{"id":2989172,"date":"2026-11-12T09:06:40","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T17:06:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=2989172"},"modified":"2026-11-12T11:59:16","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T19:59:16","slug":"your-metadata-moment-of-zen-field-aliases-november-2026","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-living-atlas\/announcements\/your-metadata-moment-of-zen-field-aliases-november-2026","title":{"rendered":"Your metadata moment of zen: Field aliases | November 2026"},"author":321952,"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],"tags":[],"industry":[],"product":[36581],"class_list":["post-2989172","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcements","product-arcgis-living-atlas"],"acf":{"authors":[{"ID":4161,"user_firstname":"Jim","user_lastname":"Herries","nickname":"Jim Herries","user_nicename":"jimhe","display_name":"Jim Herries","user_email":"jherries@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2018-03-02 00:15:47","user_description":"Jim Herries is a geographer with Esri in Redlands, California. He serves as Senior Principal GIS Engineer, GIS Engineering Lead, Cartography on the team responsible for ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World.\r\n\r\nJim works with teams on thematic mapping and other types of maps that bring data to life, reflecting a drive to help GIS users find insights as they go along. He constantly looks for ways to create clear, focused map information products that incorporate meaningful spatial analysis and evocative visualizations. \r\n\r\nWhen he started in GIS at Ohio State, he walked over to the campus library to transcribe census data by hand to paper so that he could hand-enter it into spreadsheets for upload into Arc\/INFO for mapping and analysis. Today, he appreciates how web GIS brings everyone access to good data in useful layers and maps as a starting point for great work.","user_avatar":"<img data-del=\"avatar\" src='https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Headshot-for-ArcGIS-Blog.jpg' class='avatar pp-user-avatar avatar-96 photo ' height='96' width='96'\/>"},{"ID":321952,"user_firstname":"Sarah","user_lastname":"David","nickname":"Sarah David","user_nicename":"sdavid","display_name":"Sarah David","user_email":"sdavid@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2022-11-08 21:39:20","user_description":"Sarah writes about ArcGIS Business Analyst, ArcGIS Living Atlas, and GIS Dictionary.","user_avatar":"<img data-del=\"avatar\" src='https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sarah-David-Headshot-213x200.jpg' class='avatar pp-user-avatar avatar-96 photo ' height='96' width='96'\/>"}],"short_description":"This month\u2019s moment of Zen is all about field aliases. ","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2981779,"id":2981779,"title":"background of drops creating ripples in  blue water","filename":"Zen-water-droplet-ripples-smaller.jpg","filesize":79086,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Zen-water-droplet-ripples-smaller.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-living-atlas\/announcements\/your-metadata-moment-of-zen-september-2026\/background-of-drops-creating-ripples-in-blue-water-2","alt":"Water droplet making ripples in a pool of water.","author":"4161","description":"Water droplet making ripples in a pool of water.","caption":"Water droplet making ripples in a pool of water.","name":"background-of-drops-creating-ripples-in-blue-water-2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2981631,"date":"2026-09-08 21:43:43","modified":"2026-09-08 21:44:03","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":826,"height":465,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Zen-water-droplet-ripples-smaller-213x200.jpg","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Zen-water-droplet-ripples-smaller.jpg","medium-width":464,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Zen-water-droplet-ripples-smaller.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Zen-water-droplet-ripples-smaller.jpg","large-width":826,"large-height":465,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Zen-water-droplet-ripples-smaller.jpg","1536x1536-width":826,"1536x1536-height":465,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Zen-water-droplet-ripples-smaller.jpg","2048x2048-width":826,"2048x2048-height":465,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Zen-water-droplet-ripples-smaller.jpg","card_image-width":826,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Zen-water-droplet-ripples-smaller.jpg","wide_image-width":826,"wide_image-height":465}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<p>The monthly Moments of Zen blog series is brought to you by the ArcGIS Living Atlas team. Throughout the series, we will highlight different elements of the latest guidance for your Living Atlas items. Working with unfamiliar layers and maps can be a challenge when basic information is unavailable. Taking care of the small but important details and maintenance on your items helps to increase moments of calmness (or at least, decrease moments of panic) for item users downstream.<\/p>\n<p>Living Atlas releases two or three updates to its <a href=\"https:\/\/livingatlas.arcgis.com\/en\/resources\/#content-validation-rules\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Item Detail Guidance<\/a> per year, around the same time as ArcGIS Online releases. This guidance shares the best practices and recommendations for content (layers, maps, apps, tools) that their creators share in Living Atlas.<\/p>\n<p>This month\u2019s moment of Zen is all about field aliases.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<h1>Understanding fields<\/h1>\n<p>But first, let&#8217;s learn about fields.<\/p>\n<p>Some items, like web maps and layers, have underlying attribute data, like city, site code, and occupancy. Attribute data is organized in a table, typically with each column representing a field and each row representing a feature. Each field contains attribute data about a topic.<\/p>\n<p>Within these tables, each field has a name, a field alias, a field description, and a field value type. When these metadata are filled out, a human user or AI assistant can understand what that field contains.<\/p>\n<p>ArcGIS Living Atlas provides item-specific guidance for fields.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/livingatlas.arcgis.com\/en\/resources\/#content-validation-rules-featureServiceFieldAliases\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Field aliases<\/a> (also known as display names)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/livingatlas.arcgis.com\/en\/resources\/#content-validation-rules-featureServiceFieldValueTypes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Field descriptions<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/livingatlas.arcgis.com\/en\/resources\/#content-validation-rules-featureServiceFieldValueTypes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Field value types<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","content":"<p>Consider using the <a href=\"https:\/\/doc.esri.com\/en\/arcgis-online\/latest\/reference\/item-details-assistant.