Differences in Dashboards on Portal and AGOL

[DanaBissey1]

I have recently been creating some dashboards in both ArcGIS Portal and AGOL.  I have noticed that there are differences between the 2 platforms.  One in particular is the ability in AGOL to add a splash screen, but not in Portal.  I have also found a few other differences, such as having Rich Text and Embedded Content in Portal, but not AGOL.  There may be others that I have not come across yet.  The reason I am posting this is because we have a development Portal where we work on projects.  We want to move those over to the Production Portal in some cases, and AGOL in others, depending on users and need.  Is there a plan to have everything in both platforms have a one-to-one compatibility match in the future?

[SteveCole]

I would say the answer to your question is no, with an asterisk. What you're seeing is how ESRI implements new features in their web based tools and apps. The first place those features are added is AGOL, then it rolls out to the Develop Editions, and then finally it makes it to Portal. Because ESRI has chosen to slow down the roll out of new features, it will likely be 6 months from the time a feature is released in AGOL for it to also be released in Portal.

Example: at last year's UC, ESRI claimed Experience Builder would achieve functional parity with WebApp Builder by the time of the 2025 UC. If this happens, it will be the end of this year before those features roll out Portal hosted EB apps. I'm using EB as an example but this applies to the Map Viewer, Dashboard, Survey 123 etc. There was a post on the ArcGIS Blog about the change in ESRI's feature delivery philosophy a year or two ago but I can't find it.

[MartinCopping]

Hey @DanaBissey1 - New enhancements, bug fixes, and performance improvements in ArcGIS Dashboards go out with each update of ArcGIS Online. Those enhancements, bug fixes, and performance improvements are typically made available to ArcGIS Enterprise at the next release, approximately 3 months after the ArcGIS Online update. 

You can always check the ArcGIS Dashboard Documentation HERE to see what's new in ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise.

I'd love to learn more about your needs. Please feel free to reach out to me directly via e-mail: mcopping@esri.com