Meet your new favorite way to tell stories. With StoryMaps, the future of digital storytelling is here to bring together media, maps, and text in ways you never thought possible.

StoryMaps - Learn

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Add a button readers can use to change the appearance of the map in the media panel (you must add an express map first)

Let readers easily compare two images or express maps with an interactive slider

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This theme will be available to organization members as an approved theme. Its current sharing level is {sharing_level}.

It will be shared to your organization’s approved theme group:

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You can now use themes shared through groups or the organization

Sharing themes is easy

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Your organization can offer a set of approved themes to make it easy to use the latest on-brand designs. Talk to your ArcGIS administrator about enabling this feature.

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Maps created by you will appear here

Use drawing and annotation tools to create a simple map

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Browse Living Atlas

Browse the full ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World, Esri’s curated collection of maps, scenes, apps, and datasets from around the globe. If you find a map you’d like to include in your story, add it to your favorites and it will appear under the "My Favorites" tab above.

Looking for more authoritative maps for your story?

Your favorite layers will appear here

Your favorite maps will appear here

Your favorite views will appear here

Apps shared with groups you belong to will appear here

Collections shared with groups you belong to will appear here

Files shared with groups you belong to will appear here

Frames shared with groups you belong to will appear here

Layers shared with groups you belong to will appear here

Maps shared with groups you belong to will appear here

Stories shared with groups you belong to will appear here

Themes shared with groups you belong to will appear here

Views shared with groups you belong to will appear here

Layers created by you will appear here

Create your first map

Apps shared with your organization will appear here

Collections shared with your organization will appear here

Files shared with your organization will appear here

Frames shared with your organization will appear here

Layers shared with your organization will appear here

Maps shared with your organization will appear here

Stories shared with your organization will appear here

Themes shared with your organization will appear here

Views shared with your organization will appear here

Public themes will appear here

Maps shared with you will appear here

Views created by you will appear here

This theme will no longer be available to organization members as an approved theme.

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Title

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The view you selected must be of point geometry. Please choose a different view.

Unsupported feature view

This map must have at least one point layer. Please choose a different web map.

Unsupported web map

Drawing tools are the heart of express maps. Explore the drawing toolbar and try adding points or lines, tracing areas freehand, or using the text tool to make a custom label.

Configure what people see when your item appears on StoryMaps, social media sites, and search engines

Text formatting

Text block conversion

At the beginning of a text block, type the characters below to convert the block to a different type. You can use these shortcuts for empty text blocks and text blocks that already have text.

Lists

Place cursor at beginning of list item and then type the characters below.

Use this immersive block to create a sequence of presentation-like slides that your readers navigate laterally.

With slideshow, images, videos, or express maps fill the entire slide background. You can add concise bits of text to each slide to provide context, and reposition the narrative panel to ensure the key parts of your media remain visible.

Who can see your collection after it is published

People in your organization can view this item

Anyone can view this collection. It can also be shared with anyone on StoryMaps

Anyone can view this story. It can also be shared with anyone on StoryMaps

Build a better world—one story at a time. Enter the global competition by December 6.

Enter the 2024 ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition

Check out the latest features and enhancements

We’ve updated ArcGIS StoryMaps!

Untitled briefing

Use your Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics account to collect anonymous data about how readers interact with your stories.

Add a message to inform readers and ask for their consent. If you do not provide a consent message, Google Analytics will automatically collect anonymous data for this story.

Upgrade to unlock analytics

Track engagement

Add a custom consent message

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Tell your story in minutes with frames. Drop your pictures into easy-to-use templates, then share these experiences with friends and social channels from anywhere. Frames creation is available now on the StoryMaps mobile app!

Create frames on the StoryMaps mobile app

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This will create a copy of this collection in your account as a private draft, including any unpublished changes present at the time of duplication.

This will not create copies of every story in the collection; instead, the duplicated collection will reference the original stories.

Duplicate this collection?

This will create a copy of this frame. The copy will be a private draft that includes any unpublished changes present at the time of duplication.

Duplicate this frame?

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You are about to create a copy of this story in your StoryMaps account as a private draft.

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You are about to create a copy of this theme in your StoryMaps account as a private draft.

This will create a copy of this story in your account as a draft. The copy will include any unpublished changes and retain all settings from the original story, including analytics configuration details.

Express maps and uploaded media will be copied into the new draft. The new story will reference any embedded content such as images, web maps, and websites.

