Share your map or service
By default, the maps you create and save with ArcGIS Explorer Online are private and only you can access them. You can share a map with others in several ways. You can either share your map by making it available to the public, or to members of groups you own or to which you belong, or you can send a direct link to a map or a map's presentation to someone.
You can also add references to GIS services to ArcGIS Online, and share them with other users, providing a convenient way to inform others about data they may find useful. If you change the default aspects of the layers appearance and behavior—for example the pop-up window configuration, symbology, or feature filter—you can also store these changes with the service information in your content. You can also share public maps and services that you do not own.
To share a map or service
- Open the Share dialog box for the item you want to share:
- To share the current map—Click the Share button on the Mapping toolbar.
- To share an item from your content—Find the item you want to share in the home screen, and click the Share link shown next to it.
- To share an item that you do not own—Find the item you want to share in the home screen and click the Share link shown next to it.
The item must be shared publicly; if it is not, then the Share dialog box will allow you to copy links to the map and presentation, but not to share the item with any other users.
- To share the current map—Click the Share button on the Mapping toolbar.
- Choose how to share the item:
To share the item with all users, check Everyone (public).
To share the item with members of one or more groups, check the group name(s) in the list of groups.
Caution:When you share a service, you are sharing the reference to the URL and the related information, not making any changes to the accessibility of the GIS service itself. Users must be able to access the URL of the underlying GIS service itself.
Note:If your account is part of an organization, your organization administrator may have removed the ability to share a map publicly with all users of ArcGIS Online. You may see another check box for sharing with the organization; this choice will share the item with all members of your organization, but not with any other users of ArcGIS Online.
- If the map has a presentation and you want other users who open the map to see the presentation immediately, check the Start in presentation mode when opened by others check box.
Close the dialog box by clicking the Close 
button at the top right of the dialog box. Now your item is shared, the appropriate users of ArcGIS Explorer Online,
ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS for iOS, ArcGIS for Android, and ArcGIS Desktop
will be able to locate it in a search and view it, and will also be able to open it directly from a link.
Tips for sharing maps and services
- When you share a map publicly, other users do not have to be signed in to open your map.
- When sharing maps, you must make sure that all the items in the shared map are also available to the users of the map, or they will not be available when other users open the map. When sharing a service, you must ensure that the URL of the GIS service itself is available to the users of the service.
- When you share your item with a specific group, only the members of the group will be able to locate your item in a search, or when browsing the group. If you want your item to be shared with everyone, but also listed as part of a group, check both Everyone (public) and the group or groups you want it to appear in.
- You cannot share a map that you do not own with a group that you do not own (but are a member of).
- When you add a service from content items in ArcGIS Online to your map, it may have feature symbology and other appearance properties already configured. You can change the configuration in the map, and you can also reset the configuration to that defined by the service item. If you are the owner of the service, you can also upload the new configuration from the map to your service item.
Learn more about uploading and resetting layer configurations
- If the Start in presentation mode when opened by others option was unchecked when sharing a map, when other users open the map in Explorer Online, they will see the map screen. If the option was checked, then Explorer Online will open the map in a special presentation mode with simple controls allowing the user to view the presentation immediately. The user can exit this mode and see the map screen if required.