Default Sidecar Images to Fit (do not crop)

[Catherine_Hodde-Pierce]

Images in the Sidecar default to 'Fill (crop)'. The majority of the time this is not the best option for images, and for casual StoryMaps users, this is not intuitive, and may lead to frustration, or abandoning using a StoryMap all together. It is also time consuming to have to edit every single image in a Sidecar. 

I would like to propose that the default either be set to 'Fit (do not crop), or that the StoryMap creator is given the option to choose the default, perhaps when adding a new Sidecar. 

[LauraClarkChapa]

Esri StoryMaps Team - Please change the default for StoryMaps images to 'Fit (do not crop)' - I have made hundreds of StoryMaps and have never used the current default Fill (crop). I imagine this is the case for other StoryMaps users. 

[OwenGeo]

@Catherine_Hodde-Pierce @LauraClarkChapa - Thank you for sharing this feedback about how you use the image placement options in StoryMaps!

Our analytics and observations show that the vast majority of authors and stories use and benefit from the FILL placement for their images. However, we do realize that some authors utilize StoryMaps in a way that requires them to use FIT for most of their images, such as authors who use StoryMaps to create tutorials with screenshots. This is the case with many options in the builder (most people/stories use it one way, but some people always use it another way).

This is something we are hoping to address in the future through a set of new features we are planning. We are working toward a place where the story builder can notice when an author repeatedly chooses to apply a particular non-default setting, and it can suggest, and even remember and apply, those settings automatically.

[DARRYLBEER]

@OwenGeo, perhaps an option under Design within the story map to set the default as either Fill or Fit, and/or a setting in Themes.