Add Attribute Filtering for Maps within StoryMaps

[Laura]

One limitation I’ve noticed is that while you can toggle layer visibility per slide, there isn’t currently a way to filter features within a layer by attribute directly inside StoryMaps.

For example, if you have a golf course map with a single feature layer containing all holes’ tees, fairways, greens, and markers, you cannot filter that layer by “Hole Number” per slide. The only current workarounds are:

• Creating separate layer views in ArcGIS Online for each hole (which multiplies layers rapidly)

• Creating a separate web map for each hole (which increases management overhead)

It would be extremely useful if StoryMaps allowed authors to define per-slide attribute filters on existing feature layers, similar to the filtering available in ArcGIS Online Map Viewer. This was available in StoryMaps classic. 

[OwenGeo]

@Laura -- Thanks for sharing this idea and your example! We will monitor this idea to see how many other people would like to see this.

Could you share more about why your use case requires turning off features for other holes rather than simply zooming to the extent of a different hole in each slide? Could you also please provide details or an example of how you did this in the classic storytelling templates?

[Laura]

@OwenGeo 

I'm working on a public project, and here is the link (still very early, so there’s not much there yet):
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/9e265689e1ba44e99145d682c9394a42

I found an example that was created in the Classic Map Journal format, and I’d love to mimic something similar in the new StoryMaps:
https://yankton.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=b53fea6d15db48228ca95cbb5bf2196f

Right now, I’m creating separate maps for each hole so that the map only shows the appropriate tees and highlights for that specific hole (zoomed in), while the remaining holes are styled more subtly in the background. I was hoping there was a way in the new StoryMaps to set a filter on my end—so that, for example, one slide shows tee markers only for Hole 4, the next shows only Hole 5, and so on.

Since I haven’t found that functionality, I’ve been creating individual maps instead. But for an 18-hole course plus practice areas, that becomes a lot of maps for one project.

If there's any workaround or feature I may be missing, I’m all ears. It has been a while since I’ve worked with StoryMaps, so I’m definitely not an expert at the moment.

[OwenGeo]

Thanks for the additional information, @Laura.

I wouldn't recommend creating 18 different maps since that will not be good for performance, and you won't get smooth transitions between slides since a different map will have to load for each one.

That classic story is not filtering features from the layer. There is a separate "outline" layer in the map for each hole that is being toggled on to highlight it (see the map here). That is a technique you could use in ArcGIS StoryMaps if you had a few features to highlight, but I'm not wild about recommending that you add 18 more layers to your map...

You could use the Settings > Keep pop-up open toggle to highlight the current hole in each slide. That will add a selection color to the feature outline and show its pop-up.

We have considered adding a new toggle to the map configuration settings that would enable you to highlight a feature without showing the pop-up. Would that help in your case?

[Laura]

@OwenGeo 

I thought about creating a different layer for each hole—they seem to have done something similar—but that feels just as cluttered as having completely separate maps. I’m not really sure how to proceed, and I need to get this up and running soon. We have a separate layer for greens, fairways, tees, etc so it seems that separate maps would be better than 6 layers per hole in the map. 

I do really like how their version only displays the markers and tees for the current hole, with the others fading into the background so they’re not distracting.

That enhancement would definitely help, but it still wouldn’t cover everything I’m looking for. I have popups turned off within the map.