Latest Contributions by OwenGeo

Hi Brittany, It's currently not possible in Cascade to configure a link to an image (such that if a reader clicks the image the linked web page opens in a new tab). Please let me know if this answers your question. Owen ... View more

Hi Quanita, I'm not familiar with the hotlink protection feature you've described, but unfortunately I don't think you'll be able to use that feature on images you want to use in your story maps. From what I can tell hotlink protection allows you to whitelist certain domains from which you want to allow requests for your images. But when someone accesses a story map you've shared it's their computer (not arcgis.com) that requests the images you've linked to in your story. So adding arcgis.com to your exceptions list won't work. My guess is the reason you can't see the images in the story map builder is that you haven't added your own domain to the exceptions list. Likewise, your readers won't be able to see the images unless you add their domain to the list. Unless you are making a story for a very specific audience, where you can predict the domains from which they are accessing your story, you'll need to make your images public.  To provide a little more detail, the way a story map works is the reader opens the app and their browser downloads the story map application code and the story data. The story data contains the story's narrative/text, links to media (images, video, maps, etc.), and the structure of how all of this information appears in the story. The reader's browser then requests the media using the links in the story data. A website works in basically the same way, so I believe you'd have this same limitation if you were trying to use protected images in a public website. Owen ... View more

Hi Kieran, Thanks for the additional info. I also found some issues trying to create a Map Tour using those basemaps. For example, if I have one of your basemaps in my organization's basemap gallery and try to switch to it in the Map Tour builder nothing happens, or if I try to create a tour from a web map using one of your basemaps from the arcgis.com map viewer > Share > Create a web map the resulting tour doesn't show a basemap at all. I'll have to investigate a bit more to see if I can figure out what's going on, but I did find a workflow that you can use: Create a new Map Tour from scratch from the story maps website using one of the standard ArcGIS basemaps (like topo or streets). Add at least one tour point in the builder and save your story. Go to My Content and find the web map that is used in your Map Tour (it will have the same name). Open the web map, change the basemap to one of your custom basemaps, and save the web map. Reload your tour in builder mode. Your basemap and tour points will be there. Continue adding tour points until your tour is complete. Here's a tour I created with one of your basemaps: http://arcg.is/2ekbPQR  Let me know if this works for you. Owen ... View more

Hi Kevin, Sorry you are having an issue building a Map Tour. If you are using an organizational/subscription account then it's possible you don't have sufficient permissions. To be able to create a Map Tour by uploading photos you'll need to be in a Publisher role (or be in a custom role that is able to publish hosted feature layers and create, update, and delete content). This is because your account needs to be able to authorize the Map Tour builder to create and update a feature service to store photos in your ArcGIS account. If you don't have these permissions you can still create a map tour but will have to use photos that are already on the web (like on Flickr or your own web server). Owen ... View more

Victoria, You can embed some story maps inside other story maps. Shortlist could be embedded in a Series, for example, but other story maps can't be embedded inside a Shortlist. Even though you *can* embed story maps inside other story maps we recommend using this technique sparingly. It's often preferable to simply link out to another story map rather than embed too many things in a single story. Here's a blog with some more information about how to do this and recommendations: Embedding a Story Map within a Story Map | ArcGIS Blog  Owen ... View more

Hi Victoria, Thanks for your interest in Cooper's story. As has been discussed above already, he used a customized version of Map Tour that is not currently available as a template. However, we have just begun work to re-design Map Tour from scratch with a new builder and several new layouts. One of the new layouts will be similar to the Iran story that Cooper did. We hope to have the initial release the new Map Tour in the first half of next year. Owen ... View more

Hi Austin, Dan's right, Cascade doesn't include the ability to show a legend at this time, and the resources he pointed to are helpful to show you how you can explain your maps without legends in a Cascade or any story map. It sounds like you are also trying to give your audience some control over the visible layers in the map. We typically don't recommend including standard GIS-style layer controls in story maps. Story map builders are designed to help you, the author of the story, lead your readers through your maps in a deliberate and directed way. In Cascade, for example, you can use the same web map in several views of an immersive section and change the layers shown (or move the map to another area or even show pop-ups) in each view, so all your readers need to do is scroll and the app will adjust what is shown in the map to match your story. Here's an explanation of how to use this technique: http://arcg.is/29ig7Db  Map Journal also has a similar capability called Main Stage Actions, which you can read more about here: Using Story Map Journal Main Stage Actions | ArcGIS Blog  There are some situations where a layer control may be useful in a story map: You are creating a story map for a technical audience of subject matter experts who is familiar with GIS apps whom you expect to be very engaged in your topic and will benefit from being able to explore the maps in your story in a more self-guided fashion. You are creating a story map that is to be used by you or a colleague as a presentation tool where you anticipate questions or discussion that will stray from the main thread of your story. In these cases you can embed a configurable app like the Basic Viewer or Web AppBuilder in your story map to include a layer control, but even in these situations it is still often better to link out to one of these exploratory apps at the end of your story (so they open in a new browser tab) rather than embed them inside the story. Hope this is helpful! Owen ... View more