Duplicate this story?

This will create a copy of this template in your account. The copy will be a private draft that includes any unpublished changes.

Express maps and uploaded media will be copied into the new draft.

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This will create a copy of this theme in your account as a private draft, including any unpublished changes present at the time of duplication

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(Copy)

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Language settings

Create your first collection

Your bookmarked collections will appear here

Your bookmarked frames will appear here

Create your first frame

Your bookmarked stories will appear here

Stories shared with you will appear here

Create your first story

Your favorite templates will appear here

Your favorite stories and templates will appear here

Create your first story or story template

Create your first template

Save yourself time with these simple starting points. You can always add more blocks later if you want.

Readers explore a curated set of places in whatever order they choose

Explorer map tour

Walk your audience through a list of locations sequentially

Guided map tour

An immersive block with stationary media panel and scrolling narrative panel

Sidecar

Quick start

Learning and resources

StoryMap (Untitled)

Your approved themes will appear here

Untitled story

Untitled template

You have a few different options for separator styles; toggle between them and see how the separator above changes.

Choose an existing theme as a starting point, then customize it however you like

Create new theme

Your bookmarked themes will appear here

Create your first theme

Theme (Untitled)

This theme has unpublished changes. They won’t affect content using this theme unless you re-publish it.

Make guided and explorer map tours more immersive by using 3D maps to present the world from new perspectives. These 3D maps can be especially effective when combined with satellite imagery.

Map tour falling flat? Add some perspective with a 3D map

Activity maps let you use GPX files from your outdoor activities, such as hiking, running, and bicycling. Showcase your activity on a map with a dashboard that displays the distance, time, and elevation.

The activity map uses uploaded GPX files to showcase the route, time, distance, and elevation of a physical activity. The map tour highlights points of interest with geotagged photos, suitable for narratives and multiple photo storytelling.

Activity map or map tour?

Alternative text is a description of a photo, video, chart, or map that explains what is visually shown. Use alt text to ensure that everyone can appreciate the full experience of your story.

From more customization options for creating new content to fewer restrictions when managing existing content, this blog post covers some of the exclusive premium features offered by StoryMaps

7 Premium features to up your visual storytelling

This blog covers how to share your story on social media platforms like Facebook, X and LinkedIn to increase visibility and strengthen relationships with your audience

How to share StoryMaps stories on social media

Learn more about how content creators incorporate monetization into their work using StoryMaps

Monetizing your StoryMaps content

There are so many things to love about StoryMaps, but one of the best things is that you can make engaging interactive content – even if you’re on a budget. Take a look at the Basic versus Premium plans, to see which option is right for you.

Premium or Basic? How to pick which StoryMaps plan is right for you

Discover frames, a new short-form storytelling format for on the go storytelling, authored right from your phone. Learn how to create a Journey or Timeline frames.

StoryMaps Frames: A new era of mobile storytelling

Learn and discover more about the StoryMaps mobile app, now available on the App Store and Google Play Store

StoryMaps mobile app: Enjoy stories on the go

StoryMaps offers a 30-day free trial with unlimited access to premium features and no credit card needed

The StoryMaps Trial Explained

Increase your story’s impact with new styling options in the image editor’s Markup tab and track that impact with analytics. Add a longer description to a collection to give your audience more context.

What’s new in StoryMaps (April 2023)

The August 2023 release includes a new table block, an option to fit inline images, and updates to the My Feed page with a Latest tab

What’s New in StoryMaps (August 2023)

The July 2023 release includes a new My Feed tab, faster short-form story creation on Android, cross-platform frame viewing, story likes, and a redesigned My Content tab

What’s new in the StoryMaps mobile app (July 2023)

The June 2023 release allows you to browse trending content on the Feed page, browse curated premium themes, text editing alignment enhancements

What’s new in StoryMaps (June 2023)

Immersive blocks, sidecar, slideshow, and map tour, offer full screen interactive experiences. Sidecar has docked and floating panel layouts. Slideshow have horizontal panel navigation. Guided map tours are for a sequential series of geographic points, and explorer map tours allow readers to browse points in any order.

StoryMaps collections combine a group of related stories, files and other web content to give your audience a single link to view everything. When you create a collection you decide what to include and how it will be organized based on the objectives, the subject matter, and where the content comes from.

