Offline Story Maps

[JohnBrushett]

The ability to create an offline story map, in a similar fashion to creating a Map package or Arc reader project would be a useful functionality for sharing Story Maps as an output product between Portals hosted on different servers. This would mean products could be shared where direct connectivity between Portals is not possible for various reasons. 

[frederiquetruchon]

I work for a University Field Station and nature preserve for which I have developed a StoryMap for distribution among visitors. My team were impressed by the platform and would want to create more StoryMaps with the Map Tour feature over the next few years.

However, the big problem is that we have spotty service in the Natural Preserve where we want to use the StoryMaps, which makes us unable to run the StoryMap in its entirety. We would really benefit from visitors being able to download the StoryMap in some form before they head out on the trails. In a similar way as when you download a section of a map on Google Maps, for example, or as an app of some sort.

Are you still researching ways to make this possible? I loved working with your platform and would very much like to stick to it in the future, but our connection issues are sadly not about to be fixed.

[rachelpapers]

Thank you @OwenGeo for the info about printing Story Maps - I hadn't spotted that option. Your post was from a couple of years ago but I can't find anything to tell me that Story Maps are now offline and you asked for examples of what we'd use if for offline if available, so here's one example in case you're still interested:

I work in a rural area with inconsistent network availability but if we could use Story Maps offline I would use them for communicating operational programmes and site plans to field staff - the work is manual and attracts the kind of practical people who don't want to have to do too much reading...!

Story Maps feel like an idea way to package large area overview maps together with detailed constraint maps with policies/standards/procedures and site specific instructions without the user getting lost in swathes of paper/pdf pages because they provide the opportunity to:

• show contextual information for relevant sites as users zoom the map
• scroll quickly between screens that have pictures (and ideally "how to" video clips) as visual clues to changes in the package "chapters" so it's easy to  navigate to site instructions without missing important general instructions
• provide depth of information relevant to different purposes/levels of interest without clutter through links whilst keeping the universal critical messages prominent

So these are the features that we'd need in an offline product to make it useful.      

And then there are probably minor things that would need to be consistent so it wasn't annoying to the operator - eg if the device went to sleep it would need to reawaken on the same page not the start of the story (I can't remember what Story Maps does now)

Although it would be great to be able to keep the maps up to date (with eg with Survey123 results of location of birds nests to be avoided as reported by third parties or sites that are completed as recorded by the operator) we could manage without that for starters - or for it to just update whenever they're online.

We would also have a use for "visitor orientated" story maps in an area of poor connection as mentioned by others.  Especially if they could still use the device location.

PS   I haven't tried this as I'd have to learn more about computers to implement it but whilst searching to find out whether StoryMaps were available offline yet I found a Github 2018 post about StoryMaps basic that explained how to do it - so good luck to anyone who has the knowledge to try it!:

Can the application be used offline?

Yes, by using Portal for ArcGIS and configuring the application to use the ArcGIS API for Javascript included with the Portal.

Change all references to the ArcGIS API for JavaScript in index.html to refer to your local copy of the API. Search for the references containing //js.arcgis.com/3.15 and replace this portion of the reference with the url to your local install. For example: //acme.com/gis/jsapi/jsapi where gis is the name of your Web Adaptor.

[ReinaCMurray]

The idea of being able to package a StoryMap is an intriguing one. Here's another use case for offline StoryMaps: as a geospatial data curator, I am tasked with preserving and archiving geospatial research data for my educational institution. When a researcher creates a StoryMap as part of their research output, our workaround has been to create a pdf of the StoryMap to include as part of that researcher's submission to the institutional data repository, as well as a link to the StoryMap in the ReadMe. This works, but isn't ideal -- over time, the link may no longer work or the StoryMap may not show properly (for example, I remember when Esri updated basemaps from raster to vector tiles, some of our old webmaps no longer displayed properly and had to be fixed). The pdf provides the reader with a sense of the StoryMap's content, but without the full experience of interacting with the data. Being able to package up a StoryMap and open it offline (provided the user sets up the right environment for it), would allow data curators to better preserve and archive these applications for future use and future reference. 

Note, the preservation of web-based applications has become a big question in the data curation and preservation field, and there is interesting work being done on this question (see, for example, NYU https://guides.nyu.edu/blog/NYU-Wins-Major-Grant-From-Alfred-P-Sloan-Foundation-To-Expand-Capabiliti...). Perhaps some ideas can be drawn from there.  

[OwenGeo]

@ReinaCMurray -- Thanks for sharing this use case. Are there other websites that already provide this ability to create an offline/packaged version of web content that you can share as an example of the experience you are looking for?

[rachelpapers]

Thanks for getting in touch.
Not as far as I'm aware - though I'd describe myself as an end user IT ignoramus so I may not be the most useful reference! Perhaps there is some way of creating a similar experience by caching a web page (and its linked documents)? Our Comms team have started to use MS Sway for staff newsletters but I'm told that isn't available offline (they email a pdf version to staff who don't work in the office!). Even having our filing on the cloud now can be a pain because a document might not be retrievable whilst in the field unless it has been very recently used or has been actively made available offline.
I haven't actually looked for anything that would fit the bill because it's difficult to get IT approval for new products in the organisation where I work. As we use Esri for our inventory mapping I was hoping the process might be more straightforward!
I can introduce you to someone involved in IT developments in our organisation as they may be more useful! Though I'd have to explain to them what my suggestions meant!

[Melinda_Kernik]

I would like to second @ReinaCMurray's use case for having better offline representations of StoryMaps for archiving. While not all StoryMaps have enduring value, a substantial number of those created for research projects do.

For example projects connected to:
-dissertations, preliminary exams, or capstone projects
-virtual library exhibits describing archival materials held in collections
-contests or conference digital gallery sessions
-things that have been cited as part of the scholarly record

The creators of these StoryMaps often move between our university, other academic institutions, and beyond (through graduation and job transitions). Mechanisms for transferring StoryMaps between user accounts are not simple, the process breaks links, and maintaining an active copy isn't always the priority. It would be amazing to be able to create more accurate representations of StoryMaps that could persist beyond the retirement of the platform.

Some ideas for approaching this issue:
-Currently best practice for archiving a StoryMap is to archive the deconstructed pieces of a project (example). Having a method to more quickly download these component pieces (e.g. data from maps) would be very helpful. (It obviously could only include the content that is owned/accessible to the person attempting to download, but could include a list of links/resources that were used but not included in the package?)
-There are some newer generation archiving tools (such as Conifer) librarians use when attempting to capture dynamic content. Looking at what they collect, how they collect it, and how they store it could be a starting place for what a package might look like? (Note these tools don't completely work for StoryMaps)
-There is now the ability to export ArcGIS Pro maps as interactive maps. Even just having that functionality integrated into the printed PDF StoryMaps would be a great improvement! 

[SaraJL]

It it was possible to export a StoryMap into a separate file, even if it was an ArcGIS format only, that could be potentially useful for preservation purposes. 

We also have a lot of scenarios where students graduate and leave the college - their accounts are deleted after 3 years, so something like this would give them an easy way to back up their materials and keep them for future use. We use SAML authentication, so it's not possible currently to transfer content from one SAML account to a public ArcGIS Online account. But that would be possible if you could export a StoryMap like a Map Package, and then upload it to your own account.

(With the understanding that it would still be depended on if it needs credits, etc. That would obviously be subject to the abilities of the new account)