I've finally been through all of the feedback from the workshop session at the seminars last week and as promised, I want to let you know how your input is going to be added to the product roadmap.
For anyone that couldn't make it to the seminars, the slides from the presentations can be downloaded from here.
The workshop session consisted of two parts, the first was to prioritise the 5 most common feature requests that we receive. The results of this, in descending priority order were:
1. Add an Identify Tool to the Flex Viewer template
2. Routing in the Web Publisher template
3. Mobile device support for the Survey template
4. Configurable Zoom scale limit on maps in the Survey template
5. Metadata viewing
Before I go into how we will be taking these things forward, I just want to say that these priorities are based on the average scores and won't necessarily represent all authorities. I know for example that the ability to view metadata was considered critical by some authorities. Just because it's at the bottom of this list doesn't mean that it will never be implemented, but it does mean some work is needed to really understand what functionality is needed.
So, starting from the top...
1. Identify Tool in the Flex Viewer template
I was originally planning this into Q1 next year, but based on the feedback, an updated Flex template with Id tool will be available in mid-December. This update will be based on the latest version of the Esri Flex application so as well as the new Id tool it will also contain other updates such as enhanced editing.
2. Routing in Web Publisher
During the seminar I mentioned that part of the plans for LocalView Fusion in 2013 will be to integrate it with ArcGIS Online (AGOL) capabilities. Charles also demonstrated the AGOL routing service which is due to be released soon. As soon as it's available, we will begin working on incorporating it into the templates. And to reiterate one of the seminar messages; online capabilities such as routing will be integrated into the LocalView Fusion platform, so they'll be available regardless of whether your LocalView Fusion is in the cloud or on-premise.
3. Mobile Support for Survey
We'll be releasing a new Survey template very soon. The first version won't support mobile platforms, but we will incorporate this in Q1 next year.
4. Configurable Zoom Scale on Survey maps
At present it's not possible for an administrator to set a minimum zoom scale at which a location can be marked on the map. A member of the public could, for example set the location of an abandoned vehicle by clicking a point on the map zoomed to a scale 1:50000.
We'll be adding the capability for administrators to enforce a minimum scale as part of the new Survey template which we are planning to release very soon.
5. Metadata Viewing
This one divided opinion, but the message I got was fairly clear. The requirement from authorities that really need this capability is not for a fully fledged INSPIRE compliant tool within LocalView Fusion, but a basic ability for users of all templates (in particular Web Publisher and Navigator applications) to access a simple description of each map layer.
I will be getting in contact with the authorities that flagged this as a high priority in the New Year to fully scope this requirement and then work it out from there.
That was the result of the top 5 requirements and our implementation plans. As this post is getting a little long, I'm going to leave it there for now. Next week I'll blog the results of part 2 of the workshop, which wereyour other priority suggestions for product enhancements and new template ideas.
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