Collections are a group of stories, web content, and other files. Learn how to create, style and publish collections in StoryMaps.

An introduction to accessible theming. Making accessible color and font choices in the theme builder is essential to creating accessible stories that are optimized for all audiences. Consider design elements such as color and typography when creating your stories.

Building an accessible theme

Build a connection with your audience and engage with your audience by identifying a theme and archetype in your narrative

Create an express map by adding points, lines, shapes, arrows, labels, annotations, and pop-ups to help support your place-based narrative. Choose a basemap and set the location by searching panning and zooming to the area.

Frequently asked questions about the details of StoryMaps including supported file types and languages, copying stories and saving as a PDF, branding, account access, accessibility, and content management. StoryMaps is similar to ArcGIS StoryMaps, but they are different products.

These are new storytelling features you don’t want to miss out on. Activity map, thematic map, image editor, map tour, and frames - short-form storytelling.

A designers guide to using Google Fonts in custom themes. Discover how typography can impact the tone of a story by experimenting with different font combinations using themes.

Learn the basics of food photography with basic composition techniques, camera angle advice, lighting tips, and guidance for style and color that will make your plated meals stand out in any story

Frames are short-form stories with a series of slides that combine photos with text and maps optimized for the mobile app. Learn how to use the timeline and journey templates to create frames.

Image filters can be used to enhance your photos and create a cohesive visual narrative. Learn how to choose filters for your photos, and how to apply them using the built-in image editor.

Setting the mood with image filters

Advice for maximizing the interviewing process with steps for preparing, performing, processing, and storytelling. Interviews can help strengthen any story with relevant perspective, experience, and expertise

Your one-stop shop for technical questions. Helpful topics related to getting started, creating sidecars, making maps, and theming stories

The map tour block showcases places with guided tours and explore tours. Learn how to create a map tour by choosing a layout, adding locations, images and descriptions, and adjusting the map settings.

Add images, videos, audio, embeds, image galleries, swipes, timelines and alternative text in your story. Edit images with filters, cropping, and markup.

Get started with a quick orientation to StoryMaps covering the basics of the story creator, the block palette, the design panel, previewing, publishing and sharing content, and the mobile app. The trending, for you, and latest feeds on the My Feed page are also introduced.

This post covers some common ways to monetize your work with StoryMaps. Learn about how to start earning with your StoryMaps content.

Information about StoryMaps accounts such as the Basic plan, Premium subscription renewals and management, content created during the free trial, invoices or receipts, sharing accounts, and more

Learn more about StoryMaps’ free, Basic plan and paid, Premium subscription to determine which is right for you.

Ready-to-use maps are a curated library of pre-designed maps for history, geography, environment and climate, creative basemaps, and more

These are the latest updates for the StoryMaps website and mobile apps. Learn more about recent additions, changes, and fixes on the website and the Apple iOS and Android mobile apps.

Learn the basics of copyright rules, the digital public domain, Creative Commons permissions, and attribution best practices for images, photos, and other media

The sidecar block is a versatile multimedia storytelling block that offers multiple layouts and allows you to add photos, video, maps, embedded web content, swipe, and code blocks along with text and buttons

A guide for signing up to create a new account and troubleshooting tips for sign in issues, which may include a forgotten password or problems with Apple, Google, or Facebook social identity authorization

Slideshow is a sidecar block layout. Learn how to add content to a single slideshow slide, configure the narrative and media panels, and then how to add additional slides to the immersive.

Quick tips and tricks for effectively using the table of contents, separators, map choreography, timeline block, and sidecar animations

Improve your visual storytelling through photography by capturing moments, establishing a setting, using interesting angles and perspectives, including variety, and setting the tone. Explore the narrative power of images in storytelling

Learn how to design a template and share story frameworks that other storytellers can build on. Use instruction blocks and other placeholders to help create content with consistent formatting.

A thematic map is an interactive data visualization that displays data based on values or attributes as proportional symbols, a spike map, or color-coded by number or category. Compare data in specific areas, identifying regional trends, or entire countries and continents.

Learn how to set the tone and visual language of your story or collection by applying a theme. A selection of themes is available in the design panel, of you can create your own custom theme.

Find answers to the questions "Why tell stories?" and "What’s in a good story?" or "How to get started storytelling?"

StoryMaps makes it easy to incorporate audio into your story with support for .mp3, .wav, .ogg, .aac, and .wma files. Audio can be added in the background of sidecar slides, as well as map tour points. Sound can add an effective and memorable dimension to your narrative.

