TL;DR: Maptiks WAB widget here!

What is WAB?

WAB is Esri’s Web AppBuilder, a graphical tool enabling users to make map-centric apps with little or no coding. Through a browser-based builder, app authors can configure their app, from styling, to content (from ArcGIS Online), to additional pieces of functionality in the form of widgets.

A word on widgets

A widget is a reusable, configurable chunk of code that adds a certain piece of functionality to the app. Common WAB widgets are things like a legend, scale bar, and search box. These widgets, and others, are included out-of-the-box and appear as icons in the available widget list in the WAB. Widgets are a drag/drop/configuration away from appearing in your app!

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Of course, Esri hasn’t provided every conceivable widget by default, but they have made it possible to include your own custom widgets, or at least those you found elsewhere (like here!).

Beware that there are different versions of WAB, depending on where you find it and how you want to use it. The standard ArcGIS Online WAB, does not currently support custom widgets. Luckily, the Developer’s Edition WAB, does provide access to custom widgets. It’s not for everyone, but the benefits of using custom widgets (or for the adventurous, creating your own!) are well worth it.

… Which brings us to Maptiks!

In short, Maptiks provides spatial app developers the analytics they need to measure the quality of their app, while offering insights toward future improvements. Session time – check! Bounce rate – check! Clicks, pans, zooms – check, check, check!

Maptiks integrates with many of the most popular mapping platforms, including Google Maps, Leaflet, OpenLayers and Mango. Maptiks analytics are also available for several Esri interfaces, such as standalone Esri JS API maps, ArcGIS Online standard web apps, story maps, and now…

The WAB Maptiks Widget!

You’re only a few quick steps away from using Maptiks in your next WAB app:

  1. Sign up for a Maptiks account.
  2. Download, install, and start Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS (Developer Edition).
  3. Create a new app or import an existing app from ArcGIS Online.
  4. Download the MaptiksWidget and copy it into your app’s widgets folder.
  5. Register MaptiksWidget as an off-panel widget in the widgets object in the app’s config.json file.
  6. Obtain a trackcode for your domain from your Maptiks account, and choose an ID that will appear in the list of tracked maps in your Maptiks account.
  7. In WAB, configure the app, including the trackcode and ID for the Maptiks Widget.
  8. Save the changes.
  9. Deploy your app.

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We skimmed through those instructions pretty quickly, but you can read more on our GitHub repo page, and of course you’re always welcome to contact us for more information!

Need some help getting analytics setup? Chat with one of our reps.