Final Blog Post, Overview

Now that the semester is over, I  have two story maps which are somewhat different then what I was planning at the beginning. My overall trip story map is what I thought it would be, since it is just pictures with captions of our trip. My fortifications story map was something I decided to do half way through the semester, given the quality and quantity of information I was able to collect. Initially I wanted to make a story map about the Battle of Verdun with battle lines and the like. But given my interest in the forts it quickly morphed into a story map concentrated on the forts instead. My first problem, which was pretty much everyone's problem, was getting ESRI story maps to work properly. After a couple days of tinkering with settings and index files, I was able to get templates not hosted by ESRI to work, which is what my fortifications story map uses. My next problem was finding pictures for all the forts and fieldworks, a couple of which no picture could be found. Other then those two problems it was relatively smooth sailing. I ended up only have two tabs instead of three on my fortifications story map, eliminating the WWI tab and dividing up that information into the ClassTrip Tab on the same story map and into my other trip story map. Given more time, I would continue to work on the Fortifications story map and add in the tab I was not able to include but overall I have happy with the results.

Trip Story Map
Fortification Story Map

Project Status Update 7

New Tasks accomplished:

Finished Class Trip CSV:

Finished source reviews:

Alistair Horne's The Price of Glory
This book is somewhat different from the others I have read for my project. Instead of taking an third person view on the material and giving broad overviews, Alistair Horne takes you right into the action with an almost first person feel of the accounts of the Battle of Verdun. This book is specifically about the Battle of Verdun 1916 and as such will be a main source for my fortification project. I liked how it felt like reading a novel more then a history textbook and I feel like this book is perfect for anyone interested in learning more about WWI or looking for an exciting wartime narrative.

John Mosier's The Myth of the Great War
This was the first book I read for this class. It covers the entirety of WWI along the Western Front providing pictures and quite a few maps along the way. Dividing the book into fourths, the middle two are of the most interest to me for my project since they cover the battles leading up to and including the Battle of Verdun 1916. This book gave me a good background on WWI which I could then expand upon by reading another of John Mosier's books specifically about Verdun.

John Mosier's Verdun: The Lost History of the Most Important Battle in World War I, 1914-1918
Using a similar writing and format style as his book The Myth of the Great War, John Mosier expands on his knowledge of the Battle of Verdun 1916. He explores the shortcomings of both the Germans and the French, discusses issues in political geography, and details the troubles faced by soldiers taking part in what he refers to as the 'most important battle of WWI.' This book is another excellent source for my project as the entire book, as well as my project, focuses on Verdun.


The Battle of Verdun 1916 - the greatest battle ever
This website has an extensive timeline of the Battle of Verdun in 1916. Using an almost day by day approach, the events of the battle are spelled out in a clear manner. The battle is sectioned off into six different phases with meaningful subtitles, making finding specific dates and information easy to accomplish. I will use this site for finding specific dates and little bits of information that would take to long to find in a full length book.


Tasks that still need to be done:

Finish WWI.csv and write history section for website.
Troubleshoot pictures.

Project Status Update 6

This week I wrote up a little introduction to my project and the methods I used, for the class website. I am still writing the history section about Verdun for the website and will have it finished by the end of the week. I finished my Forts.csv and I am hoping to have the last two finished by next week. Here is my intro/methods for the website...

Introduction:

Of all the World War I memorials and sites we visited in France, nothing grasped my interest and spurred my imagination more than walking through Forts Douaumont and Vaux. Half way through our trip we left the Somme Battlefield region and headed towards Verdun. Immediately upon arrival, we set off to meet with Christina Holstein, a Verdun historian, local battlefield guide, and author of the Books Walking Verdun, Fort Douaumont, and Fort Vaux.  Trudging through the mud and rain, we followed Christina through the forest eventually arriving at the ditch surrounding Fort Douaumont. After Pausing momentarily for some quick history from Christina, we made our way inside the Fort. The cool damp air combined with dim lighting and numerous stalagmites, stalactites, barred off passageways, and crumbling stone and concrete gave the fort a rather solemn and almost creepy atmosphere. We had such a remarkable opportunity to walk these forts with Christina Holstein and my memories of strolling down the dark damp corridors hearing stories of the struggles the men occupying these forts had during WWI will never be forgotten. As such, my final project for this class is entirely concerned with the double ring of fortifications surrounding Verdun.