Learn how to add Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics in your story to track metrics and gain insight into how readers engage with your content

StoryMaps is a flexible storytelling tool that allows you to create engaging digital content on topics you’re passionate about. There are three things you can make with StoryMaps: a story, a collection, and a theme.

What can you make with StoryMaps

It’s the first holiday season for StoryMaps, and we want to celebrate with you! Check out our latest release video inside. Learn about how you can enhance your stories and maps with our new features.

What’s new in StoryMaps (Dec 2022)

Insights have arrived, and more! Now you can see how many times each publicly published work was viewed and liked in StoryMaps.

What’s new in StoryMaps (Jan 2023)

Maps add depth and context to multimedia storytelling by providing geographic context and location, by taking readers on a journey with a map tour, or by sharing data in an easy to understand thematic map

This video provides a step-by-step walkthrough of the image options that you can use to add images, photos, graphics, and other media to your story

Add Images to Your Story in StoryMaps

StoryMaps allows you to create compelling, interactive content that combines maps, multimedia and text. Share stories about your travels, memories or even showcase your portfolio.

Introducing StoryMaps

This video covers the basics of the sidecar block and some of its ideal uses. Sidecar is a powerful immersive block that creates dynamic visual narratives with a highly versatile combination of media and text

Using the Sidecar block for Immersive Storytelling

Frames are short form stories created in the StoryMaps mobile apps. In this video, you’ll learn more about how to capture and share your adventures on the go with frames using templates like Timeline and Journey.

Introducing StoryMaps Frames

Take a tour of StoryMaps and see how easy it is to make compelling digital content with this storytelling tool. Easily combine your text, images, videos, maps, and more into a story you can share with friends, family and even the world.

StoryMaps Demo

The embed block allows you to bring external web content into your stories and collections. This video introduces the basics of using embeds in StoryMaps.

Enrich your story with embed blocks

In the activity map block, you can convert GPX files into interactive dashboards that showcase your outdoor activities. This video walks you through how to create activity maps that will enhance your stories and captivate your audience.

Storytelling with activity maps

This video demonstrates how you can add a swipe block to visually compare two images or maps

Telling a story with Swipe

The video covers how to create thematic maps and add geographic data to your stories

Thematic Mapping in StoryMaps

This introductory video covers three things that you can make with StoryMaps: stories, collections, and themes.

What can I make with StoryMaps?

The July + August 2023 updates include the new table block (beta), a new “latest” feed on the My Feed page, and the ability to select fit or fill for inline images.

The August 2022 updates include the new GIPHY option in the image block and enhancements to cropping, guided map tour numbering, and basemaps in themes

StoryMaps Updates: August 2022

StoryMaps Updates July + August 2023

The November + December 2022 updates include undo/redo in the story creator, the new Coverr option in the video block, proportional symbols in thematic maps, progress lines in guided map tours, new story topics, and the ability to add Google Analytics to your stories

StoryMaps Updates: November + December 2022

The January + February 2023 updates include image editor updates for flipping and rotating images, enhancements to the like feature, and using the code block

StoryMaps Updates: January + February 2023

The July 2022 updates include the new filmstrip layout for galleries, slideshow as a sidecar layout, and enhancements to account settings, Premium profile images, and the skills lab

StoryMaps Updates: July 2022

The June 2022 updates include enhancements to the image markup tools, autoplay for collections, collection language settings, a new color dropper, and a usage meter for Basic plans

StoryMaps Updates: June 2022

The May + June 2023 updates include the new My Feed page with the trending and for you feeds, Premium themes, and text editor enhancements

StoryMaps Updates May + June 2023

Explore your outdoor adventures with the new activity map block. The activity map blocks allows you to show your route on a map accompanied by distance, time and elevation gain. This release also includes image links, the ability to add attribution to a quote block, and enhanced ways to discover stories from a global community of storytellers using topic tags on the Feed page.

StoryMaps Update November 2023

The September + October 2022 updates include new image filters, a color contrast checker for accessibility, and enhancements to the publish page and language settings

StoryMaps Updates: September + October 2022

Storytelling on the go is new in the StoryMaps mobile app with frames. Frames are authored on a mobile device but can also be viewed on the web.

