What’s New in ArcGIS StoryMaps for ArcGIS Enterprise 11.5

The ArcGIS Enterprise 11.5 update introduces a suite of new features and improvements to ArcGIS StoryMaps, empowering you to create even more compelling and dynamic visual stories. Whether you’re building a categorized tour, integrating charts, or customizing themes, this release enhances every aspect of your storytelling toolkit.

Curious about everything included in this release? Head over to the What’s New in ArcGIS Enterprise 11.5 blog for a full overview.

Let’s dive into what’s new in ArcGIS StoryMaps for ArcGIS Enterprise 11.5.

Mapping Enhancements

Categorized Map Tours

Remember the classic Story Map Shortlist? It’s back in a new form — say hello to Categorized Map Tours!

This feature lets you organize locations into categories like “historical sites,” “restaurants,” or “trails.” Readers can filter and explore places with ease, enhancing personalization and interactivity.

How to get started:

Add a Map Tour block in your story.
Choose Start with a feature service — required for categorization.
After linking your feature layer, select the Categorized layout in the Explorer options.

From there, you can:

Add a title and description
Customize data, symbols, categories, and image placement
Filter and sort locations

Preserve Map Extent or Scale

Need more control over how your maps appear on different screens? You can now preserve the map’s extent or scale, ensuring your symbology and details display consistently.

Find this option in the story builder under:
Map view > Adjust map appearance

Choosing between extent or scale is especially useful for:

Optimizing viewing on mobile/tablets
Managing scale-dependent layers
Enhancing storytelling accuracy

Data Visualization Upgrades

Interactive Charts

Bring your data to life with interactive charts — now available in stories and briefings.

Choose from:

Column
Bar
Donut
Line

Customize titles, labels, and data directly in the builder. You can even switch chart types without losing your data. Charts inherit your story’s theme colors (except for donut charts, which use a default palette).

Add charts from:

The Data Visualization section
The Sidecar media options

Image Enhancements

Captions in Briefings

Now you can add captions to images in briefings—just like in stories. Select an image, click Options, and enter a caption (up to four lines shown by default; full text visible when expanded).

Image Gallery Captions

Captions can also be added to individual images within galleries. Just hover over the image and select Options > Caption. Keep captions to 100–150 characters for the best display experience.

Theme Customization

Adjust Font Size

Make your story more accessible or visually appealing by adjusting overall font size. Use the new Typography slider in the Theme Builder to choose from five size presets — all responsive to screen size.

Shared Themes

Organization admins can now define a Shared Theme, including colors, buttons, and logos. When creating a story, the shared theme appears as the first option in the theme builder, making brand consistency easier than ever.

Need tweaks? Use the Custom color option to fine-tune.

Header & Navigation Customization

The theme builder now offers enhanced control over header design:

Choose from suggested and custom colors
Navigation bars now reflect your theme colors (no more mismatched blues!)

Block Spacing Options

Select Spacious or Compact spacing for content blocks — a subtle but powerful layout control.

Button Text Color

Customize button text color manually with a contrast checker to maintain accessibility. Previously, this was determined automatically based on background color.

Briefings Improvements

New Cover Layouts

Briefings now offer more creative control:

Full Cover: Add a striking image or video.
Side-by-Side: Adjust panel size to better balance text and media.

Use Change panel appearance to modify style, size, and positioning.

Presentation Mode

Presenting your briefing is now even easier. After publishing:

View the Table of Contents
Use navigation arrows and slide numbers
Toggle Presentation Mode (or use Command-Return / Ctrl-Enter)

Explore how others use this: South Carolina National Guard’s GIS Briefings.

Other Notable Enhancements

A consistent keyboard focus indicator improves accessibility
Categorized map tours and some templates remain in beta (admin activation required)
Classification banners can now be added to indicate data sensitivity

For a complete breakdown of features and fixes, check out the official What’s New in ArcGIS StoryMaps on ArcGIS Enterprise 11.5 documentation.

Disclaimer: This article is adapted from content originally written by Andria Olson. You can read the original post here: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/story-maps/announcements/whats-new-in-arcgis-storymaps-on-arcgis-enterprise-11-5

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What’s New in ArcGIS StoryMaps for ArcGIS Enterprise 11.5