Story Maps for Natural Resources

Story Maps are web applications that allow you to combine the functionality of interactive maps with multimedia content (photos, videos, audio, timelines) into one unique app. They are templates of code ready to consume your web maps and online content. You can view examples here: http://storymaps.arcgis.com/en/app-list/

Clemson students with support from CCGT have created their own story maps: http://www.clemsongis.org/projects (check out Envisioning Risk, Planning for Tomorrow's Climate, Mapping Tigertown, and participate in Mapping the Tiger Spirit, and the Clemson Safety Survey)

1. Examples of Great Story Maps

Some examples to spark your creativity can be found at the links below. These are great uses of multimedia and mapping which draw in the user! They also demonstrate some of the different layouts and functionality available through various templates.

2. Creating your Own Personal Story Map
We are going to create your personal life story map. It can be real or completely fictional (your choice). This will use the Story Map Tour template, which presents a "sequential, place-based narrative in the form of a series of geotagged photos and captions linked to an interactive map" (Esri). The user traverses your tour in the map in sequence, which moves to each "stop" along the way. Every stop has it's own picture or video and descriptive text to give content and context to the narrative.

This gives a preview of the various templates available, or you can Ask the Pros to get a suggested template based on the information you would like to present. In our case, this is important locations in your life, such as your hometown, where you graduated high school, the university you attended, and so on.

  • Click on Ask the Pros, then click A Set of Places, then click Yes to show photos for each location.
  • Click No for crowdsourcing, then No for categories.
  • Click on Let's Build.
  • Sign in with ENTERPRISE LOGIN typing clemson.maps.argis.com. Click CONTINUE. Sign in USING YOUR CLEMSON UNIVERSITY ACCOUNT. 
  • Click on Continue to Map Tour Builder.
  • In the Welcome to the Map Tour Builder window that appears, select They are already online - double wheel for advanced options.
  • Click Start a new Tour.
Now we are in the basic editing interface. Let's add a title and then our stops!

  • Edit the title by clicking the pencil next to Edit me! - Your Name Story Map
  • Subtitle - Welcome to my personal map tour. It is a work in progress!

First stop: Your birthplace


  • Click Add to create your first stop in your map tour. 
  • In the Media tab, select a picture of the place you were born. Go to Google Images (right click - Copy Image location - in Firefox, Copy image address - in Chrome). 
  • Copy and paste the URL of the image as the picture and thumbnail (or choose to copy the link to a different thumbnail image).
  • Go to the Information tab, under Name, type the name of your town or city. Under Caption, write something about your town or yourself.
  • In the Location tab, enter the name of your town or address in the search box. Click Add tour point.
  • Click SAVE every time you add a stop to make sure your map tour keeps all the latest edits.

Second stop: High school, College, Vacation

Click the Add button to create your second stop. Follow the same steps as before. 

3. Customizing the Appearance

  • In the upper right-hand corner, click Change Basemap.
  • Experiment with the different basemaps and how they affect the overall appearance and theme. Choose one you prefer.
  • Click on Settings. Notice the options for Layout, Colors, Header, Data, Extent, and Zoom Level.
  • Try experimenting with the Colors. You can chosse a pre-defined color palette or define your own.
  • Click on the Extent tab. You can specify the extent of the map when it is first opened. 

4. Sharing your map tour

  • Click the SHARE button. If you want to share it with friends and family, click Share publicly. You can email or text the link and people will be able to see your map tour. Here is my example: http://arcg.is/2rVXguS



5. Additional Materials

Recommended Hands-on Workshops

  • ESRI Maps for Office, Story Maps, and Web Scenes with ArcGIS Online
  • Business Analyst & Community Analyst
  • Google Fusion Tables & Google My Maps

Tutorials Online

  • Online recommended recorded webinars:


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