1. Creating Story Maps using ArcGIS Online
November 2016

2. What is a story map? Yes, it includes a map (or multiple maps).
However, it can also include:
Text
Images
Videos
Tables
Graphs
etc.
Therefore, can communicate information on many levels (i.e. it is very “information rich”).

3. ArcGIS Online has templates for various formats of story maps.
Basic story maps
Map Tours
Map Journals
Cascading story maps
Tabbed story maps
Swipe story maps
Spyglass story maps

4. Interested in some
more examples?

5. Sample Exercise: Creating a Map Tour

6. Preparing points for your story map
Open the following CSV (comma-delimited) file:
The file contains information on sites for your Story Map.
Save the file to a convenient location.
Information provided for each site includes a name and description, the color for its marker on the map, its longitude and latitude, URLs for the image/video and its thumbnail image, and whether a video or still image will be used

7. What about the missing information?
The following two sites in the table are missing longitude and latitude information:
The Empire State Building (in New York City)
Independence Hall (in Philadelphia)
You can find this information using Google Maps

8. Using Google Maps to find Longitude and Latitude
Type name of site in the Search Box.
Click on the desired result.

9. Using Google Maps to find Longitude and Latitude
Right-click on the location on the map.
Select “What’s here?”
From the pop-up box at the bottom of the screen, note the longitude and latitude.
Once you have added the longitude and latitude for the Empire State Building and Independence Hall, save the spreadsheet.
Be sure to save it as a .csv file.

10. Creating Your Online Account
To create your ArcGIS Online account:
Go to the Story Maps website:
Click on “Sign In”.
Click on “Free non-
commercial public
account”.
Choose one of the
three options.
Fill in the form.
Review terms of use
and privacy
policy.
Login to Story Maps.
At your discretion,
change privacy settings
in your profile.

11. Starting your Story Map
At the top of the page, click on the “Apps” link.
Today, we will be using the Story Map Tour app.
Therefore, under the heading “A Sequence of Place-enabled Photos or Videos”, click on the “Build” icon.

12. Importing CSV file
Click on the Advanced Options icon (looks like a pair of gears).
Click on “Import Tour data from a CSV file”.

13. Importing CSV file.
In the CSV Import window, do either of the following:
Click on “Select or drop a CSV file” and open the “sites” file. or
(if you still have your file manager open)
Click-and-drag the “sites” file from the file manager into the CSV Import window.
Click on “Import”.
Your locations and associated pictures will now appear in your story map.

14. Viewing your locations
You may view your locations and photographs by doing any of the following:
Clicking on the left and right arrows on either side of the pictures.
Clicking on the thumbnail images along the bottom of the screen.
Clicking on the numbered markers on the map.

15. Add a Title and Subtitle.
Note the big “Edit me!” and the little “Edit me!” in the upper-left corner of the screen.
Click on the pencil icon to the right of the big “Edit me!” to enter a title for your template.
Click on the pencil icon to the right of the little “Edit me!” to enter a subtitle for your template.

16. Let’s add a video.
In addition to pictures, your story map can include videos.
Above the thumbnails running along the bottom of the page, click on the “Add” button.
On the “Add a new tour point” form, click on the “Video” button.

17. Let’s add a video (Media tab)
In the “Add a new tour point form”, select the “Media” tab.
The video we will use is from YouTube. Therefore,
Select the YouTube line
Enter the following URL providing the location of our video:
In the Thumbnail field, enter the following URL indicating the location of the thumbnail we will use:

18. Let’s add a video (Information tab)
In the “Add a new tour point form”, select the “Information” tab.
For Name, enter “Park Ranger Presentation”.
For Caption, enter “Devil’s Den, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania”.

19. Let’s add a video (Location tab)
In the “Add a new tour point form”, select the “Location” tab.
For Latitude, enter “ ”.
For Longitude, enter “ ”.
To complete the process of adding the video, click on “Add tour point” (at the bottom of the “Add a new tour point” form).