StoryMaps Update September + October 2023

Cool, you’ve made it to the knowledge base. Consider this the place to be if you’re wondering how a specific feature works, which file types you can use, what different menus do, that kind of thing. Can’t find the answer you’re looking for? <feedback>Let us know</feedback>.

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Welcome to a new era of digital storytelling

We’ll be back soon!

The settings below will affect all stories, collections, and themes within your organization

Enter a Google Fonts Developer API key to enable Google Fonts for your organization.

StoryMaps - Collections

StoryMaps - Community

StoryMaps - Contact

StoryMaps - Explore

StoryMaps - Feed

StoryMaps - Feedback

StoryMaps - Frames

StoryMaps - Get Started

StoryMaps

StoryMaps - Settings

StoryMaps - Stories

StoryMaps - Themes

We found an ArcGIS account already associated with that email. Unfortunately, your StoryMaps account can’t share the same email as an ArcGIS one.

There was an issue looking up your account plan. Publishing and some other features may be temporarily impacted.

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Features

You have reached the collection limit

Create all of the stories and collections you want

Unlimited creation

Open access to all layouts and build your own themes

Endless customization

Thematic maps, 3D map tours, data importing

Advanced mapping

You have reached the story limit

Every story has a place

Add context to your content easily with beautiful layouts and immersive experiences made in minutes. You can choose what to use from videos, images, audio clips and even embeds. StoryMaps comes equipped with everything you need to ensure your story looks great.

Interactive digital experiences

Transport your readers to any place at any time. With StoryMaps, you get access to the world’s leading mapping technology to guide your readers to your favorite places, illustrate trends or even take them on an interactive tour.

Whether you’re on the couch or at the beach, you can connect with other authors and explore new destinations through the StoryMaps mobile app

Great storytelling wherever you are

Add another dimension to your map tours for an extra storytelling punch

When writing about an outdoor activity, which block is best for your story?

What it is, why you need it, and how to do it well

Get the latest updates from the StoryMaps team

Simple tips, tricks, and hacks to get the most out of the builder

Three different approaches to bundling related stories

What’s in a collection?

Connect with other storytellers

Make sure everyone can enjoy your content through smart design choices

Build a connection with your audience by making the personal universal

Maps are great, but interactive charts and tables can propel your story to new heights

Finding happiness with charts

Elevate your story with guidance from the experts

A designers guide to pairing Google Fonts for your next custom theme

Learn to create a cohesive visual narrative using StoryMaps’ built-in filters

Interviewing story subjects can help add authority to a story. These tips will help you prep to get all the info you need.

Technical support, documentation, how-to’s, and more

Let’s go over copyright 101, public domain, Creative Commons, and more

Develop your storytelling skills with tips and advice from experts

Sharpen your storytelling skills with tips and tricks from the StoryMaps team

Telling a compelling story often starts with great writing, but it doesn’t stop there.

The StoryMaps builder has everything you need to help stage an event, large or small

Easily add polished, data-driven cartography to any story

The StoryMaps team is here to guide your experience as we cover topics such as creating your first story, exploring the fun of mapping your experiences, and sharing the journey with readers.

Everyone has a story to tell and we’re here to help you create and share that story. We go over all the basics and make sure you’re ready to get started.

Getting started

Add a sense of place to your stories and learn how to engage readers as we explore express maps, map tours, and more.

Storytelling with maps

Our experts open up on how to take your storytelling to the next level with deep dives into topics like customizing themes, map choreography, sidecar design, and more.

Advanced tips and tricks

Training

Find answers to questions like "what’s a story?" and "how do you tell one?"

Sound can add an effective and memorable dimension to your narrative

What is StoryMaps? Find out here with an introduction, demos, examples, and more!

StoryMaps Overview

Explore instructional step-by-step tutorials that cover storytelling features and capabilities

StoryMaps How-tos

We’re always improving StoryMaps. Check out the latest updates and see what’s new.

Features & Updates

Videos

Still learning about StoryMaps? Dig deeper with these resources.

More essential info

Maps add depth and context to multimedia storytelling

Suggested actions and other resources are always in this menu

Help is right up here

Create short interactive map tours that highlight meaningful landmarks and places with journey frames

Share your adventures with the StoryMaps mobile app

Check out these other recommended stories

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Easily create interactive content featuring maps, media, and more

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Help and learning resources

Skills lab

Knowledge base

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Meet your new favorite way to tell stories