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Enable editor tracking on a feature layer

You can keep track of who edits features in feature layers shared to portal members by enabling editor tracking on the feature class (or feature classes) that are used in the feature layer. If editor tracking is set on the feature class, the account information for the person who creates or edits a feature in the feature layer is recorded, along with the date and time the edit was made.

How you enable editor tracking depends on whether you enable it on a hosted feature layer or a feature layer from an ArcGIS GIS Server site.

Enable editor tracking on a hosted feature layer

The hosted feature layer owner or the portal administrator can enable editor tracking on a hosted feature layer by checking the Keep track of who created and last updated features option on the Settings tab on the hosted feature layer's details page. See Manage hosted feature layers for more information.

If the feature layer is shared with everyone (public), ArcGIS records the date and time the feature was added or edited, but no user name is stored.

Enable editor tracking on an ArcGIS Server feature layer

To enable editor tracking on data in an ArcGIS Server feature layer (feature service), the owner of the source data must enable editor tracking. See Editor tracking for feature services in the ArcGIS Server help for more information.

If editor tracking is enabled on the data before you publish, ArcGIS records the editor's login and the date and time the edit was made in the ArcGIS Server feature layer.

If a nonauthenticated user edits a feature service with editor tracking enabled, ESRI_Anonymous is recorded in the creator and editor fields, and the corresponding date of creation or edit is set in the geodatabase; however, if you view these fields from the feature service, they appear empty. Note that if you add an unsecured feature service to ArcGIS Online or an ArcGIS Enterprise portal (in other words, no ArcGIS Server credential is provided for the service), edits are considered to be from a nonauthenticated user and ESRI_Anonymous is recorded in the creator and editor fields.

If you want to enable editor tracking on data you already published, do the following:

  1. Sign in to ArcGIS Server Manager as an administrator or publisher and stop the map service (with feature access enabled).
  2. Have the data owner enable editor tracking on the feature classes used in your feature service.
  3. In ArcGIS Server Manager, start the maps service.