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Item details assistant<\/a> to improve the quality of your field metadata.<\/p>\n","image_reference":false,"layout":"standard","image_reference_figure":"","snippet":"","spotlight_name":"","section_title":"","position":"Center","spotlight_image":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<h1>A moment of Zen: Edit the field alias<\/h1>\n<p>Now let&#8217;s look at field aliases, specifically.<\/p>\n<p>By default, most layers auto-populate the field alias using the field names. You might think that the auto-populated text is &#8220;good enough&#8221; but having a field alias that is identical to the field name is harder for users to interpret. By providing a field alias that is different from the field name, you clarify what the field contains and boost the usability of your item.<\/p>\n<p>For example, look at these transformations:<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Auto-populated field alias<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"312\"><strong>Edited field alias<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\">LASTEDITOR<\/td>\n<td width=\"312\">Last Editor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\">FEATURECODE<\/td>\n<td width=\"312\">Facility Site Code<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\">NUMSTORIES<\/td>\n<td width=\"312\">Number of Stories<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"312\">COUNTRY<\/td>\n<td width=\"312\">Country Name<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>In these transformation examples, each edited field alias uses title case instead of all caps. Words have spaces between them, and each word is fully spelled out. Prepositions\u2014or connecting words, like &#8220;of&#8221;\u2014are added for comprehension.<\/p>\n<p>This is valuable to both humans who read these field aliases, and code or AI workflows where a human prompt like \u201cFind the layer with number of stories in the data.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With the &#8220;COUNTRY&#8221; example, the edited field alias provides greater specificity that the field is the country&#8217;s name, not an abbreviation or code. With this additional metadata, users do not have to search for that information in supporting documents.<\/p>\n<p>Other immediate benefits to having field aliases include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Field aliases appear in your map&#8217;s legend and chart axes.<\/li>\n<li>Field aliases appear in your pop-up&#8217;s default fields list.<\/li>\n<li>Field aliases appear in the attribute drop-down list.<\/li>\n<li>Field aliases are preserved when exporting to a .gdb (geodatabase file).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It may seem minor, but taking the time to edit field aliases is a great way to help your users in ways they did not know they needed. That\u2019s the moment of Zen.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<h1>Resources<\/h1>\n<p>To continue your Living Atlas journey, visit the following resources:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/livingatlas.arcgis.com\/en\/home\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Living Atlas product overview page<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-living-atlas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Living Atlas blog article collection<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mediaspace.esri.com\/category\/All+product+channels\/244556092\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Living Atlas video channel<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/community.esri.com\/en\/categories\/arcgis-living-atlas-of-the-world\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Living Atlas on Esri Community<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/livingatlas.arcgis.com\/contribute\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Living Atlas login page<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"mailto:LivingAtlasCuration@esri.com?subject=CDN%20Setting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Email Living Atlas Curators<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Stay tuned for next month\u2019s moment of Zen!<\/p>\n"}],"related_articles":[{"ID":1802182,"post_author":"7121","post_date":"2023-01-18 15:08:07","post_date_gmt":"2023-01-18 23:08:07","post_content":"","post_title":"High-Quality Field Descriptions Make Mapping Easier","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"high-quality-field-descriptions","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-01-18 15:20:48","post_modified_gmt":"2023-01-18 23:20:48","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=1802182","menu_order":0,"post_type":"blog","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"2","filter":"raw"},{"ID":742692,"post_author":"7121","post_date":"2020-02-24 11:45:05","post_date_gmt":"2020-02-24 19:45:05","post_content":"","post_title":"Transform your layers\u2019 value with more functional attribute field names, aliases, and descriptions","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"transform-your-layers-value-with-more-functional-attribute-field-names-aliases-and-descriptions","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-15 15:09:29","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-15 23:09:29","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=742692","menu_order":0,"post_type":"blog","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":2981631,"post_author":"321952","post_date":"2026-09-09 09:12:36","post_date_gmt":"2026-09-09 16:12:36","post_content":"","post_title":"Your metadata moment of zen: CDN setting | September 2026","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"your-metadata-moment-of-zen-september-2026","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-09-21 09:54:09","post_modified_gmt":"2026-09-21 16:54:09","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=2981631","menu_order":0,"post_type":"blog","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":2982129,"post_author":"7121","post_date":"2026-10-12 09:36:06","post_date_gmt":"2026-10-12 16:36:06","post_content":"","post_title":"Your metadata moment of zen: Item extents | October 2026","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"your-metadata-moment-of-zen-october-2026","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-10-12 14:22:28","post_modified_gmt":"2026-10-12 21:22:28","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=2982129","menu_order":0,"post_type":"blog","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"show_article_image":false,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Zen-water-droplet-ripples-smaller.jpg","wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Zen-water-droplet-ripples.jpg"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Your metadata moment of zen: Field aliases | November 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-living-atlas\/announcements\/your-metadata-moment-of-zen-field-aliases-november-2026\" \/>\n<meta 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