topic Re: Editing by Multiple People in ArcGIS StoryMaps Questions

Editing by Multiple People

ShanaCrosson2 — Wed, 17 Jul 2019 16:38:33 GMT

Having fun playing with the new StoryMap builder!

We're testing how it works to share with a group so multiple people can edit a map. I shared a map to a Group, but the other members weren't able to edit it. Is the functionality the same as with the classic StoryMaps? (I did Publish the StoryMap and shared with Update and access capabilities.)

Re: Editing by Multiple People

ElizabethZizzamia1 — Wed, 17 Jul 2019 18:07:27 GMT

I have the same exact problem. Admin created the group, member created story map, added other members and all update capabilities. Members can see the storymap but can not edit. We've reviewed all settings and can not come up with a reason it wouldn't work. Although I will say as the Admin, I can edit the shared item.

Re: Editing by Multiple People

OwenGeo — Wed, 17 Jul 2019 19:02:56 GMT

Shana/Elizabeth -- The new ArcGIS StoryMaps doesn't support group editing just yet, but we plan to add features for collaborating on stories in the future. For now, only admins and members in a custom role with the administrative privilege to update all items in the organization can edit someone else's story.

Re: Editing by Multiple People

ShanaCrosson2 — Thu, 18 Jul 2019 18:41:13 GMT

Owen - Thank you for a speedy response and for all the work you and your team are doing!

Re: Editing by Multiple People

JonathanFleming — Mon, 02 Dec 2019 19:46:33 GMT

Use of these story maps for collaborative group projects will have to be scrapped for now. This is incredibly frustrating when Group settings in ArcGIS Online clearly state that "Members can update all items, including changing the item's description and content." Please add a disclaimer that story maps are not included in this blanket statement.

At least now I know...

Re: Editing by Multiple People

OwenGeo — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 04:04:09 GMT

Jonathan Fleming,

I apologize this has frustrated you; however, my last reply in this thread was from July. Below is the latest information...

This is supported now as of the September 2019 ArcGIS Online release. The workflow is not straight forward yet, but here are the steps to accomplish what you're looking to do:

Have an admin create a group with update capabilities with the required members
Go to the group page and click on the Content tab
Click Add item to group and add a story to the group
Provide the story link to other group members (e.g., https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/[storyID])
When group members access the story while logged in, they will see the Edit button in the header allowing them to open the story builder

Later this month, in the next ArcGIS Online release, the Configure button will appear on the story's item page for the group members that have update access. This will make things much easier and will eliminate the need to manually create/share a link to the story (step 4, above). Group members will be able to simply browse to the story item in ArcGIS and open the builder by clicking Configure.

In the future (later in 2020), we plan to make this process even easier by providing tools to collaborate on stories within ArcGIS StoryMaps.

Re: Editing by Multiple People

ShanaCrosson2 — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 15:59:02 GMT

Owen - thank you so much for this info. I hadn't tested using this process for Groups, and it's very helpful for planning to know what's coming. We have had good success with using the new builder with student assignments, and this group edit process will allow us to use it with more classes. Thanks!

Re: Editing by Multiple People

JonathanFleming — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 17:36:52 GMT

Thanks Owen Evans! This is good to know.

Re: Editing by Multiple People

HaydarHussin — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 15:47:22 GMT

Dear Owen,

I have 50 students. That are in groups of 3. As you know we are now in Coronavirus lock down. Do I actually, as an admin, have to make 16-17 groups and manually add their story-maps and the member names to each group ? This does not sound reasonable.

Re: Editing by Multiple People

OwenGeo — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 21:35:06 GMT

Hello Haydar -- That is the way groups work in ArcGIS Online, so unfortunately I don't have a different solution right now if you require all the students in each group to edit the same story map.

I think it should take about 20 minutes to get that set up for a class that size. You would only have to create the groups and add the students. The students would add their stories to their group once they created them.

If that does not sound reasonable, you can have students plan and draft their story in a collaborative tool like a Google doc and then a single student can be responsible for transferring the content to the story builder for the group.

