Share items

By default, content you add to the portal or publish to the portal is only accessible to you. Your maps, apps, and data are not available to others—for example, they do not appear in search results and aren't part of any group. Depending on your sharing privileges, you can share your items with others. You have several options for sharing your items:

• Your organization—To ensure that only members of your portal have access to an item, you can share it with just your organization. Members must provide valid portal credentials to access your item.
• Everyone (public)—Sharing with everyone makes your item public; anybody who has access to the portal website can find and use your item, and group owners can include it in their group content. If the item is a feature layer, anyone can export data from the layer when they access it from clients other than the portal.
• Groups you belong to—If you are a member of a group, you can share your item with that group. Sharing with specific groups restricts access to a smaller, more focused set of people. Members must provide valid portal credentials and be a member of the group you specify to access your item.
• Your organization and a group—Share items with your organization and a group if you want only members of your organization to have access to them, but you also want to highlight the content for a specific group.
• Everyone and a group—If you want to share thematic content with a subset of users or organize your content into a collection of items, but you also want everyone to have access to your item, you can share an item with a group and with everyone. This is especially appropriate for focused group work in which all members benefit from seeing a list of specific content they can use for collaboration and exchange. For example, as a fire agency that produces burn maps, you want the general public to find and view the maps, but you also want members in the fire agency group to use the maps as templates for creating their own local versions.

You can also share public items you don't own through links and email. If you are a group owner, you can share public items to your group. The following sections explain how to share your items.

Share items with your organization

Share an item with your organization if you want all members of your organization to have access to it, but you do not want anyone outside your organization (who has access to the organization site) to have access to the item.

1. Verify that you are signed in and have privileges to share content with your organization.
2. At the top of the site, click Content.
3. On the My Content tab, check the box next to the title of the item or items you want to share and click Share.
4. In the Share window, select Organization and click Save.

Share items with a group

If you have the correct privileges, you can keep your item semiprivate by sharing it only with a group or groups you belong to. When you share an item with a group, you allow other members of the group to access the item. You can share your items with groups you own or manage, as well as with groups you belong to that allow member contributions. Group owners and managers can also share with their groups any items that were shared with the organization or the public.

For some groups, other members of the group can also update the items you share. When you share an item with a shared update group, you remain the owner of the item. Other group members can update the item, including changing the item details or updating the content.

Allowing other members of a group to update your shared item is useful in many scenarios. For instance, this capability allows a team of shift workers to share responsibility for updating a critical web map—adding or removing layers, changing symbols, updating the map's description, and so on.

Tip:

Sometimes, you need to make a hosted feature layer visible to the public, but you also need to allow a group of editors to edit the layer. To do this, you can create a feature layer view from the hosted feature layer. Next, enable editing on the hosted feature layer and share it with the group whose members you want to edit the layer. Finally, share the hosted feature layer view with everyone.

If you are using 10.8, follow these steps:

1. Verify that you are signed in and have privileges to share content with your organization.
2. At the top of the site, click Content.
3. On the My Content tab, check the box next to the title of the item or items you want to share, and click Share.
4. Click Share.

   If you are a member of one or more groups with the item update capability enabled, both the Access and Access and update capabilities options are available. If not, only the Access option is available.

   • Click Access to see a list of groups that don't have the item update capability enabled. If you choose this option, other group members can access your shared item.
   • If available, click Access and update capabilities to see a list of groups with the item update capability enabled. If you choose this option, group members can update your shared item.
5. In the pop-up that appears, check the box next to the group or groups you want to share the item with.

   Note:

   If you chose Access in the previous step, only groups created without the item update capability are listed. If you chose Access and update capabilities in the previous step, only groups created with the item update capability are listed.

If you are using 10.8.1, follow these steps:

1. Verify that you are signed in and have privileges to share content with your organization.
2. At the top of the site, click Content.
3. On the My Content tab, check the box next to the title of the item or items you want to share, and click Share.
4. In the Share window, click Edit group sharing.
5. In the Group sharing window, select the groups you want to share with, and click OK.

   Tip:

   To find the groups you want, you can search for them by name or use filters to refine the list of groups. For example, choose a Special Groups filter to narrow the list to shared update groups; administrative groups; or groups configured to showcase the organization's featured content through the gallery page, home page, and basemap gallery.

   Note:

   If you are looking for a group you manage and don't see it listed, you can share items with the group directly from the Content tab of the group page. Click the Add Item to Group button, find the items you want to share with the group, and click Add Item for each item you want to share. This group sharing option is available to group owners and group managers only.

6. In the Share window, click Save.

   Tip:

   To undo the sharing of the items with all selected groups, click Revert in the Set group sharing section and click Save.

Share items with everyone

Sharing an item with everyone makes it available to anybody who has access to the portal website. Items shared with the portal or the public can also be added to any group by that group's owner or manager. If you want to link or embed your map in a website, be sure it's shared with everyone.

1. At the top of the site, click Content.
2. On the My Content tab, check the box next to the title of the item or items you want to share, and click Share.
3. In the Share window, select Everyone (public) and click Save.

Share items with your organization or everyone, and a group

Share your items with your organization and a group if you want only members of your organization to have access to it, but you also want to highlight the content for a specific group. For example, a risk management analyst for an insurance company might need to share certain items with all members of their organization but cannot allow nonmembers to have access to them. The analyst may also want to share the items with a group composed of the other risk management analysts to make the items easier to find.

If you want to share thematic content with a subset of users or organize your content into a collection of items, but you also want everyone to have access to your item, you can share your item with a group and with everyone. For example, a fire agency that produces burn maps might want the general public to find and view the maps but also want members in the fire agency group to use the maps as templates for creating their own local versions.

Share public items

You can share public items you own as well as other public items you don't own but you discover on the website. For example, you can share a public map by sending an email with a link or embedding the item in a website or blog. You can also share basemaps, apps, and other items that have been shared with the public or the portal with groups you own.