{"id":2945699,"date":"2025-10-29T08:40:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T15:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=2945699"},"modified":"2025-11-17T11:28:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T19:28:49","slug":"editing-made-easy-new-tools-for-integrating-external-data-in-arcgis-web-editor","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/web-editor\/mapping\/editing-made-easy-new-tools-for-integrating-external-data-in-arcgis-web-editor","title":{"rendered":"Editing made easy: New tools for integrating external data in ArcGIS Web Editor"},"author":320832,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[37101,22941],"tags":[775802,27971,774762,780822],"industry":[],"product":[774772],"class_list":["post-2945699","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcements","category-mapping","tag-arcgis-web-editor","tag-editing","tag-web-editor","tag-whats-new-october-2025","product-web-editor"],"acf":{"authors":[{"ID":320832,"user_firstname":"Rebekah","user_lastname":"Bollin","nickname":"Bekah Bollin","user_nicename":"rbollin","display_name":"Bekah Bollin","user_email":"rbollin@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2022-10-24 14:26:30","user_description":"Bekah joined the ArcGIS Online team in 2022 as a Product Engineer. She contributes to a variety of projects in the ArcGIS Online space including GIS data editing, management, and visualization. When she is not making maps, she can be found hiking outside with her dog or finding a cozy coffee shop.","user_avatar":""},{"ID":320122,"user_firstname":"Emily","user_lastname":"Garding","nickname":"Emily Garding","user_nicename":"egarding","display_name":"Emily Garding","user_email":"egarding@esri.com","user_url":"https:\/\/doc.arcgis.com\/en\/arcgis-online\/","user_registered":"2022-10-13 18:38:02","user_description":"Emily is a Product Engineer on the ArcGIS Online team at Esri. She is passionate about sharing the latest innovations in ArcGIS Online, and enjoys helping others work smarter with apps like Map Viewer and ArcGIS Web Editor.","user_avatar":""}],"short_description":"Add data from almost anywhere using temporary layers, then easily copy\/paste multiple features between layers in Web Editor.","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

The October 2025 ArcGIS Online update makes editing in ArcGIS Web Editor faster and more flexible with support for temporary layers and enhanced copy and paste capabilities. Now you can bring in data from almost anywhere, work with it directly in Web Editor, and paste multiple features seamlessly across layers. In this article, we\u2019ll show you how these tools can transform your editing workflows.<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2946006,"id":2946006,"title":"WebEditor","filename":"WebEditor-2.png","filesize":5420,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WebEditor-2.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/web-editor\/mapping\/editing-made-easy-new-tools-for-integrating-external-data-in-arcgis-web-editor\/webeditor-5","alt":"Image is a graphic separator","author":"320832","description":"","caption":"","name":"webeditor-5","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2945699,"date":"2025-10-28 21:38:07","modified":"2025-10-28 21:38:11","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1105,"height":86,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WebEditor-2-213x86.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":86,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WebEditor-2.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":36,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WebEditor-2.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":60,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WebEditor-2.png","large-width":1105,"large-height":86,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WebEditor-2.png","1536x1536-width":1105,"1536x1536-height":86,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WebEditor-2.png","2048x2048-width":1105,"2048x2048-height":86,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WebEditor-2-826x64.png","card_image-width":826,"card_image-height":64,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WebEditor-2.png","wide_image-width":1105,"wide_image-height":86}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

What’s new<\/h2>\n

With this update, we\u2019ve added two big features to ArcGIS Web Editor: support for adding temporary layers and copying and pasting multiple features into a new layer.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Add temporary layers<\/strong><\/h4>\n