               

History:

Coming soon…

Methods:

I have made an ESRI Story Map that will have selectable tabs to display information about forty-four different forts and fieldworks, specific information about fortifications that experienced action in WWI, and a final section to display pictures and give a little background on the time we spent as a class in the Verdun area. Using all three of Christina Holstein’s Books, John Mosier’s The Myth of the Great War and Verdun: The Lost History of the Most Important Battle in WWI, and Allistar Horne’s The Price of Glory, I summarized the events of the Battle of Verdun and organized them into my WWI tab in my Story Map. Using Clayton Donnell’s Fortifications of Verdun, websites such as The Great War Fortifications in France... and Le site web de la fortification Sere de Rivieres, and along with Google Earth, I pinpointed the location, as well as provided a picture and basic information, of each fort and fieldwork in my Forts tab. Finally, to give a personal account of the fortifications of Verdun, I used pictures that one of my classmates or I took while in France and added some background information which could include what we are looking at, why it’s important, and my own thoughts on the matter in my Trip Tab.

Being able to upload pictures and install a Story Map Template onto our own private webserver, I was able to create different CSV files in Microsoft Excel that correspond with each separate Tab mentioned earlier. These three CSV files have all my textual information and reference the location of the pictures associated with each fort, fieldwork, or photograph. Once the pictures were uploaded to the correct location and my CSV files were created, I made a web map on ArcGIS online with each CSV loaded into it, referenced the web map in the Index file located in the Story Map Templates folder on our webserver, typed in the full web address of my Story Map, unchecked some browser security settings, and the finished product appeared. Although the trip overseas was the best part of the class, researching and working on this project was almost just as fun.

 Here is a screenshot of my finished Forts.csv

Project Status Update 5

Project Overview (final):
My final project will be an ESRI Story Map about the Battle of Verdun and the fortifications of Verdun. I will use the shortlist template and will have at least 3 selectable tabs of data. As a result, I will need to make 3 separate CSV files: Forts.csv, WWI.csv, and Photographs.csv. The forts tab will show the location, a picture, and basic information about all 44 forts around Verdun. The WWI tab will show the location, a picture, and a couple paragraph explanation of each major event or battle associated with the Battle of Verdun in WWI. The Photographs tab (may be re-named) will show the location, photograph, and short description of pictures I or a classmate took in France during our trip overseas that relate to Verdun.

Update on Sources:
The Fortifications of Verdun 1874-1917 by Clayton Donnell
This is a fantastic source for my project and has provided almost all the information I will use for my Forts CSV. The book in itself is not very impressive in terms of size when compared to the other books I am using. However, it is jammed packed with diagrams, charts, maps, pictures, and incredibly interesting information about life and function of Verdun's fortification. I knew this was going to be a great resource immediately when I saw a timeline in the beginning of the book from the end of the Franco-Prussian War to the end of WWII, which is then followed by a map of all the forts with their relative construction period, which is then followed by a table listing every fort along with its construction date, modernization date, total cost, men, machine-gun turrets, 75mm turrets, 155mm turrets, and armored observations. Not only will this be useful for my project but also is of great interest to me on a personal note by learning more about the building and defense strategies of the forts.

Walking Verdun: A guide to the Battlefield by Christina Holstein
Each of Christina Holstein's books I own are chock-full of pictures, maps, and vivid yet concise stories of the Battle of Verdun. In Walking Verdun, each chapter is broken into two sections, The Events and The Walk. The Events section is a general overview of what took place during different key events in the Battle of Verdun chosen by Christian Holstein. The Walk section then details how the reader can walk from site to site and explains what the importance of what they see. I will use select information from the events sections of multiple chapters in my WWI CSV.

