ArcGIS StoryMaps

Story Map Crowdsource Moves to Mature Support in June 2018

Story Map Crowdsource (beta) will soon move into the mature support phase of Esri’s product lifecycle. Read on to learn more about this status change, and be sure to drop us a note on the Esri Community if you have any questions.

Story Map Crowdsource is an web app template that displays reader-contributed photos and descriptions on a map. It was originally introduced beta in June 2016, and over the last two years we’ve learned much about your needs for crowdsourcing and the level of demand for crowdsourcing by Story Map authors.

Moving forward, the Esri Story Maps team does not plan to continue supporting a stand-alone crowdsourcing app like Story Map Crowdsource, and we are revisiting how to deliver crowdsourcing within the context of Story Maps. Esri offers several other crowdsourcing and data collection apps that may fit your needs (see below).

In the June 2018 update to ArcGIS Online, Story Map Crowdsource will move into the mature support phase of the Esri Product Lifecycle.

What does mature support mean for a Story Map template?

Can I still create new stories from a web app template after it is moved to mature support?

Yes, you can still create a new story using Story Map Crowdsource after it has been moved to mature support, but this is not recommended for high-profile or long-term projects. While the Story Map Crowdsource app template is still available in its mature support phase, future changes in ArcGIS, its APIs, or web browsers may break Crowdsource stories at any time. If you accept this risk, you can create a new Crowdsource story from the Story Map Crowdsouce item page (you must be signed in to see the Create a Web App button). In general, Esri recommends that customers do not use templates in mature support to create new applications.

What alternative solutions are available for my crowdsourcing project?

Esri offers a number of options for crowdsourcing:

Another alternative would be to harvest geotagged images, comments, and other material via a website form, survey, email, or social media campaign and then use that crowdsourced content to create/update a Story Map such as a Map Tour, Shortlist, or Map Journal.

About the author

Owen is the lead product engineer for ArcGIS StoryMaps and has been with Esri since 2004. Before joining the StoryMaps team, he spent 11 years as a solution engineer on Esri's National Government team helping people understand the value and utility of geospatial thinking.

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