Move it! Migrating A Survey123

Survey123 has been around for a while and is a powerful tool in the geospatial belt of tools. I created a Survey of Coffee Shops a wile ago and wanted to recreate that with some old data. Whether you're moving projects between ArcGIS Online accounts or just refining your Survey123 presentation, this post walks you through how to:

1. Recreate a Survey123 form in a new ArcGIS Online account using an existing Excel XLSForm

2. Re-upload existing survey data into the new hosted feature layer

3. Bonus of Using HTML formatting to make numeric scores visually stand out—with color and boldness

Step 1: Export from Your Old/Other ArcGIS Online Account

If your Survey123 form was created using Survey123 Connect, you probably already have:

• A feature class (downloaded or exported from AGOL)

• The original Excel spreadsheet (your XLSForm) used to build the survey

if not, You can ‘Open in Survey123 Connect’ from the AGO interface and then save the XLSX locally. For the Layer from AGO, export the feature layer data as a File Geodatabase, shapefile, or simply use ArcGIS Pro to copy the features. (More on this process below)

Step 2: Recreate the Survey in Survey123 Connect

Open Survey123 Connect and log in with your target ArcGIS Online account.

1. Click "New Survey"

2. Select the “File” tab, then choose your original Excel XLSForm

3. Name the survey appropriately because you this name attached it self to a lot of items, and click Create.

This step builds a new feature layer and form structure based on your original XLSForm.

Step 3: Publish the Survey

Once your survey form looks correct:

1. Click “Publish” to push the survey and create a new hosted feature layer in your new account

Step 4: Migrate the Old Data

Use ArcGIS Pro to migrate the feature class data into the new Published hosted feature layer:

1. Open a new project and sign in with your target AGO account

2. Add your original feature class (from download/export)

3. Add your new empty hosted feature layer (created when you published the survey)

4. Use the “Append” tool to transfer records with attachments (or Copy/Paste if no attachments)

5. Make sure field names, types, and domains match—adjust schema if needed. I always map the field on an append.

Bonus! Step 5: Add Formatted Score Output with HTML

You can use HTML tags inside a note question in Survey123 to style the output of a calculated score.

For example, to make the TotalScore field change color based on value, and appear bold, use this formula in the calculation column of a note question:

if($ >= 20, 
   concat('<font color="green" size="5"><b>', $, '</b></font>'), 
   if($ >= 15 and $ < 20, 
      concat('<font color="blue" size="5"><b>', $, '</b></font>'), 
      if($ < 15, 
         concat('<font color="red" size="5"><b>', $, '</b></font>'), 
         ''
      )
   )
)

Point of note: For some reason this doesn’t display in the Survey123Connect accurately in the preview, but it works after publishing

Survey123 Connect Preview

Opened in Browser looks fine and formatting works!

This workflow lets you fully migrate a Survey123 form and its data between accounts and enhance the user experience by formatting key values. Using just a few lines of HTML and Survey123 logic, you can make your forms more engaging, readable, and responsive. If you have any coffee shops you want to review drop them here.

Send us and email if you have any questions

Reports, Reporting for Duty

Utilizing ArcGIS Reports

At Maurer-Stutz Geospatial Services, we have many projects that require reporting. Today, we want to help other ArcGIS Pro users utilize the reporting functions built within that system in an easy and effective way.

The Reports function allows you to quickly generate a report from your data. You can:

• Display only the fields you specify for each feature.

• Add visual elements like graphs and charts.

• Filter the data to show only what’s relevant to the purpose of the report.

In this example, I used road assessment data as my source, and wanted to create a report showing me each road across 11 different towns, sorted from worst to best based on their score (mPCI).

Step 1: Select Your Data

1. Select the map frame that contains the data you want to use.

Go to the Insert tab and click New Report.

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Step 2: Choose a Template

• Select a report template.
  Example: Choose Attribute List with Grouping.

• Name your report.

• Select the data source (the dataset you’ll report on).

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Step 3: Organize the Data

1. Choose the fields you want to display.
   Example: For a road assessment, include:

• Road Name

• Assessment Score

• Length

• Width

• Material

• Other relevant details

 Tip: Drag and drop fields to reorder them in the report.

2. Select a grouping field to organize your report.
Example: Group by Municipality.

3. Define sorting rules within each group.
Example: Sort roads by Assessment Score (descending),
so the lowest scores appear first.

4. (Optional) Add group statistics:

• Choose a field (e.g., Assessment Score).

• Select a statistic (e.g., Mean) to summarize each group.

