Exploring the Terrastories main interface
Last updated
Last updated
This section provides guidance on how to use the main Terrastories interface, which is the interactive map and sidebar with place-based stories.
For guidance on navigating the Terrastories member dashboard, please see Using the Terrastories member dashboard.
The first thing that you will be greeted with upon accessing Terrastories is the welcome page.
Currently, there are only a few things to do on the welcome page. What you can do depends on whether you are loading a Terrastories server that is online, or offline / hosted on a mesh.
For an online Terrastories server:
You can log in with a username associated with a community.
You can change the language to one of the translations supported by Terrastories. (This language will stay selected as you navigate across different views of the Terrastories application.)
Coming soon: You will be able to access a list of public views for communities, which are views with a map and selected stories that communities have opted to share with a public without needing to log in.
For an offline Terrastories server:
You can log in with a username associated with the community.
You can enter the site without logging in, where you will be able to view unrestricted stories only.
You can change the language to one of the translations supported by Terrastories. (This language will stay selected as you navigate across different views of the Terrastories application.)
Once you have logged in, or if you are offline, you will see an Enter Site button.
In addition, if you have logged with a username with an appropriate role level, you will see a link to the Admin Page (soon to be renamed "Member Dashboard"). In the remainder of this page, we will cover only the main Terrastories interface. For instructions on using the Member Dashboard, please see Using the Terrastories member dashboard.
The main Terrastories interface is mobile and tablet accessible. Here is a screenshot of what the welcome screen looks like on a mobile phone (and also with Punjabi translation selected):
Once you have clicked or pressed on Enter Site via the Welcome page, you will arrive at the main Terrastories interface, which is composed of several elements:
An interactive map, composed of both a background map and Storied Place Markers.
On the left, a sidebar with a Story List composed of Story Cards, as well as Filter Dropdowns to filter content on both the Story List and the Storied Place Markers on the interactive map.
On the bottom right, an introduction modal about Terrastories which can be closed.
On the top right, an inset mini-map, and map controls for returning to the default map center and zoom level, zooming in and out, and changing and the map pitch.
The introduction modal can be closed, and the sidebar can be toggled to hide and show again using the ► button, to bring a full view to the interactive map.
The Terrastories main interface works in mobile as well. Currently, you can use the ► button on the left of the map, and the X button on the top right of the sidebar, to toggle between a full view of the two.
The content of stories in the Story List and Storied Place Markers are populated by data fields entered for stories, speakers, and places in the Terrastories member dashboard.
In the below screenshot, you can see the following data, from top to bottom:
For the Story card "Terrastories for the Matawai",
Speaker photos associated with the story.
Speaker names associated with the story.
The story title
Following the story, a 🔒 icon which indicates that this is a restricted story, and you have access because of your user role which has permission to view it.
A story description
Media attachments for the story (in this case, a video).
Although it is not visible in the screenshot, below the media attachments there will also be the language of the story, if provided.
For the Storied Place Marker "Pusugrunu village",
Story name is shown in the popup header.
A photo of the place.
A place description.
Region for the place.
Type of place taxonomy for the place.
To learn more about the data fields for stories, speakers, and places, please see Exploring and creating stories, speakers, and places.
If you have video recordings for a story in the Story List, there is a toggle available to set that video to full screen.
There are several ways to interact with the stories and places on the Terrastories main interface.
You can:
Scroll down the Story List in the sidebar to access all of the story content for the Terrastories community.
Click or press on a Story Card, which will trigger the map to zoom to and center upon the Storied Place Marker, and open a popup for the place, associated with that story.
Click or press on a Storied Place Marker, which will filter the Story List to only show stories associated with that place. The interactive map will also zoom to, and center upon, the maximum extent of the associated Storied Place Markers.
Use the Filter Dropdowns to filter content in both the Story List, and Storied Place Markers on the interactive map. The interactive map will also zoom to, and center upon, the maximum extent of the filtered Storied Place Markers.
This screenshot shows a state of the Terrastories main interface where the "NatureBridge Campus" Storied Place Marker has been selected, and the Story List content in the sidebar has been filtered to only show one story associated with that place.
To use the filter dropdowns, first click or press on the first filter dropdown, which will show the following options. The options will only show if there is data entered for the story, speaker, and place fields in the Terrastories member dashboard:
Language (for stories)
Region (for places)
Speaker (for speakers)
Speaker's Community (for speakers)
Topic (for stories)
Type of Place (for places)
Once you have selected an option in the first filter, the second filter will now show options for that first filter. The options will come from what has been entered in the Terrastories data for the fields in the first filter.
In this screenshot, "Type of place" has been selected for the first filter dropdown, and the second filter dropdown is showing all of the entries that have been entered for the "type of place" data field for places.
Selecting one of the options will filter Story Cards in the Story List, and Storied Place Markers on the interactive map, to only show data which has that option associated. For example, in this screenshot, if you select "village", the map will only show (and pan to) Pusugrunu, and the Story List will only show "Terrastories for the Matawai." You can try this out in the Terrastories demo.
There are a few additional features on the Terrastories worth highlighting:
3d Terrain View (for online Terrastories): it is possible to enable a beautiful 3d terrain layer for your map (which users with an admin role for your community can do in Modifying map settings). This can really help bring storied places to life in regions with a topographically diverse landscape.
Place name pronunciation: we've heard from many Indigenous communities across the world that it would be helpful to have an audio feature where a native language speaker can add a clip of themselves pronouncing the name of the place. This is now active on Terrastories, as seen in this screenshot. Users with an admin or editor role can add audio recordings for places. For more information on how to do so, see Exploring and creating stories, speakers, and places.