To work with data in Web Editor, you need to open an existing web map. Sometimes you want to add a dataset as a quick reference but don’t want to go through the hassle of updating your map. This is where temporary layers come in. Web Editor now supports the ability to add data directly from a URL, local file, or browsing through ArcGIS online content. The data will appear as a temporary, non editable layer in Web Editor for the duration of your session, and will be removed when you’re done. Temporary layers are perfect for those times when you need to reference an external dataset while editing. Best of all, you can explore, select, copy\/paste, or even snap to features in temporary layers.<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2945881,"id":2945881,"title":"AddTempLayer","filename":"AddTempLayer.gif","filesize":4558596,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AddTempLayer.gif","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/web-editor\/mapping\/editing-made-easy-new-tools-for-integrating-external-data-in-arcgis-web-editor\/addtemplayer","alt":"Gif shows a user browsing for a layer in their content and adding as a temporary layer to Web Editor","author":"320832","description":"","caption":"In this example, a terrain slope layer is temporarily added to provide context while editing flood evacuation zones.","name":"addtemplayer","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2945699,"date":"2025-10-28 17:47:26","modified":"2025-10-28 21:41:15","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/gif","type":"image","subtype":"gif","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1918,"height":833,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AddTempLayer-213x200.gif","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AddTempLayer.gif","medium-width":464,"medium-height":202,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AddTempLayer.gif","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":334,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AddTempLayer.gif","large-width":1918,"large-height":833,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AddTempLayer-1536x667.gif","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":667,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AddTempLayer.gif","2048x2048-width":1918,"2048x2048-height":833,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AddTempLayer-826x359.gif","card_image-width":826,"card_image-height":359,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AddTempLayer.gif","wide_image-width":1918,"wide_image-height":833}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AddTempLayer.gif"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Enhanced copy and paste<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Prior to this update, copy and pasting a feature into a different layer was supported for one feature at a time. Now you can copy multiple features from the same layer and paste them into a different layer! This makes it incredibly easy to work with data across different layer types that may share the same geometry or attributes. Any matching fields between the two layers will preserve the original attributes, and you can edit individual values before pasting. To take advantage of this workflow, the copied features must have the same geometry type as the desired layer you’re pasting into.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To learn more, see What’s New in ArcGIS Web Editor (October 2025).<\/a><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2946006,"id":2946006,"title":"WebEditor","filename":"WebEditor-2.png","filesize":5420,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WebEditor-2.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/web-editor\/mapping\/editing-made-easy-new-tools-for-integrating-external-data-in-arcgis-web-editor\/webeditor-5","alt":"Image is a graphic separator","author":"320832","description":"","caption":"","name":"webeditor-5","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2945699,"date":"2025-10-28 21:38:07","modified":"2025-10-28 21:38:11","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1105,"height":86,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WebEditor-2-213x86.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":86,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WebEditor-2.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":36,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WebEditor-2.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":60,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WebEditor-2.png","large-width":1105,"large-height":86,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WebEditor-2.png","1536x1536-width":1105,"1536x1536-height":86,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WebEditor-2.png","2048x2048-width":1105,"2048x2048-height":86,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WebEditor-2-826x64.png","card_image-width":826,"card_image-height":64,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WebEditor-2.png","wide_image-width":1105,"wide_image-height":86}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Improved Workflows<\/h2>\n

These new\u202fcapabilities open up more ways to work with data online. You can add temporary layers then copy what you need and paste it directly into your own data \u2014 all without leaving Web Editor. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at a real world example. Imagine you work in Public Safety, and you\u2019ve been tasked with managing a public-facing map of evacuation zones during an emergency flooding event. A colleague sends you a shapefile with additional evacuation zones that need to be added to the map. With the new capabilities, you can:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Add the shapefile to your map as a temporary layer<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Review and select the new evacuation zones<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Copy and paste them directly into your evacuation layer<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2945942,"id":2945942,"title":"CopyPaste","filename":"CopyPaste-1.gif","filesize":1431344,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CopyPaste-1.gif","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/web-editor\/mapping\/editing-made-easy-new-tools-for-integrating-external-data-in-arcgis-web-editor\/copypaste-2","alt":"GIF shows a user adding a temporary layer to a web map, copying the featurs and pasting into their own layer.","author":"320832","description":"Copy and paste features from temporary layers into your own data.","caption":"","name":"copypaste-2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2945699,"date":"2025-10-28 20:29:37","modified":"2025-10-28 20:32:17","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/gif","type":"image","subtype":"gif","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1914,"height":890,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CopyPaste-1-213x200.gif","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CopyPaste-1.gif","medium-width":464,"medium-height":216,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CopyPaste-1.gif","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":357,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CopyPaste-1.gif","large-width":1914,"large-height":890,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CopyPaste-1-1536x714.gif","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":714,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CopyPaste-1.gif","2048x2048-width":1914,"2048x2048-height":890,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CopyPaste-1-826x384.gif","card_image-width":826,"card_image-height":384,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CopyPaste-1.gif","wide_image-width":1914,"wide_image-height":890}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CopyPaste.gif"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

    There you have it: a simple and efficient way to copy and paste external data without making changes to your web maps. You can take this workflow a step further by creating a tailored Web Editor Instant App.<\/a> Customize what capabilities and tools are available so your editors get the same powerful editing experience inside a focused, shareable app.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Summary<\/h2>\n

    The October 2025 ArcGIS Online update transforms workflows in ArcGIS Web Editor with\u202f<\/span>temporary layer <\/span><\/b>support\u202fand\u202f<\/span>enhanced copy and paste <\/span><\/b>functionality\u202f\u2014 two features that make editing faster, more informed, and more flexible. These new tools enable you to bring in data from almost anywhere, work with it directly in your map, and move features seamlessly across layers.\u00a0<\/span>Whether you\u2019re validating data, merging information from multiple sources, or updating maps in time-sensitive situations, these tools will help you make fast, accurate updates when they matter most.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    More resources<\/h2>\n

    To learn more about ArcGIS Web Editor check out the resources below:<\/p>\n