The maps inside of my StoryMaps keep changing

[KimberlyTroup]

For some reason, the arcGIS map that I am adding into my StoryMap, will not stay "as I organized them" after clicking "Place."

Meaning...
- I have built 1 arcGIS map (Historic Plumstead) that contains many layers.
- I then built 1 StoryMap
- I then placed the (Historic Plumstead) arcGIS map into the same StoryMap, multiple times, where in each case, I have chosen different layers to be visible, etc.

But when I scroll through the StoryMap to review my work, my Placed (Historic Plumstead) maps, almost ALL look the same -- often appearing as the LAST version of the (Historic Plumstead) that I most recently organized. and  Placed. 

I then go back and delete the Now incorrect representation and, rebuild and Place the map again - As you can imagine, this process will never end.

https://arcg.is/0qOXKH

Please help - I do not understand how I am to be inserting/Placing my arcGIS map into my StoryMap multiple times with unique representations/instances.
Thank You in advance - KIM 🙂

[OwenGeo · Accepted solution]

@KimberlyTroup -- I'm not able to reproduce the issue you are describing. Could you provide some more information about the steps you are following?

When you say you are choosing different layers to be visible, are you using the "Edit in ArcGIS" button to do so? If so, that is the issue.

When you edit in ArcGIS you are changing the underlying web map. If you want your map to look different in each place where you put it in your story, just set the visibility of layers in the map designer in the story builder by hovering over the layers and clicking the eyeball icon. You can also navigate the map and the centerpoint and zoom level you see when you place the map will be used for that instance of the map's location.

[KimberlyTroup]

Owen,

I can't thank you enough for making that distinction. I have a few maps Placed in the beginning of my StoryMap that were done correctly. 
So, to test your suggestion, I went back to my StoryMap and attempted to correct one of the incorrect instances.
In the process, I discovered why it is, I was "Edit in ArcGIS"!
If you look at the screenshot below, you can see that the very bottom of The Map Designer, the "Edit in ArcGIS" button, is covering over the other Layers of my ArcGIS map. The Scroll Bar is not functioning.
I am unable to reach the Layers I need.
Is there a way to get around this issue?
I do not know how to "Reach" the layers that are out of view, inaccessible.
Again, Thank you for your help so far!
Please advise - KIM 🙂

[OwenGeo]

Hi Kimberly -- We'll look into that issue you reported a bit more, but when I bring your map into the map designer, I can toggle the last layer on/off just fine. It does look like it's disabled, but that's just a shadow effect. The eyeball icon on the last layer in the map is active. 

However, I should also mention that it's typically not good practice to have that many layers in one web map when using it in a story. Having so many layers in the same map can be fine if you are only using it in the map viewer, but the map viewer only allows you to have one map loaded at a time. In a story, there can be many maps on the same page. Each time you add a map to your story ALL its layers need to be loaded to some degree, even ones that are not visible in the map, and this can have a huge impact on the performance of the story.

In this case, everything still might work fine because of how and where the map appears in your story. But if you start to experience slowness, I'd recommend removing any extraneous layers from that map and/or making several different maps with no more than 8 or 10 layers each and using those maps in your story.