Modify a published story

Some stories may need to be revised or updated after their initial publication. ArcGIS StoryMaps supports a workflow that enables you to make changes to a published story, preview those changes, and then publish the changes to the existing story. In this workflow, updates to published stories are stored as unpublished changes and are not visible to the audience until you are ready to share them and you republish.

View a published story

If you want to see a story from the perspective of your audience, you can view the published version of the story from the Stories page or from inside the story builder.

Use the following steps to view the published version of a story from the Stories page:

  1. Browse to the Stories page in ArcGIS StoryMaps.
  2. Find the story you want to view, and click the quick actions button Quick Actions in the story card.
  3. Click View.

Use the following steps to view the published version of a story from the story builder:

  1. In the story builder, click the menu button Menu.
  2. Click View published story.

The published version of the story appears in the story viewer.

Note:

When previewing a draft story or viewing a story with unpublished changes, there is a colored dot in the Edit button that indicates the state of the story. You can hover over the dot to get more information and click the button to edit the story in the story builder.

Change the audience of a published story

After a story has been published, you can change the Sharing settings to change the story's audience.

Use the following steps to change the audience of a published story:

  1. In the story builder, click the menu button Menu.
  2. Click Sharing settings to open the Sharing settings panel.
  3. Choose who can view the story: Private, My organization, or Everyone (Public). Optionally, you can also choose to share the story with people in specific groups through the Group settings section.
  4. Click Update sharing settings.

The Sharing settings menu closes and the audience of the story is changed.

Publish changes to a story

After updating a story, you can publish the changes to the existing story, making them available to your audience.

Use the following steps to republish a story:

  1. In the story builder header, click Publish.
  2. Choose who can view the story: Private, My organization, or Everyone (Public). Optionally, you can also choose to share the story with people in specific groups through the Group settings section.

The story is republished with the new changes.

Discard unpublished changes to a story

If you have unpublished changes and want to revert to the currently published version of your story, you can discard the unpublished changes.

Use the following steps to discard unpublished changes:

  1. In the story builder, click the menu button Menu.
  2. Click Discard unpublished changes.
  3. Confirm that you want to discard the changes by clicking Yes, discard changes.

The unpublished changes are discarded, and you can now edit the previously published version of your story in the story builder.

Unpublish a story

If you no longer want your story to be available to others, you can unpublish it. Unpublishing removes the ability to view the story from the selected audience and returns the story to a draft state.

Use the following steps to unpublish a story:

  1. In the story builder, click the menu button Menu.
  2. Click Unpublish story.
  3. Confirm that you want to unpublish the story by clicking Yes, unpublish.

The story is unpublished and is no longer accessible to the audience.

Note:

During initial publishing, you can batch change the sharing permissions for map content in the story. When unpublishing, the sharing permissions for ArcGIS content used in the story are not changed. To change the sharing permissions for maps, scenes, or layers after publication, go to their ArcGIS item pages.