20. Copyright Considerations
The Internet is a valuable source of pictures and videos that might be of use when developing story maps.
However, much of the content is subject to copyright restrictions.
If using this content in your story map, you must cite the source for your content in your story map.
There are also sources of content that are free from copyright restrictions. For example:
Library of Congress image collections:
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) photo library:
NASA images:

21. Finding a picture without copyright restrictions
Let’s try to find a picture of the city of Annapolis Maryland using the Library of Congress image collections.
Go to this website and search (as indicated).

22. Finding a picture without copyright restrictions
In list of search results, click on link for picture of interest

23. Finding a picture without copyright restrictions
Choose an image type and size.

24. Finding a picture without copyright restrictions
Copy the picture’s URL.
Picture’s URL must end in one of the following:
jpg
png
gif
bmp

25. What happens if I import a picture without a location?
It is possible to import a picture without indicating a location (or with an incorrect location)
The location of the picture can be corrected after it has been added to the story map.
Let’s demonstrate this by importing the picture we just found of Annapolis, Maryland without indicating its location.

26. Import a picture without a location
On your story map, click on the “Add” button (above the thumbnail images).
On the “Add a new tour point” form, click on the “Picture” (rather than “Video) button.
On the Media tab, enter the URL for the Annapolis picture under both Picture and Thumbnail.
On the Information tab, enter “Governor’s Mansion” for Name and “Annapolis, Maryland” for Caption.
On the Location tab, remove any coordinates currently entered for Latitude and Longitude.
Click on “Add tour point”.

27. So…where’s the picture?
If not given any location data, ArcGIS Online assumes that a point is located at:
Latitude = 0 and Longitude = 0
Therefore, the newly added point appears of the West Coast of Africa.

28. Moving incorrectly placed points
To move the incorrectly placed image of Annapolis, Maryland,
Zoom out (using the “-” on the map) until you can see the East Coast of the United States
Click and drag its marker until it is near Annapolis
Annapolis is a little bit south of Baltimore, Maryland (pictures # 8, 9 and 10)
Click-and-drag on the map so that Annapolis is near the center of the map.
Zoom in on Annapolis (using the “+” on the map) and drag the marker to its correct location.
For the purposes of this exercise, it is not important to be highly precise when choosing the marker’s final location (anywhere in the vicinity of Annapolis, Maryland will be fine).

29. Changing marker colors
To change the color of a marker,
Select the marker
In the “Move me around or change my color” box, click on a different color.

30. Organizing your content
To organize your image and video content, click on the “Organize” button
adjacent to the “Add” button and above the thumbnail images.
Click-and-drag the images in the “Organize the tour” box to change the sequence in which they appear.
Click on an image and
Click on “Delete” to remove it from the story map, or
Click on “Hide” to conceal the content while keeping it in the story map.
Click on “Apply” to save your changes.

31. Changing your basemap
To change the map appearing in the background of your story map,
Click on the “Change Basemap” link in the upper- right corner of your map.
Click on the style of background map that you would prefer to use.

32. Changing your map settings
Various aspects of your story map’s appearance may be altered by clicking on the “SETTINGS” button
(located near the center of the top edge of your story map)
After making changes on any of the six tabs (Layout, Colors, Header, Data, Extent, or Zoom) click on “Apply” to see the results.
Layout tab
Toggle between a Three-Panel Layout and an Integrated Layout by clicking on the “Select this layout” button.
Colors tab
Provides various color options for your story map’s Header, Content area, and Footer.
The first four selections are pre-defined; the fifth selection allows the user to specify customized color combinations.

33. Changing your map settings
Header tab
User may choose between displaying the ESRI logo, no logo, or a customized logo.
User may specify the text for a header appearing in the top right of the story map, as well as a website that the header should link to.
Data tab
Allows the user to specify which of the fields in the CSV file shall be used for the Name and Caption of each image or video.
Permits the user to indicate the color to be applied to the markers on the map.

34. Changing your map settings
Extent tab
Provides the user with the means to adjust the boundaries of the map area that will be displayed when the story map is first opened.
Zoom Level tab
Sets the zoom level for the map when users move between different individual locations.

35. Saving and Previewing
To save your story map, click on the “SAVE” button (located along the top edge of your story book).
To see how your story map will appear when viewed by others,
Click on the “SHARE” button (adjacent to the “SAVE” button.
Click on the “Preview” link.

36. Questions?