Stories

Create interesting stories that captivate readers as they scroll

Multimedia: Go beyond words

Tell your story how it’s meant to be told using a variety of visuals

Learn about multimedia
  • Images

    Bring your own images; StoryMaps supports the most popular formats

  • Video

    Upload your own files or link to a third-party provider like YouTube

  • Audio

    Add sound to your story as click-to-play elements or on-demand in the background

  • Embeds

    Bring live web content, like social posts or other websites, directly into your story

Maps: Give context with places

Take your readers on a journey where your story happens. You only need a few minutes to make a map.

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  • Thematic maps

    Bring your data to life on a custom map. Show how things are related to each other like patterns, and trends.

  • Express maps

    Highlight places or areas of interest. Enhance your maps with pop-ups, images, labels, arrows and other elements.

Immersives: Provide engaging experiences

Create dynamic experiences for readers with ready-to-use interactive elements

Sidecar

Pair descriptive text with large, dynamic media to draw readers deep into your narrative

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Explorer Tour

Curate a set of places your audience can peruse in whatever order they choose

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Guided Tour

Navigate your readers to locations one-by-one in an intentional and revealing order

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Slideshow

Add an interesting aside or optional deep dive as a click-through carousel

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Frames

Frames are short, engaging stories with photos and maps that are optimized for on-the-go creation and viewing in a way that brings the art of storytelling right to your fingertips. Frame templates distill the very best elements of StoryMaps into the mobile app where the time and place set the stage for your stories.

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  • Timelines

    Share your experiences step-by-step with the timeline template and make connections over time with pictures and dates. You can use the timeline template to recap a recent trip, document the progress of your latest project, or record the growth of your new puppy.

  • Journeys

    The journey template makes mapping your story easy with automatic location tagging for each picture and simple captions that add your personal perspective to each place. Create journeys to bring people along to explore meaningful places, landmarks, and points of interest, like a tour of your city, a survey of the best local restaurants, or a rundown of your favorite beaches.

Themes

Change the color scheme, font and design of your content with a single click. Choose from a range of options provided or create your own easily.

Learn about themes

Customize the look

The right appearance sets the tone of your story. With custom themes, you can give your story a look of its own.

  • Colors

    Specify up to three accent colors to use throughout your content

  • Text

    Choose from our font selection or the thousands available from Google Fonts

  • Map

    Specify the basemap and symbology that best suit your subject

  • Components

    Adjust other elements—buttons, quote styles, etc.—to complement your story’s tone

Curate collections of content

Combine a group of related stories, files and other web content into a collection and give your audience a single link to view everything

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  • Files

    Upload images, PDFs, and more to further enhance the story you’re telling

  • URL

    If it lives on the web, you can include it in a collection, all you need is the link

  • Layouts

    Showcase your collection content in a variety of layout options

  • Design

    Apply standard and custom themes consistently to stories and collections