Web AppBuilder widget to Experience Builder

When transitioning from ArcGIS Web AppBuilder to ArcGIS Experience Builder, it is important to note that direct conversion of custom widgets and themes is not possible. However, listed below are helpful best practices to guide you through the process of rewriting your widgets in Experience Builder.

Why migrate your widgets?

ArcGIS Web AppBuilder, along with its associated components, is going to be retired at the end of 2025. Web AppBuilder uses Esri's older ArcGIS API for JavaScript version 3.x, which is also slated for retirement in July 2024. This retirement announcement impacts ArcGIS Web AppBuilder in ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Web AppBuilder in ArcGIS Enterprise, and the ArcGIS Web AppBuilder Developer subscription.

Beyond the retirement of Web AppBuilder, the migration to Experience Builder offers several benefits:

Experience Builder has a more modern and intuitive user interface, allowing you to create appealing and interactive web applications.
Experience Builder offers predefined templates and themes that can significantly improve the overall quality of applications.
Experience Builder has new features and capabilities that are not available in Web AppBuilder. These include drag-and-drop functionality, real-time data updates, integration with external systems, and improved mobile responsiveness.

How to migrate widgets to ArcGIS Experience Builder

The high-level migration process to Experience Builder consists of several steps:

Install ArcGIS Experience Builder developer edition

Before migrating a Web AppBuilder widget, you need to install developer edition on your machine.
Review development documentation

Go to getting started to understand the requirements and dependencies for creating a new widget in Experience Builder.
Create a new widget in Experience Builder

Manually create a new widget in Experience Builder. You can use the Sample Widget that comes with developer edition as a starting point.
Rewrite Web AppBuilder widget code in the new widget

Review the Web AppBuilder widget code and rewrite it in your new widget in Experience Builder.

Web AppBuilder relies on Maps SDK for JavaScript 3.x while Experience Builder is built using the Maps SDK for JavaScript 4.x. This is the main reason why the migration process is a rewrite of your custom widget in Experience Builder.

JavaScript Maps SDK
To learn more about the latest version of Maps SDK for JavaScript, go to ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript.
Test and debug

Test and debug the custom widget in developer edition to make sure it works as expected.
Create web apps with the custom widget

Once the custom widget is fully tested, you can create new web apps with the widget in Experience Builder. Additionally, the custom widget can be added to ArcGIS Enterprise.

Topic
To learn how to add custom widgets to ArcGIS Enterprise, go to custom widgets in ArcGIS Enterprise.