls option in the bottom left corner of the window.

  • Scroll to the Behaviour settings group, locate the Include All Areas setting and turn this on.
  • Scroll to the Series settings group, locate the Type setting and tick the indicators-as-series checkbox.
  • Scroll to the Bars setting group, locate the Sort Bars by Value setting and tick the ascending checkbox.
  • Scroll to the Axes setting group, locate the Allow Label Word Wrap setting and turn it off.
  • Scroll to the Colors & Highlights setting group, locate the Highlight Selected Feature setting and turn it on.
  • Scroll to the Legend settings group, locate the Show Legend setting and turn this off.

Your report should now look like this.

Report Builder for ArcGIS demo report edited bar chart

 

This is a good example of editing widget settings in combination to generate a completely different chart from the one you started with. Now save the report.

Step 7 – Preview your report

To preview your report, click the Report menu in the Report Builder editor top menu and click Preview.  A new browser window/tab will open, and you will be asked to sign in to your ArcGIS Online account to view the report as it is not (yet) shared publicly.  Once signed in, the report will open in view mode, which is what the end-user will see when they go to your report. You can change feature by clicking the Index button in the toolbar at the top of the report and selecting a different feature from the report index page.

Step 8 – Share your report

To share your report (if you wish to), click the Report menu in the Report Builder editor top menu and click Embed & Share. The Embed window will open. From here you can obtain the URL to your report and optionally the code to embed it into a website.

The report by default is not shared and only the owner can view it. To change this, click the link to the item page in the Embed window. In ArcGIS Online, you can use the Share button on the item overview page to share the report with your organisation, everyone, or set specific group sharing. Note that if you would like end-users to be able to view the report without having to sign in to ArcGIS Online, you will need to share the report with everyone.

Next steps

You have reached the end of this tutorial, but you can now try adding further widgets to the report and changing the data selections and settings. You can also change the report styling options using Styling menu in the Report Builder editor top menu. When you are finished, click the Report menu in the Report Builder editor top menu and click Exit editor to return to the home page.

You may want to create a new report using a different web map. If a web map with the geography or data that you wish to show in your report does not already exist, you will need to create this first using the standard tools available in ArcGIS Online.

Tip: To start with your own data, we would recommend picking a fairly simple web map.  For example, one with a single feature layer.  The feature layer though should have a good set of fields in it.  You should also make sure your field names are user friendly. You can easily change the fields in your web map in ArcGIS Online by setting aliases in the Configure Attributes dialog.