Latest Contributions by AravindatStoryMaps

Hide a story’s published date While the StoryMaps builder will automatically update the date in your story’s cover every time you publish, you have the ability to hide this information if you’d prefer. This can be useful if you’ve made an evergreen resource that will stay relevant no matter how many weeks, months, or years have passed since you created it. To remove the published date from your cover, open the story builder and expand the More actions menu in the story header. From there, select Story settings and simply check the box to hide the date on the cover. Click Save and poof, the date will vanish, but you can add it back any time. ... View more

Add media to a minimal cover The minimal cover is a great option for how-to articles, thought pieces, or press-release-style updates. For these kinds of stories, the subject is what will hook your readers most, so a big, dramatic cover image can be overkill. But, if you want to keep the emphasis on your title and still add a little visual flair, you do have that option. 1. In your story, open the design panel, select Minimal from the list of cover options, and close the design panel. 2. Above your title, in the upper right corner of your story, you’ll see + Add cover media. 3. Click it to upload a photo or video. 4. Your media will display in a panoramic aspect ratio; for images, you can open the Properties menu and move the focal point to the area of the image you want to be visible across screen sizes. ... View more

Owen Evans‌ writes...  "Back in July when we launched the new ArcGIS StoryMaps we also announced an initial transition timeline for our classic storytelling templates (Story Map Journal, Cascade, Tour, etc.). Since then, we’ve been monitoring the usage of both the new and classic story builders and listening to the feedback we’ve received from our community of storytellers. Now that we’re a few months into this new project, we wanted to revisit this timeline." Read more at Updated classic story map transition timeline   ... View more

Hannah Wilber‌ writes... "In my last post, I talked a bit about immersive blocks in ArcGIS StoryMaps, and how they’re powerful tools for getting readers engrossed in the story you’re telling. Well there’s another tool in your toolkit—or, more accurately, block on the block palette—that can help you create the kind of delightful and informative experiences your audience craves. I’m talking about the embed block. With it, you can add all kinds of things to story maps: Tweets, SoundCloud tracks, Spotify playlists, interactive charts, ArcGIS apps…" Read more at Enrich your story maps with embedded web content  ... View more

Greyson Harris‌ writes...  "Here’s the six(ish) part: In addition to adding images, uploaded videos, and maps, sidecar also supports adding content by embed." Read more at: Six(ish) ways to use sidecar in ArcGIS StoryMaps  ... View more

Hannah Wilber‌ writes... "If you’ve spent any time in the ArcGIS StoryMaps builder, you know the block palette is at the heart of the authoring experience. Whether you’re adding text, a YouTube video, a map, or something else, it all starts right there. But not all blocks are created equal. There are some special, immersive blocks that go the extra mile when it comes to engaging your readers.." Read more at Slideshow (beta): A new immersive block in ArcGIS StoryMaps  ... View more

Cooper Thomas‌ writes... "Imagine, for a moment, that you’re attending a hotly anticipated presentation. You arrive extra early to claim a seat in the first row, tear the plastic wrap off a brand new notebook, and do your habitual hand calisthenics to prevent your fingers from cramping..." Read more at Choreograph your maps with ArcGIS StoryMaps  ... View more

Slideshow (currently in beta) is a new immersive content block allowing you to present full-page media with small amounts of descriptive text. To add a slideshow to your story, open the block palette in the builder and select Slideshow. After you’ve had used the block a bit, we’d love to hear your initial reactions to it! How was your experience authoring a slideshow and viewing it in your published stories? Were you expecting to do anything and couldn’t? How can you see yourself using slideshow in future stories? Would you use collections differently from slideshow? ... View more

Owen Evans‌ writes.... "We’re back again with another update to ArcGIS StoryMaps. This is the third official release of this new product. If you’re just catching up you can review what was new in our July launch and August update. Here’s a rundown of new features added earlier this week.." Learn more at: What’s new in ArcGIS StoryMaps (October 2019)  ... View more

Ross Donihue‌ writes...  There’s an endless flow of digital content hitting the internet. Trying to determine if your story map is connecting with your audience may seem like a daunting task but it doesn’t have to be. That’s why we’ve made it possible for authors to track their story’s performance by using Google Analytics together with ArcGIS StoryMaps. Read more at: Track your story map performance using Google Analytics (beta).  ... View more

Hello everyone, -------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW UPDATE --------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE: 10/30/2019 As of the October update to ArcGIS StoryMaps (which launched on 10/30/19), we've added additional layers of security to prevent this error from affecting your draft and published stories. As an additional precaution, we've also added a recovery mechanism for stories that cannot be edited. Previously, an author who encountered this error would see the following message: "There seems to be an issue.. The story builder cannot be loaded". Now, any affected author will see the following message with instructions to download a recovery JSON file: Please note that for this to work: You should download the JSON from the same browser in which you encountered the error, and You should not clear the history or cache from your browser before downloading the file. Once you have the file downloaded to your computer, please reach out to Esri Technical Support or follow the steps listed here to recover your story. We believe that the additional security mechanisms we've added will mean you'll never be affected by this rare error again. If it does happen, we're pleased to report that the recovery mechanism will still prevent you from losing your work, and we'll work as quickly as possible to get things back up and running from the JSON file. ... View more