5. Set your page size and click Finish.

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Step 4: Preview the Report

• Your report will now display:

• Each road grouped by municipality.

• Roads within each group sorted by assessment score.

• You can rename column headers to make them more readable.
  (Just like editing text in Layout View.)

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Step 5: Export the Report

• Export the report as a PDF or another supported format.

• Your final report will include:

• Organized, grouped, and sorted data.

• Optional charts, statistics, or summary sections if added.

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Additional Tips

• Use the Insert tab to:

• Add more fields or statistics after the report has been created.

• Insert charts, dynamic images, or text blocks.

• Choose where these additions appear:

• Statistics Group: Appears at the end of each group (e.g., each municipality).

• Report Totals: Appears at the very end of the full report.

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We hope this has been a casual guide to creating reports in ArcGIS. It walks you through generating a report from your data, showing you how to pick what information to display, add visuals like graphs and charts, and filter what's relevant. You'll learn how to select your data, choose a template, organize your information by grouping and sorting, preview your report, and finally, export it as a PDF or other format. There are also some neat tricks for customizing your report, like adding more fields or charts after it's been created

If you have other questions please don’t hesitate to contact us in the form below.

Mapping for a Cause

Mapping for a Cause: Supporting Camp Big Sky with GIS

At Maurer-Stutz, Inc., we believe in using our expertise to give back to the community. One of our on-going relationships is with Camp Big Sky, a nonprofit in Fairview, IL, dedicated to providing outdoor experiences for individuals with disabilities.

“We’d Like a Map”

Camp Big Sky recently inquired about the possibility of having Mauer-Stutz Geospatial create a large display map to provide visitors with a clear overview of the camp - similar to maps found at theme parks or the beginning of a hiking trail. That request for a single map began a series of conversations.

Through our discussions with Camp Big Sky, a robust GIS solution developed allowing for the creation of a whole variety of customized maps. We discussed their need for duplicatable, day-use maps, maps specifically tailored for grant applications, online maps, etc.— all of which can easily be created from the GIS that was already being built!

How We’re Helping

Using drone imagery, we captured high-resolution aerial views of the camp, allowing us to digitize important features with precision. This data forms the foundation of our maps, ensuring accuracy and detail.

We provided the founder of Camp Big Sky, Brad Guidi, with a poster-sized printout of the aerial imagery. He identified the names of the features that had been digitized so that we could develop a GIS database that includes:

• Natural features like lakes, trails, and tree cover.

• Infrastructure elements such as buildings, parking areas, and accessibility features.

• Points of interest that allow visitors and staff to both enjoy and navigate the camp more easily.

• Mapping paper products like a wall map with great imagery or a 8.5 X 11 photocopy to hand out to visitors.

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The Impact

These maps will help visitors, volunteers, and staff make the most of Camp Big Sky’s outdoor experiences. The GIS solution will also enable the organization to manage their property more efficiently and plan for future improvements. We have their GIS saved securely for continued updates or applications they may need.

By expanding beyond the original request for “a map,” we’re providing Camp Big Sky with tools that will help them enhance visitor experiences and support future growth and funding opportunities.

This project showcases how GIS technology can support nonprofits in meaningful ways, and we’re proud to contribute to Camp Big Sky’s mission.

To learn more about Camp Big Sky, visit their website at: https://campbigsky.org

If you have more question about how we can help you or your Organization with GIS, Contact us!

3275 Pixels is Plenty!

We recently completed a major installation of ArcGIS Enterprise 11.3 for a client, which included a complete data migration into their new system. Utilizing ArcGIS Pro, we published layers from their database directly to their new portal. Everything was set up for a seamless experience—until an unexpected issue emerged.

The Alignment Issue

After deploying the webmap in an Experience Builder application, our team noticed that the map layers were not aligning correctly with the basemap. Here’s what we observed:

The image above is intentionally fuzzy.

• Consistently Inconsistent: Despite verifying projections and coordinate systems, every republish of the map layers resulted in misalignment in the ArcGIS Portal webmap. The fiber network feature seemed to ‘hop’ around the map space.

• Conflicting Results Across Devices:

  • The client’s computer exhibited persistent alignment issues.

  • Interestingly, when we accessed the portal on our systems, as well as on an iPad or another user’s computer, the map data aligned perfectly.

This inconsistency was perplexing and demanded deeper investigation.

The Debugging Journey

We began by rechecking every variable that could influence map rendering:

The image above is intentionally fuzzy.

1. Revalidating Projections and Coordinate Systems:
   We double-checked all spatial references, confirming that there were no discrepancies that could cause the misalignment.

