What happened to the Ask a Cartographer pages?

[GraemeBrowning]

I may or may not have a question that might be suitable for the old Ask a Cartographer site but I think that has been turned off.

If it still possible to submit a question to it can you tell me where?

If not can you tell me what its modern day counterpart is, please?

The question I am thinking about asking a cartographer is described at http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/236556/formula-for-rotating-half-degree-square-map-data-frame...

[DanPatterson_Retired]

rolled into here about 2008

[DuncanHornby]

So how do you actually ask a question? It seems that the blog page only allows ESRI staff to talk about their ideas, Graeme Browning asked how to submit a question to an expert and I can't see a way to do this, unless it is so blindingly obvious I missed it...

My interest in this is spurred on by this very interesting thread over on SE. The original poster has found that all the links are broken and in the recent years of restructuring it is impossible to find the original tools and now in my stumbling around I have discovered entire resources like ask a cartographer have morphed into blogs and the ability to ask anything seems to have been lost. So how you find a tool for page that does not exist and presumably written by someone who probably does not work there any more has become impossible!

[DanPatterson_Retired]

If you need a script or something, send your request into tech support... Jim and crew can resurrect them if possible

Two links you may have lost

https://community.esri.com/message/630979-please-restore-arcscripts

https://community.esri.com/message/652720-re-arcscripts-20-ok-lets-build-it-now?commentID=652720#com...

You can contact Jim through there 

[DuncanHornby]

Did that already, checked that Excel file he has made available.  

I was just giving context to why I was asking how you actually "ask a cartographer" on the blog site as I can see no way of initiating a question? Are ESRI expecting people to ask questions on geonet and tag as a cartographic question in the hope that someone may see it and answer it? I always felt that the ask a cartographer website was a highly focused site haunted by experts where geonet is haunted by everyone and so vast that it is possible to not get an answer from the experts in a timely manner.

[DanPatterson_Retired]

I suppose that leaves keep posting in this thread, https://community.esri.com/community/arcgis-ideas?sr=search&searchId=97d30690-4990-494d-9d08-ce8c5bb...‌ to ask for a revival, or places etc like

https://community.esri.com/groups/cartography-and-maps?sr=search&searchId=5dbd3a48-bcce-4dec-b445-d4...‌

https://community.esri.com/community/gis/mapping?sr=search&searchId=767eb842-eb8a-47a1-a42e-03e1aeee...‌

https://community.esri.com/groups/map-advice?sr=search&searchId=767eb842-eb8a-47a1-a42e-03e1aeeec0ae...‌ or

https://community.esri.com/community/mapping-and-charting?sr=search&searchId=7af285bd-6de5-403f-b9d1...‌

and hope that those that participated there now haunt one or more of those place... or perhaps they have gone elsewhere like

Gis Stackexchange

[DanPatterson_Retired]

CCatania-esristaff‌

Perhaps you could track someone down to provide a backgrounder on the rollup of some of the pre-existing pages into the Blog or more generically how to do people go about getting access to 'experts'.  in this case '...ask an Cartographer... '.  

Perhaps they could put an 'Ask an Expert ' link on the blog page (or some page) so people can pose questions which might have a broader audience. 

Think of it as ....  Conceptual Support vs Technical Support

[ChrisCatania]

Hi Graeme - As Dan Patterson‌ pointed out, we are now using GeoNet as the place to ask questions like this. I recently helped esri staff experts launch a new group called Map Advice Community‌ where you can post your cartography expert questions. 

Dan Patterson - We have those other groups you mentioned list on our group clean up project that will be happening over the next several months. Some of those group might be merged, relaunched or deleted.  For now, the guidance is to post in the Map Advice community since that has Esri experts officially assigned to it. 

All this said, I'm going to move this thread into the Map Advice group as well. Thanks, All! 

[DuncanHornby]

Christopher,

May be a new updated blog page is required, simply stating that Map Advice Community is the place to go to get cartographic questions answered and is the now the replacement for ask a cartographer? That old blog page does not state that but keeps coming up in searches.

I suggest a simple 1 liner blog as a place holder redirecting users to geonet as often the blog is where you end up with a Google search.

I would do it for you but as I can't post on the blog so it should be one of you!

Duncan

[DawnWright]

Hi Duncan - I have taken the liberty of forwarding this entire thread to Esri Research Cartographer Aileen Buckley who used to run the Mapping Center/Ask a Cartographer resource that you seek, as well Esri Chief Cartographer Charlie Frye. Hopefully they will get back to you soon as well.