topic Re: Link to content sections in ArcGIS StoryMaps Questions

Link to content sections

CMcDonald — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 16:41:54 GMT

The new ability in story maps to link to sections of content whereby it is limited to just 10 sections and maximum 30 character length is not very good. The Map Journal template has functionality so you can jump to sections easily i.e. by appending the URL with &section=5

I don't wish to use the 'old' style template but it would appear I have no option?

Re: Link to content sections

OwenGeo — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 18:03:26 GMT

Hi -- Thanks for your feedback about the story navigation feature. I'm sorry this isn't meeting all your needs now, but it'd be great to get more information from you so we can consider your requests in future enhancements.

Can you provide some detail about the type of story are you publishing that requires more sections and/or longer section names than the current limits? What is the topic/purpose of the story? How many sections would be required? What is the max character length of a section?

One thing that might be interesting for your is looking at a collection. This already has the ability to link to a particular item in the collection using a URL parameter. You could add several stories together in a collection. See this blog post for more info: Start your first ArcGIS StoryMaps collection

We are looking into adding the ability to provide a link to a specific part of a story in a future release are you looking to do this within the story or by providing the link to someone else so they can jump right to a spot in the story that you specify?

Re: Link to content sections

CMcDonald — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 09:29:35 GMT

Hi Owen, thanks for getting back to me.

We are going to be rolling out the map element of our cities Proposed Local Development Plan so the Story Map is a quick overview of the plan but still a substantial enough piece of content by itself.

I have taken a look at Collections but we feel the way you jump between the story maps

would not be very clear for members of the public.

An example of a map journal story map showing their Proposed Local Development Plan of what we are trying to do at the new story map design would be from another authority https://abdnshire.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=0b6df3fd06024c798c89138dce7a6a7e on the first page i.e. Contents, Policies, Interactive Settlement Maps

Our titles are something like the following

Contents & Foreward

Section 1: A Sustainable Vision for Aberdeen

Section 2: How to Use this Plan

Section 3: Spatial Strategy

Section 4: Monitoring and Review – Infrastructure Planning and Delivery

Delivering Sustainable Communities

Section 5: Health and Wellbeing

Section 6: Protecting and Enhancing the natural environment

Section 7: Quality Placemaking

Section 8: Using Resources Sustainably

Section 9: Meeting Housing and Community Needs

Section 10: The Vibrant City

Section 11: Delivering Infrastructure, Transport and Accessibility

Section 12: Supporting Business and Industrial Development

Glossary and appendices

Glossary (Link to page 102 of PDF)

Appendix 1: Brownfield Sites (Link to page 107 of PDF)

Appendix 2: Opportunity Sites (Link to page 108 of PDF)

Appendix 3: Masterplans and Development (Link to page 124 of PDF)

Appendix 4: Aberdeen Planning Policy (Link to page 124 of PDF)

Appendix 5: Schedule of Land Owned by Local Authority (Link to page 125 of PDF)

I really like a lot of the new story maps design and having the ability to 'link' more than 10 sections, not be character limited and have the option to display vertically would be ideal for us. The design that has been created does look more professional and I like the way they scroll with you however it does not totally fit our needs.

I hope this helps

Thanks

Re: Link to content sections

OwenGeo — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 12:16:59 GMT

Thanks for the additional detail and feedback. Sounds like a great project, you are working on!

Note that section headings within a story are not limited. Rather, it's only the representations of those sections in the nav bar that have a character limit. Having long strings of text in the nav bar would require a lot of sideways scrolling. This is not a good experience for readers, so we encourage shorter names.

For your project example above, we'd recommend that you create three stories and a collection. The three stories would correspond to your bolded main sections. The section links within those stories could be named Section 1, Section 2, ..., Appendix 1, Appendix 2, etc. (or even just 1, 2, 3, ..., A1, A2). You'd complete the process by adding those three stories to a collection.

There are some different navigation options coming soon for collections, which might meet your needs for providing a clearer navigation experience for the public, so keep your eyes peeled for those!

Re: Link to content sections

CMcDonald — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 09:07:43 GMT

Thanks Owen, looking forward to improved navigation options for Collections 🙂

Re: Link to content sections

CurtHarvey — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 19:48:01 GMT

Hi Owen - really appreciating the new navigation feature for SM's. Just wanted to inquire about any progress or estimated (?) timeline on incorporating 'links' ("looking into adding the ability to provide a link to a specific part of a story"). It would be an extremely useful additional feature, as I'm sure many would agree. Thanks for all the great work and info.