2. Republishing Multiple Times:
   Despite several attempts and republishing sessions, the misalignment persisted on the client’s main system.

3. Browser and Cache Considerations:
   We had the client try different browsers and even cleared browser caches—none of which resolved the issue.

4. A Surprising Discovery with Developer Tools:
   The breakthrough came when we noticed that opening Chrome Developer Tools seemed to “correct” the alignment. This was a critical hint that the issue might be related to the browser’s rendering dimensions.

The Root Cause: Screen Resolution and Size Limits

Digging deeper, we discovered that the primary client’s workstation featured a 49" wide screen with a resolution of 4216 x 976 pixels. When the browser window was resized (as it often is when opening Developer Tools), the map data would align properly.

After thorough testing, we pinpointed the issue to a specific limitation: the Experience Builder application’s map element appears to have a maximum width limit for properly displaying a mapping service. Our tests revealed that:

• A Webmap element set to 3280 pixels would not align correctly.

• Once we reduced the width to 3275 pixels, the map aligned perfectly.

This finding confirmed that the Experience Builder webmap element has a hard limit of 3275 pixels. Exceeding this limit can lead to unexpected rendering issues like the one we experienced. This is our experience, your results may vary.

Lessons

Screen Resolution Matters:
Large monitors and high-resolution screens can expose limitations in web application design that might not be apparent on standard displays.

1. Dynamic Testing Can Reveal Hidden Issues:
   Simple actions like opening Developer Tools, which resize the browser window, can provide clues about underlying layout constraints.

2. Set Explicit Limits:
   When designing applications in Experience Builder, consider setting maximum element widths to prevent layout issues across different devices and screen sizes.

3. Document Your Findings:
   Sharing insights like these can help other developers avoid similar pitfalls and contribute to a more robust design for web mapping applications. We’re all swimming the dark, your discovery may open the door for someone else.

While our initial installation and data migration were successful, the misalignment issue provided an opportunity to dive deep into the nuances of Experience Builder’s rendering behavior. Understanding that a pixel limit of 3275 exists for the webmap element not only helped resolve our client’s issue but also highlighted the importance of considering display dimensions during application design.

Shared Update is Shared Administration

Geospatial > The Layer File > Shared Update is Shared Administration

Preventing Unwanted Edits in ArcGIS Online: A Support Case Story

Here’s the setup: You’ve carefully crafted a web map and application in ArcGIS Online. The data is perfect, the configurations are solid, and you’re ready to share it with your team. But then, you notice something alarming — edits are possible when they shouldn’t be. Despite your best efforts to lock things down, the data is still editable in ways you may not want.

This was the exact situation we faced recently. Here’s how we untangled the mystery and discovered (via tech support) a hidden pitfall in group permissions that every ArcGIS Online user should know about.

It’s right there! Just click it!

The Puzzle Begins

Our journey started with two accounts: an admin account and a creator role responsible for Editing ATTRIBUTES of a hosted feature layer in an Experience Builder application. Our goal was simple:

Welp. That’s not supposed to happen….

• Prevent Geometry Changes except for the admin or data owner. No sweat right? Just set that variable in the Feature layer’s settings. Done- Duh.

  Except, after using the Admin to set that option , my Creator user could still add, delete and change the geometry.

We double-checked everything:

• Just for fun, we totally disabled editing in the hosted feature layer settings — check.

• The Experience Builder edit widget was configured to prevent edits — check.

Yet, somehow, edits were still possible. It didn’t make sense. We were sure we had all the right settings in place, but the problem persisted. The Creator user could edit vertices in the webmap AS WELL AS resize polygons in the Experience Builder application. In fact that Creator user could change these settings as well as add fields or enable attachments on a layer it did not own.

Digging Deeper

After some thorough troubleshooting with Esri Tech Support, the only commonality was that the users were both a part of the same group. The web map, app, and layers were all shared with this group — a shared update group, to be exact.

For those unfamiliar, shared update groups are powerful collaboration tools in ArcGIS Online. They allow multiple people to edit items shared within the group. However, with great power comes great responsibility (and a potential for unintended consequences).

Esri’s documentation on creating groups carries this important caution:

Caution: A shared update group allows all members to edit items shared with the group. Be careful when enabling this capability, as it overrides individual item settings for editing. …members of this group also have elevated privileges, such as the ability to edit the contents of hosted feature layers, append and update a hosted feature layer using the content of a file, alter editor tracking settings, enable or disable attachments, and alter the layer's schema.