Re: Editing by Multiple People

HaydarHussin — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 21:52:46 GMT

Thanks Owen for your reply. I was not aware that you cannot give "group making options" to your users as an admin.

Is that something to think about, making the invited member roles more customizable in terms of user options/capabilities ?

I think when you are working in a hierarchical structure with multiple teams that need to be managed, there could be some 2nd tier management options where for example an Admin can give some certain rights to people who manage teams. Just a thought.

Re: Editing by Multiple People

OwenGeo — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 22:12:15 GMT

I just checked and it looks like the ability to create a custom role with the ability to create groups with update capabilities does exist, so you could do that as well.

Re: Editing by Multiple People

HaydarHussin — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 22:25:28 GMT

Thanks Owen !

I just made a custom role and applied it to all relevant users in bulk. This is exactly what I was looking for.

Re: Editing by Multiple People

KatieWarnell1 — Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:45:51 GMT

I have a related issue with editing by multiple people that just popped up - possibly with the April update, although I didn't see anything about this in the blog post about the update. I have several StoryMaps that are shared with a group with update capabilities. For the past several months, one other user and I have both been editing and publishing these StoryMaps. Yesterday, I made a few changes to one of the StoryMaps that was originally created by the other user and got a message that I can't publish the story as a co-author - only the original author can do so. I have made changes and published the same story many times, so this seems to be a new limitation that will greatly hinder our ability to work collaboratively on StoryMaps going forward.

Re: Editing by Multiple People

OwenGeo — Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:30:05 GMT

Hi Katie -- Yes, that was a change in the April release. The reason for this change is that only the owner of a story (or an admin) can change its sharing level (private / org / everyone). This is how security in ArcGIS works for all items, not just story maps.

When the publishing options were available for co-authors, it made it seem like a co-author could open someone else's draft story and publish it to the org or everyone; however, this would simply give an error since the co-author doesn't have permissions to change the sharing.

If a story was already published then you may have been able to just publish changes without changing the sharing level of the story.

We are looking into enabling the option for co-authors to publish changes to an already published story in a future release, but we are thinking that authors should have to opt-in to allow that, and that will take us a little more time to think though and design. For now, all publishing controls are available only to the original author and admins.

Re: Editing by Multiple People

deleted-user-G6wNS5_BZkU9 — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 17:30:09 GMT

I have a related question where I am trying to have multiple people able to edit story maps in our group but I can't find the option to make that happen. I'm following this post: Enable colleagues to update your maps and apps and I see this screenshot

But the highlighted is nowhere to be found in my settings. I made a new test group to double check and I still don't see the option. Any help would be appreciated.

Re: Editing by Multiple People

OwenGeo — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 10:54:54 GMT

Mitch Benes‌ -- You must be an admin (or be in a custom role that has been granted a specific administrative privilege) to create groups with the ability for all members to edit the items in a group. See Create groups—ArcGIS Online Help | Documentation for more information.

Re: Editing by Multiple People

MarinaGeo — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 10:57:07 GMT

Hi Owen,

Thanks for the information.

My question is regarding simultaneous editing: is there anything that controls/prevents the loss of changes produced by a second user who is editing at the same time as first user?

Many thanks,

Marina

Re: Editing by Multiple People

OwenGeo — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 18:51:04 GMT

Hi Marina -- No there is not. This is documented here. We recommend the process of having multiple authors work on the same be managed carefully. We're looking into additional tools and notifications for the future.

Re: Editing by Multiple People

KelleeKoenig1 — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 23:34:07 GMT

This is a helpful thread; I'm trying to understand if it's still current for the issue my team is facing. I created a group that permits editing of all items and added coworkers 1 and 2 to the group. Coworker 1 created a StoryMap that is shared with the group as well as publicly, and has published it. Coworker 2 needs to make a few tweaks to it, but keeps getting a warning message that Coworker 1 is editing it (which is confusing, because to our knowledge Coworker 1 logged out of it). I was able to successfully make an edit without any warning messages, but I also have admin privileges. Is that the same issue described above?