About adding items

Members of an organization or users with a public account can add maps, data, applications, and tools to Esri's cloud. You choose to keep these item private so only you can access them or share them with everybody, your organization, or groups you belong to. See Supported item types for a complete list of items you can add to the website.

Note:

Your organization may restrict members from sharing items outside the organization. If this is the case, users and publishers won't see options to share content or groups with everybody (public). Administrators, however, can choose to share any item in the organization publicly.

What types of items can you add to the website?

Maps

Using the ArcGIS.com map viewer, you can create and save web maps. Web maps are interactive presentations of useful information that typically contain a basemap, data layers, attribute information, and navigation tools. They can be opened and used in standard web browsers, mobile devices, or desktop map viewers. When you save your web map, you are adding it to Esri's cloud. See Adding web maps for more information.

Data

You can add data from your computer and from the web. Data from your computer are static files such as layer packages and shapefiles that can be opened in desktop applications and downloaded to your computer. CSV and shapefiles can be published as hosted feature services if you want. See Hosted feature services for more information. Some, such as KML, can be opened in the ArcGIS.com map viewer. See Adding files from your computer for more information.

Data layers from the web such as map services and OGC WMS services are directly consumable in web maps and applications and can contain features or tilesets. See Adding items from the web for more information.

Applications

You can add web applications and mobile applications, either hosted as part of your content or managed independently and registered with the website. See Adding applications for more information.

Tools

Tools that you add to the website are services that perform an analytical function such as locating streets and addresses, geoprocessing, finding a place, routing, or accessing a geodatabase. See Adding items from the web. You can also add samples (as .zip files) and desktop add-in files. See Adding files from your computer for more information.