Enhancements to AGOL Story Map App to allow header customization

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11-20-2014 10:36 AM
KristenWobbe
Occasional Contributor II
The ArcGIS Online for Organizations Story Map App is a great way to communicate information in a map centric way.  I would love to see ESRI add a few new items to their list of enhancments that I think could be easily delivered through the off-the-shelf Story Map App.
 
I'm aware of the following needed enhancements in my Organization:
 
1) Add the ability to have a larger logo; to support a "standard logo" to the header settings (i.e. the official sized Agency logo icon for meeting Agency Web standards).
2) Add the capability to choose which side to display the logo on.
3) Also allow for easily adding a custom Agency banner.
4) Add the Flickr & YouTube icons to the header and allow for adding the URL to the Agency Flickr and YouTube sites (i.e. YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/user/myagencyFLICKR: www.flickr.com/photos/myagency)
 
I think these changes make a lot of sense for everyone, not just my Organization.   Also considering the fact that ESRI has moved to the "AGOL for Organizations model" I had considered asking them to allow for my Agency to download a Story Map App, customize it, and then have ESRI rehost the App on my Organization's site as a Template that all Staff could use, rather then begin the pattern of having to download and host all Apps we want to make a minor customization to ourselves.  This could pose a problem in the future supporting new version upgrades if we had to go this route of download and hosting Apps. 
 
Generally, I think the changes that would benefit my Organization are enhancements whose time has come for everyone.  It would be great if ESRI could make these additions, with no programming required on the part of the User, by just making all that part of the default off-the-shelf Story Map App!

Thanks for your consideration of these requested enhancments!
7 Comments
ZorbaConlen
I agree with all of this. Particularly ability to load a custom banner. I know this can be done by downloading the app, hosting it locally and modifying the source code, but that seems like a lot of hassle for something that could be easily configured. Thanks.
KevinBodrogi

I would really like to see the ability to make the logo larger as well. Could this change be implemented both on the Story maps and on the Collection site too? 

Kinny_StoryMaps

Hi @KevinBodrogi, thanks for the feedback! Just want to clarify, did you mean the logo in the story/collection item header? Or would you like to increase both the logo in the header and on the collection overview page (see screenshots below)?

Header.pngCollection overview.png

KevinBodrogi

Thank you for the update, Kinny! It would be great if the logo size could be increased on the Collection Overview Page! 

KevinBodrogi_0-1685138966170.png

 

Kinny_StoryMaps

@KevinBodrogiThanks for the confirmation, Kevin! We are planning to make the logo in the header bigger, but not the one on the Overview Page since we haven't received a lot of requests for that. Could you please elaborate on why you would like to increase the logo size on the Overview Page?

KevinBodrogi

That's great news! We were originally interested in having the header logo increased as well! The reason we would like to see the overview logo size increased is we think it is more front facing when you first click on the collection site. After going into the collection's items, the logo becomes much less important in our perspective because the story itself is now the main focus.  Overall, I think having the ability to customize the logo size would be a good feature for any organization trying to show off their official logo, icon, or seal in the way that they deem represents the organization the best. 

Kinny_StoryMaps

@KevinBodrogi Thanks for sharing your feedback and suggestion! I will share them with our product team 🙂