Ability to duplicate Express Maps in Sidecar

[AndySiegel]

I like using Express Maps because they are clean, fast and simple to create. However, it'd be nice to have the ability to duplicate Express Maps in Sidecar because sometimes you want to include most of the same information, but just change a few things. Instead of having to recreate the Express Map from scratch, it'd be nice if all the graphic and text elements copied over with duplication. Does this sound like a practical or feasible improvement?

[OwenGeo]

Thanks for this idea Andy. We are looking at this. Would you be able to provide a few more details about what aspects of the express map you'd like to change between slides?

[AndySiegel]

As an example, I'm thinking about it functioning in a way similar to the "Background" and "Getting There" sections in this Story Map Cascade I made last year. In this case, I want the ability to use a express map across consecutive slides and have each the map zoom in/out as user scrolls between slides (revising/adding/removing content as needed). In other cases, I want to duplicate all the content in the express map such as boundary areas, labels, but change a route/arrow line. As it is now, I would have to start from scratch. Does that help?

[AlyssaWentz]

Agreed!

[JulieGrindborg]

That would save a lot of time for me too, but I would like any express map to be able to copied (or saved in the contents folder and then brought in again in other places) , not just those inside a sidecar 

[JasonSafronoff]

@OwenGeo

There also appears to be an issue copying express maps outside of the sidecar and to import the map into the sidecar integrate or rearrange a StoryMap. I've tried drag-and-drop, right-click, copying, and searching help docs and I haven't found a clear solution.

[OwenGeo]

Sorry for not updating this one earlier, but the ability to duplicate sidecar and slides that contain express maps in the media panel was added in Oct 2021. See Release notes—ArcGIS StoryMaps | Documentation

[OwenGeo]

@JasonSafronoff - It's not currently possible to duplicate an express map outside of a sidecar or to bring an express map into a sidecar from another part of the story.

We're considering that for a future release, but you might want to create a new idea for that since this idea was specifically for duplicating express maps in a sidecar.