Story map empty when accessed from particular organization: possible causes

[GüntherGrill]

Hello!

I created a storymap at http://54.214.252.21/play.html or http://mcgillgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=f5f2cdb0856440f4a5f3f72152728b46  which serves layers from an amazon instance.

Everything works fine from within my organization (McGill), from at home, smartphone and various location in the world (Ecuador, Columbia, Mexico, UK), however not from within that one organization in London. Unfortunately this is where I will be conducting a workshop next week, and I would like the participants to be able to see and browse story maps during the workshop. I prepared many layers in advance for this, so it's not easy to set up an alternative server on a local computer.

I was not yet able to extensively troubleshoot this with the IT department over there, but what I know so far is this:

1. Both links work for them (using IE), but showing only the basemaps, not the tile layer(s) from my amazon server.
2. However they can access individual tiles directly from my server without problem (e.g. http://54.214.252.21/arcgis/rest/services/DOF_LO_ONE/MapServer/tile/1/0/0 )

I am not an IT person, so I'm not sure what is going on, however I think this tells me that there might be a policy in place within the organization, that either disallows *arcgis.com or thirdparty content linked through arcgis online.

• Does anyone have an idea what kind of policy would disallow content from story maps?
• Their computers are linked to a network domain. Could there be a browser policy that blocks this type of content? What if we connect to their WIFI with our own laptops - is there a chance we would not be affected by their policy or is this kind of policy set at the router level?
• What kind of questions should I ask further, or what kind of tests do you recommend to further narrow down what the problem might be.
• Is there another cause for this problem?

I realize I am poking into the dark with these questions, but thanks a lot for any hints or recommendations.

Cheers, Guenther

[AdrianWelsh]

Hi Günther,

That is weird that your story maps aren't working in that one place. They work for me in Utah in the US. I think you are asking some good questions and I'm not sure about how to get around it. I would guess that someone on this board has run into this issue before. I am tagging Owen Evans​ and Rupert Essinger​ since they are some story map gurus who post on here frequently.

Have you tried different browsers in that location? Have you tried different computers on that same network?

[GüntherGrill]

Hi Adrian,

thank you for testing and linking to the gurus.

Well, this was tested so far from two different computers within their network using IE, and in one case also using Chrome & Firefox they told me.

- Guenther

[AdrianWelsh]

Günther,

Have you been able to be there physically to test it yourself? Or are you just relying on what others have told you?

[GüntherGrill]

Hi Adrian,

yes, I couldn't test this myself, and I had to rely on what they told me.

This morning I got a message that the layers now work. Here is the message I've got from them about the problem:

"It seems that even though both sites are HTTP:// they are not using the standard http port.  My Colleague in the network team has allowed the port the site is trying to use.

Unfortunately not much info, and I still don't fully understand, since the direct link to the ArcGIS port (mine is configured at the default port at 6080) worked for them. So only traffic routed trough ArcGIS online that comes from a "non-standard" port was blocked?

Maybe I'll find out more, when I actually talk to someone on site. If I do, I'll then post my finding here.

PS: Needless to say I'm relieved that the issue is resolved

Cheers,

Guenther

[AdrianWelsh]

Glad to hear it's working! I hope it goes well when you have to present. Good luck!