Building a crowd-sourced story map doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Actually, the entire process can be described rather simply in 10 easy steps:
- Begin with the story map crowdsource builder
- Create a title
- Set a cover photo – this is the large photo that sets off and described your map
- Define how contributions are accepted (see Settings tab)
- Define sign-in options for participants, such as ArcGIS sign-in, Google, facebook, or Guest – See Settings / Contributions
- Define Header (Settings / Header Panel) and upload a logo, set url. this is where you also configure social sharing options
- Configure the map. Define home location for startup
- Share your map within your organization or with the public
- Refine using “Edit Story” – you can also do this within your AGO account and “My Content” area
- Review all your contributions while the map is open and accepting submissions. Decide if and when to close the map to submissions.
The Crowdsourced Story Map template is the perfect way to gather data from an audience of users, compile the results in a pleasant user experience, and share via a map-based interface. Security and sharing settings can be controlled by the map author while users can also easily share the map via their social networks to encourage even more contributions. Some fine examples of use of the crowd sourced Story Map include: a gallery from GIS Day events around the World, a map that honors veterans, a tribute map to honor lost loved ones, a gallery of members of the YPN and even an ESRIUC selfie map! Come to think of it, we think that a Story Map of the users of our Admin Tools for ArGIS Online would be quite awesome – that’s on our list of things to do!
See more information and details in this tutorial
For more assistance in creating a great Crowd sourced story map see this Esri blog post, “how to create a great Crowdsource story map“. Thinking about creating your first Crowd sourced Story Map? Start HERE (requires ArcGIS account) or see also this amazing Story Map Gallery for inspiration!
Keywords: Esri, arcgis online, story map, crowdsourced, map gallery
