When the “Near Me” widget first arrived, the potential was immediately clear, especially for applications needing location-based filtering. Imagine users effortlessly finding nearby parks based on amenities, just by entering their address. However, the standard “Near Me” widget’s implementation can feel clunky, particularly for public-facing applications. The user interface isn’t always ideal, and dedicating valuable screen space to it can be a trade-off when you already have a well-structured List Widget.
Many users, including myself, have voiced a desire for a more streamlined “Near Me” experience. Ideally, a simple search bar with a “current location” button would suffice. Users could input an address or tap the button, and the results would seamlessly populate within a List Widget.
Good news! Since the October 2023 ArcGIS Online update, building precisely this – or something remarkably close – is now achievable. Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating a customized “Near Me” experience using ArcGIS Experience Builder, focusing on leveraging the Search and List widgets for a cleaner, more user-friendly approach to finding What To Do Today Near Me.
Step One: Triggering Near Me Functionality from Search
To get started, you’ll need four essential widgets in your Experience Builder project: a Map Widget, a Search Widget, a Near Me Widget, and a List Widget. Drag and drop them into your experience and let’s configure them.
Begin by selecting your Map Widget and choosing the web map you intend to use. Next, configure the Search Widget by selecting a locator source. Crucially, enable the “Use Current Location” option within the Search Suggestion settings. This allows users to easily search based on their current location, a key feature for finding “what to do today near me.”
This image shows the Search Widget configuration in ArcGIS Experience Builder, highlighting the “Use Current Location” option checked under Search Suggestion settings.
In the Action tab of the Search Widget settings, create an action: “Record Selection Changes” -> “Near Me” -> “Set Location”. While a “Map -> Zoom To” action is optional, it’s generally recommended to visually guide users to their searched location.
Step Two: Configuring the Near Me Widget
Select your Map Widget again. You’ll likely encounter a warning message displayed by the Near Me Widget at this stage.
This image displays the warning message that appears when initially configuring the Near Me Widget in ArcGIS Experience Builder, prompting the user to open the Analysis settings.
Don’t be alarmed – this is expected. The Near Me Widget is prompting you to access its Analysis settings. Click on the name of your map again to open the Analysis settings menu.
Within the Analysis settings, choose “Specify a location.” Set a buffer distance relevant to your application (5 miles is a reasonable starting point). Then, click the “Add Analysis” button. This buffer defines the “near me” radius, crucial for filtering results to show relevant “what to do today near me” options.
This image showcases the Near Me Widget’s Analysis settings in ArcGIS Experience Builder, emphasizing the “Specify a location” option and the buffer distance setting.
In the subsequent window, configure the analysis type. Select “Analysis Type” -> “Proximity” and “Sort features” -> “Distance.” Consider disabling “Highlight results on map” for a cleaner visual experience.
This image illustrates the Proximity analysis and sorting settings within the Near Me Widget in ArcGIS Experience Builder, detailing the selection of “Proximity” and “Distance” options.
Navigate to “General Settings” and set the “Sketch Color” to rgba(255,255,255,0) (transparent white). The default transparent option can sometimes result in a noticeable dark grey circle. Transparent white effectively minimizes the visual footprint of the buffer, offering a subtle dimming effect with a barely visible edge. This ensures the focus remains on the results, not the buffer itself, enhancing the user experience for “what to do today near me” searches.
Step Three: Directing Near Me Results to a List Widget
Now, for the crucial step: connecting the Near Me results to your List Widget. In the List Widget settings, click “Select Data” -> “Outputs” -> “Near Me” -> “Whatever I Named My Near Me Output” (ensure you remember the name you gave your Near Me output for easy selection). Adding a “No data message” instructing users to utilize the Search Widget is also a good practice, guiding them towards the intended workflow for finding “what to do today near me”.
This image demonstrates how to select the Near Me widget output as the data source for the List Widget in ArcGIS Experience Builder, establishing the connection for displaying “near me” results in the list.
With this configuration, searching in the Search bar will now seamlessly populate the List Widget with “Near Me” results. Customize the styling of your List Widget to match your application’s design and enhance user engagement. The List Widget offers superior visual appeal and usability compared to the standard Near Me interface, making it ideal for presenting “what to do today near me” options.
Why this approach?
- Enhanced User Interface: A well-designed List Widget simply offers a more visually appealing and user-friendly interface than the default Near Me Widget, crucial for public-facing applications focusing on “what to do today near me”.
- Expanded Functionality: Presenting data in a List Widget unlocks a range of features not available in the Near Me Widget alone. This includes in-list searching, sorting, and filtering, as well as options to export data as CSV, JSON, or geoJSON. The Near Me Widget only offers CSV export. These enhanced features greatly improve the user’s ability to explore and utilize “what to do today near me” results.
Step Four: Hiding the Near Me Widget (Widget Visibility, Not Location Privacy!)
With the Search Widget triggering Near Me and results displayed beautifully in the List Widget, the original Near Me Widget becomes redundant visually. Deleting it, moving it to the pending list, or placing it in a Section or Widget Controller will unfortunately break the functionality. The solution? Make it tiny and effectively hidden.
In the Style Tab of the Near Me widget settings, set both “Width” and “Height” to 0px. While Experience Builder might not strictly adhere to 0x0px (the minimum size appears to be around 16x16px), the widget will become a barely visible element on the screen.
This image shows the Style settings of the Near Me Widget in ArcGIS Experience Builder, demonstrating the width and height being set to 0px to effectively hide the widget.
The tiny box circled in red in the image represents your minimized Near Me Widget. It remains functional in the background, processing “Near Me” queries without occupying valuable visual space. If adjustments to Near Me settings are needed later, simply click on this tiny box to access the settings panel.
For those using Developer Edition, adding the following CSS snippet can completely eliminate the widget from view:
.widget-near-me { display: none; }However, within ArcGIS Online, achieving complete invisibility requires a slightly different approach. Consider utilizing a Sidebar Widget.
Place the minimized Near Me Widget within the collapsible section of a Sidebar Widget. Set the Sidebar Widget’s size to 0px, “Default state” to “Collapsed,” and disable the “Collapse Button.”
This image illustrates the configuration of a Sidebar Widget in ArcGIS Experience Builder, showing how a minimized Near Me Widget can be placed within a collapsed sidebar to effectively hide it from the user interface.
The Near Me Widget will now operate seamlessly within the collapsed Sidebar, completely hidden from users unless they inspect the page’s code. This technique of hiding default widgets opens up creative possibilities for customizing ArcGIS Experience Builder applications, allowing for tailored user experiences focused on “what to do today near me” and similar location-based functionalities.
This method provides a more refined and user-centric approach to “Near Me” functionality within ArcGIS Experience Builder. While further enhancements are always possible, this customized solution offers a significant improvement over the standard Near Me widget, particularly for applications aimed at helping users discover “what to do today near me” in a clean and efficient manner. Explore the demo app to see this Near Me-free “Near Me” in action and evaluate its suitability for your own projects.
