It’s been a busy few months for Terraso Story Maps: we are excited to share some of the changes we’ve rolled out in our latest release!
Save time making maps with data
It’s now quicker and easier to add map-specific data to your story map. Until now, the only way to visualize geospatial data in your story map was by first creating a map within a Terraso Group or Landscape and then adding it as a layer to your story map. Today’s release cuts out that extra step; now you can upload map data files directly to story map chapters – no more waiting for your map layers to load! This change will eliminate a frequently-reported barrier to creating rich stories with data.
With this release, uploading files directly to your story map chapter is the only way to add map layers. We will re-enable adding maps from Terraso Landscapes and Groups in a future release. Story maps created before this release will display normally, but you will use the new process when you edit those existing story maps.
More compelling preview in searches and social media
Our story maps have always been pretty to look at, but we’ve long felt that we could do a better job of helping search engines and websites with a preview feature to display what your story maps are about. With our most recent release, storytellers can shape how their story maps are previewed on the web by providing a featured image and a brief description. This will make links to your story maps more attractive to viewers.
If you’ve made a story map before, we invite you to return to it and add a featured image and description!
More space for story telling
We’ve also listened to Terraso users and reduced the size of the header and footer in the story map editor, so more of your screen is dedicated to your content while you create your story. Depending on your window size, this results in up to 40% more space for your editing experience.
A huge thanks to our partners at Aldea Foundation, Samaajdata, and AlVelAl for helping us to test these new features!
Featured story map
We build Terraso Story Maps to empower environmentalists to tell place-based stories. With this release, we’d like to showcase Calacalí: Territorio en disputa, a powerful project by graduate students of FLASCO in Ecuador. The story map details the complex socio-environmental challenges faced by Calacalí, Ecuador, a region marked by the dual pressures of industrial development and traditional agricultural and conservation practices leading to conflicts over resources like water and land. The authors skillfully use narrative, media, and data to explore issues such as pollution, deforestation, threats to biodiversity (like the Andean bear), and community efforts towards sustainable development amidst these struggles.
What’s next
Looking forward, you can expect to see some big changes to Terraso. You may have noticed a dramatic refresh of our website with a greater focus on our core products, Terraso Story Maps and LandPKS. Our next step is to streamline the experience of creating and managing story maps, so new and returning users can focus on story telling.
We need your help in making Terraso Story Maps even more useful! If you have feature requests, comments, or simply wish to get in touch, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
