10 Advanced
Tips & Tricks

Use the Share Widget to Reverse-Engineer URL Parameters

Experience Builder URL parameters are notoriously complex. They require knowledge of internal data source IDs, widget IDs, proper URL encoding, and JSON-like syntax. A typical parameterized URL looks like this:

https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/abc123
  ?data_filter=dataSource_1-layer_0:status%3D%27Active%27
  #map_1=center:-9175753,3251009,102100&map_1=scale:500000

Nobody wants to hand-write that. Get one character wrong and the whole thing fails silently — the app loads but the parameter is ignored.

The solution: Let the app write the parameters for you. The Share widget captures your current app state as a URL.

Section Widget Lazy Loading for Performance

You build an EB app with a tabbed Section widget: View 1 is a Map, View 2 is a Chart dashboard, View 3 is a Table, View 4 is a gallery. On page load, EB renders all views simultaneously — even though the user only sees View 1. Everything initializes at once, and the page takes 10-15 seconds to load.

One toggle fixes this: Select your Section widget → Settings → find "Lazy Loading" → turn it ON.

Pending Mode — Responsive Design Without Deleting Widgets

You build a desktop app with a sidebar, legend, filter bar, and full-screen map. Switch to mobile preview: everything overlaps or squishes. The instinct: delete the sidebar. But in EB, deleting from one layout deletes from ALL layouts. Now your desktop is broken too.

The Pending List is a holding area. Widgets moved there are fully configured, invisible to users on that device layout, and still exist on other layouts.

Shared Authentication Between Embedded Apps

You embed a Dashboard inside your EB app. Both are secured. The user signs into the parent EB app, then gets a second sign-in prompt for the embedded Dashboard. Confusing, frustrating, unprofessional.

Fix: Append ?arcgis-auth-origin=https://experience.arcgis.com to the embedded app's URL.

https://yourorg.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/def456
  ?arcgis-auth-origin=https://experience.arcgis.com
  &arcgis-auth-portal=https://yourorg.maps.arcgis.com
  &org=yourorgshortname

Arcade AI Assistant + HTML Output

As of the February 2026 ArcGIS Online update, the Arcade expression editor includes an AI-powered assistant (beta). Describe what you want in plain English and it generates the Arcade expression.

Arcade can return formatted HTML using supported tags: <h1>-<h6>, <p>, <span>, <strong>, <em>, <a>, <img>, <ul>/<ol>/<li>, <br>. Not supported: <div>, <table>, <style>, <script>.

var name = $feature.ChapterName
var activeOps = $feature.ActiveOperations
var daysAgo = Floor(DateDiff(Now(), $feature.EditDate, "days"))

var statusColor = When(
  activeOps > 5, "red",
  activeOps > 0, "orange",
  "green"
)

return "<h3>" + name + "</h3>" +
       "<p style='color:" + statusColor + "; font-weight:bold'>" +
       activeOps + " operations</p>" +
       "<p style='color:#666; font-size:12px'>Updated " +
       daysAgo + " days ago</p>"

Deep Link with Hash Parameters

While Tip 1 auto-generates URLs, this tip teaches you the actual syntax so you can construct deep links programmatically — from external systems, email templates, or code.

Center and scale:

// Web Mercator coordinates + scale
#map_1=center:-9175753,3251009,102100&map_1=scale:500000

// Lat/lon alternative
#map_1=center:-82.64,27.77,4326&map_1=scale:500000

Layer visibility:

#map_1=layer_visibility:{"dataSource_1":{"layer-2":false,"layer-3":true}}

Drop markers:

#map_1=marker:-82.64,27.77;4326;St Petersburg;Click here for details

Pre-filter data:

?data_filter=dataSource_1-layer_0:status='Active' AND region='Southeast'

Combined URL — the real power:

https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/abc123
  ?data_filter=dataSource_1-layer_0:region='Southeast'
  &page=page_2
  #map_1=center:-9175753,3251009,102100
  &map_1=scale:500000
  &map_1=layer_visibility:%7B%22dataSource_1%22%3A%7B%22layer-2%22%3Afalse%7D%7D

Chain Widget Output Data Sources into Pipelines

This is the most powerful architectural pattern in EB that most users never discover. Certain widgets don't just display data — they produce new data sources at runtime. These output data sources can be consumed by other widgets, creating processing pipelines entirely through configuration.

Pattern 1: Basic Pipeline (Query → List + Chart)

Pattern 2: Two-Level Pipeline (Query → Chart → Text)

Custom Data Views for Independent Widget Slices

You have a Map and a List both connected to the same Feature Layer. You add a filter to the List for "Active" incidents. The Map also filters to Active — your historical incidents vanish from the map. Everything connected to the same data source shares the same filter state.

This is the #1 frustration for intermediate EB builders.

The solution: Named Data Views. A Data View is a configured lens on a data source with its own filter, sort, and record limit. Multiple widgets each use a different view, operating independently.

Arcade Dynamic Styling — Data-Driven Widget Appearance

Map symbology changes how features look on the map. Dynamic styling changes how widgets look in the UI. A List item can turn red when overdue. A Text block can change colors based on severity. This is conditional formatting for Experience Builder.

var status = $feature.Status

var bgColor = When(
  status == "Critical",   "rgba(255, 59, 48, 0.15)",
  status == "Active",     "rgba(255, 149, 0, 0.15)",
  status == "Monitoring", "rgba(255, 204, 0, 0.10)",
  status == "Resolved",   "rgba(52, 199, 89, 0.10)",
  "rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.05)"
)

var borderColor = When(
  status == "Critical",   "#FF3B30",
  status == "Active",     "#FF9500",
  status == "Monitoring", "#FFCC00",
  status == "Resolved",   "#34C759",
  "#CCCCCC"
)

return {
  background: { color: bgColor },
  border: { type: "solid", color: borderColor, width: "2px" }
}

var daysOverdue = DateDiff(Now(), $feature.DueDate, "days")

if (daysOverdue > 0) {
  return {
    background: { color: "rgba(255, 59, 48, 0.2)" },
    border: { type: "solid", color: "#FF3B30", width: "3px" }
  }
} else if (daysOverdue > -3) {
  return {
    background: { color: "rgba(255, 204, 0, 0.15)" },
    border: { type: "solid", color: "#FFCC00", width: "2px" }
  }
} else {
  return {
    background: { color: "rgba(52, 199, 89, 0.05)" },
    border: { type: "solid", color: "#34C759", width: "1px" }
  }
}

Cross-Page Trigger-Action Chains

Most EB users know about triggers within a single page. But the system is far more powerful:

Multi-Action Chain: User clicks a feature → map pans and zooms → sidebar opens → list filters → feature flashes.

Cross-Page Pattern: Overview page → user clicks a region → app navigates to detail page pre-filtered.