Despite our feature layer and widget settings, the shared update group’s permissions were overriding everything, allowing geometry edits to slip through. The fact that the setting disallows adding, deleting, or changing geometry, means nothing. The layer being shared with a ‘shared update’ group overrides ALL those settings!

Finding the Solution

With this realization, the path forward became clear. We needed to change how we were sharing the content. Here’s what we did:

1. Created a new group without shared update privileges.

2. Shared the web map and app with this new group instead.

3. Tested it — and this time, with the same user, no unwanted geometry edits!

By removing the shared update capability, we ensured that only the admin or data owner could make changes. The issue was finally resolved.

This experience highlighted an important lesson about managing permissions in ArcGIS Online:

• Shared update groups are powerful but can lead to unintended edits. If you don’t need collaborative editing, avoid using shared update groups. Stick to regular groups to keep your content secure.

Taking a moment to review your group settings can save you from unexpected headaches. It’s a subtle but critical detail that can make all the difference in protecting your data.

In the world of geospatial data, collaboration is essential, but so is control. Understanding how permissions work — and how group settings can override individual item configurations — is key to successful content management in ArcGIS Online. Next time you set up a web map or app, ask yourself: Who really needs editing privileges?

Choose your groups wisely, and your data will stay secure.

If you ever find yourself puzzled by permissions, remember: We are here to help you unravel the mystery.

Camp Ellis Becomes Ellis City

Geospatial > The Layer File > Ellis City

Nestled in the rural expanses of western Illinois, the remnants of Camp Ellis stand as a testament to a bygone era. This World War II training camp, located near the small town of Ipava in Fulton County, was a bustling hub of activity with a population of over 50,000 military & civilian personnel. We at Maurer-Stutz Geospatial Services have revived the old footprint of Camp Ellis and used it as a demonstration location for our GIS data, solutions, and applications. We call it: Ellis City

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Construction of Camp Ellis began in 1942, in response to the urgent need for training facilities for the U.S. Army. Named after Sergeant Michael B. Ellis, a Medal of Honor recipient from World War I, the camp quickly transformed from tranquil farmland into a sprawling military installation. Covering approximately 17,000 acres, it included barracks, training grounds, firing ranges, a hospital, and even a prisoner of war camp.

At its peak, Camp Ellis housed over 35,000 soldiers, providing them with comprehensive training in various military disciplines. Infantry, engineer, and medical units all cycled through the camp, honing their skills in preparation for deployment to the European and Pacific theaters. The camp's vast training areas were ideal for exercises in maneuver warfare, marksmanship, and engineering projects, making it a versatile training ground and even included a simulated German village. There is a great Museum about Camp Ellis in Ipava Illinois, You can even read hundreds of newspapers that have been collected & preserved.

Project

During the summer of 2024, we set out on an attempt to create a demonstration city’s GIS that we could use and show off publicly without the fear of exposing sensitive or personal data. Armed with four historic USGS 7.5 minute topo quads and the assistance of several interns, MSGS digitized what was once a sprawling city in the hills and farm fields of Fulton County. Buildings, roads and a few points of interest were placed as accurately as possible according to the old maps and aerial photography. Features like zoning classifications, parcels lines, street signs, garbage pickup days, and municipal utilities were all created from industry expertise and a few assumptions. Specific road names, speed limits, and addresses were ‘embellished’ from the creative minds of our staff and there may be a few easter eggs in the data. It was an enjoyable experience to create GIS data from nothing and our Civil Engineering interns learned quite a bit about GIS editing tools. We also created parks, businesses, and a cemetery.

Result

After the land information, utility data, facility features, and other civic layers were created, we began to build applications to display what ArcGIS can do. The creative liberty that we took in creation of these layers made it necessary to change the name of this new urban center. In an attempt to divest affiliation with the historical aspect of Camp Ellis but still maintain an honorable recognition of the military activities and accomplishments, we chose ‘Ellis City’ as the name of our new demonstration municipality. We created a logo, slogan, bought a URL, and with the help of AI, a few paintings and images of this new city. The city’s website is hosted on an ArcGIS Hub. The GIS solutions are downloaded from the Esri Solutions page but customized a bit, because none of them work out of the box with your own data. All the data, solutions, and applications have been created by our MSGS team with customizations only when needed. They all should be open and available without a login required. We could simply not do this with any client data or existing city. As we have time, the Hub site will continue to evolve and improve. We plan on adding some Survey123, Field Maps, and Story Maps. As technology improves, so will our exhibition.

elliscity.info

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Let us know if you want assistance doing any of these things or if you have a question on how we did it.