topic Re: Questions/suggestions for Cascade story map app in Classic Esri Story Maps Questions

Questions/suggestions for Cascade story map app

C_EHoward — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 16:02:53 GMT

I like this new template but have several questions....

Will there be any tools to change the size, color of the text?Or should all of that be handled outside of the app, and then the text/code pasted into the story map? If so, will there be a way to show the HTML code as in other story map apps? I do not see any way to change the color of the title text on the cover page or any of the title areas.

Cover page - title required? I have an image I'd like to use as my cover & it has text, but I cannot save my story without entering a title.

Is there/will there be a way to have 2 media entries side by side instead of inline? Or other types of layout options?

The text box on the side of the 'immersive' is a bit too responsive IMO- the box does not appear until one scrolls the map and its a little distracting/misleading

Is this template available on Github? I don't really want to build a custom one (and I really can't with my skillset) but I hope to download the app & host on my server as with other story maps.

I do not see a way to get the 'view' options under the 'appearance' section of an added web map enabled- is this currently available?

with an embedded web map- the designer can decide which map layers to show but is that something the user can do as well? turn on /off layers? How about showing a legend?

Looking forward to this app's development....although I would have preferred a little more control over the look & feel as with other apps before this was made available. But maybe I am just not finding some of these tools!

thanks--

Re: Questions/suggestions for Cascade story map app

OwenGeo — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 18:08:21 GMT

Hi Charlene, My answers in-line below:

I like this new template but have several questions....

Yes, we are definitely looking at more text formatting options like lists, colors, etc. for next release. Currently, any formatting will be stripped out when you paste text into your story.

Cover page - title required? I have an image I'd like to use as my cover & it has text, but I cannot save my story without entering a title.

Yup, I totally get that that. We'll consider hiding the title/subtitle on the cover as an enhancement.

Is there/will there be a way to have 2 media entries side by side instead of inline? Or other types of layout options?

That is available now for images. Insert an image, hover over it, then click the + in the lower right corner of the image. You can have up to four images in a row. We want to do more with this in future releases in terms of layouts.

The text box on the side of the 'immersive' is a bit too responsive IMO- the box does not appear until one scrolls the map and its a little distracting/misleading

You can try the other style of panel (fade) to see if you like it better. Click the gear in the upper right of the panel and select the option on the right under "Scrolling"

Is this template available on Github? I don't really want to build a custom one (and I really can't with my skillset) but I hope to download the app & host on my server as with other story maps.

Yup, link is on the Cascade page on the story maps website or go right here: https://github.com/Esri/storymap-cascade

I do not see a way to get the 'view' options under the 'appearance' section of an added web map enabled- is this currently available?

This works a little differently than Map Journal -- The buttons under View are for resetting anything you've changed in the map. If you move the map to a new location, change the visible layers (using the layer list in the upper right), or make a pop-up visible those changes are saved to that view of the map when you close the config panel by clicking the checkmark. If you want to undo anything you've changed you use the reset/clear buttons.

with an embedded web map- the designer can decide which map layers to show but is that something the user can do as well? turn on /off layers? How about showing a legend?

We are considering legends and features similar to Map Journal's main stage actions for a future release so that authors can design ways to help their readers interact with maps in a deliberate way.

I'm doing a series of blogs about Cascade and using its builder -- the first few are available already, more coming in the coming weeks. Story Map Cascade | ArcGIS Blog

Thanks for the feedback and questions!!

Owen

Re: Questions/suggestions for Cascade story map app

C_EHoward — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 16:29:34 GMT

Thanks Owen- appreciate all the answers to my many questions!