Customize a simple view of your map

Sometimes, you want to share a simplified view of your web map without having to create and maintain a separate item. While the average GIS professional is well accustomed to Map Viewer, a casual user or project stakeholder doesn’t always need all the bells and whistles the app has to offer. Now, you can create a custom link to a simplified version of your map, no app maintenance required! Read on to learn more about how creating custom links in Map Viewer can save you time and effort.

When should I create a custom link?

Custom links are an easy way to share a simplified view of your maps without leaving Map Viewer. The best part? You can generate as many links as you want, no need to maintain or keep track of each one. It’s the perfect solution for when you need to distribute a quick project update or send a web map to a non GIS savvy user.

This simple view of your web map is also responsive on mobile devices, meaning it’s the same experience regardless of whether you open it on a desktop or a smart phone.

While Create custom link is a great option to send out a simple view of your map, it does not change the permissions settings on the map and data. For example, if you send a custom link containing a private map to a colleague, they will still need to sign into with the proper credentials to access the content.

Include the basics

With Create custom link you can configure exactly how the link will open for the recipient and which map elements are included. To get started, launch the Share map button then click Create custom link.

Choose between a light or dark mode, then optionally select the following map elements:

• Map title
• Legend
• Map summary
• Bookmarks

Once you’ve picked what is included in the simple view, there are a few settings to help tailor the experience even further. Allow the viewer to seamlessly launch the full Map Viewer experience from your custom link by including the Open in Map Viewer button.

The Preserve map scale option is enabled by default to ensure that the scale remains consistent across all devices. If you’d prefer to only display the current extent of your web map, turn off Preserve map scale.

Finally, check the Shorten URL box to generate a small, easy to read link. And voila! Simply copy and paste to share your custom link.

Summary

We are continuously making improvements to how you can configure and share Map Viewer content. Create custom link is the latest enhancement to support one-off, simple views of your web maps without needing to create a separate app. If you would like to bring this web map into your own websites and content, you can explore the embed experience in Map Viewer. Embed allows you to quickly copy and paste html script into your own website, whereas a custom link is a one time link generation that you can share with anyone who has access.

Whether you need to share a quick update or send a map to a non GIS user, configuring a custom view of your web map is an easy way to get the simple experience you are looking for. Just customize, copy, and paste!