Fort Douaumont by Christina Holstein, and Fort Vaux by Christina Holstein
These books are similar to Walking Verdun, though they cover events surround one specific fort rather then the battle as a whole. With an outrageous number of pictures, maps, and interesting side stories, these books will make my WWI CSV quite robust in regards to events surrounding the Verdun fortifications. I am glad I have these books not only as a useful resource for my project but as a reminder of my favorite part of our trip (the forts) and of the amazing opportunity my class had in walking these forts with Christina Holstein in person.

Goals:
(this week)
-Review The Myth of the Great War by John Mosier, and The Price of Glory by Allistar Horne
-Use Christina Holstein's books to beginning writing desctiptions for my WWI CSV
-Locate the rest of the forts I have not found yet on Google Earth to finish my Forts CSV
-Find as many pictures as I can for my Forts and WWI CSVs
(following week)
-Read and Review Verdun: The Lost History of the Most Important Battle of WWI by John Mosier
-Finish writing descriptions for my WWI CSV
-Continue/Finish finding pictures for my Forts and WWI CSVs
(Lastly)
-Complete my Photograph CSV
-Finishing touches

Project Status Update 4

Using an ESRI story map template through our web server:

I will use the Shortlist template as an example because it is the one I am going to use for my project.

If the template is hosted by ESRI, you do not need to download the source code for the template to work. However, if you want to customize the template in more detail you can choose the download option when making a web application out of a web map.

If the template you want is not hosted by ESRI, navigate to this web address.

Find the Template you want and click the "Details and Download" option.

Once you are redirected click the "Download Source Code" option.

Once the zip file has downloaded extract it into a folder on our web server. It does not matter what the folder is called as long as you know what it is.Notice my location in the screenshot below. The most important files are the "Index.html" and the "Readme.pdf." Some templates have a more robust readme files then other. This readme file has 17 pages of information and walks you through all the information you will need to create a proper CSV and how to install and modify the template.

For the Shortlist Template, you need to create an ESRI webmap with up to four point files. Each point file corresponds to a tab on the template with the same name. The point files can be a shape or text file (CSV, TXT, GPX, etc). Heres my webmap: My example webmap
I used two CSV files for this example, "Forts.csv" and "Stollens.csv". As a result the final story map will show selectable tabs for "Forts" and "Stollens".

Taking a short detour on CSV files...make sure you include all the necessary column titles in your CSV that your chosen templates readme file instructs. You can add columns for Latitude and Longitude. Make sure if you are using pictures and/or thumbnails that you type in the full web address of the pictures located on our webserver and end the address with ".jpg".

In order for the template to display your webmap you need to edit the "Index.html" file. You will need to use a text editor, I downloaded Textpad 7. Once in the "Index.html" file find the Config Section and edit the WEBMAP_ID.

Replace the default ID number with your webmaps ID. Your webmaps ID number can be found at the end of its web address.

With your webmaps ID now in place go to your internet browser and type in the full address of the location of your template folder on our webserver. My location address is:
https://gis.uwec.edu/geog368Fall13/foxp/shortlist

Assuming you have made your CSV files or other shape/text files correctly, your storymap should load perfectly. Also make sure to "Enable Blocked Content" if your using Mozilla, "Load Unsafe Script" if using chrome, or if your using a different browers and can't see the storymap there is probably a setting worded close to the settings I just mentioned that you will need to change. Internet Explorer may not work at all.


Google Earth and CSVs

Using the Google Earth image from the website The Great War Fortifications in France..., Christina Holstien's book Walking Verdun, and what was already labeled on Google Earth, I marked all Forts, Ouvrages, and a couple Batteries around Verdun. Once I get the last couple books I have ordered, I will be able to nail down an exact list of all the places I will include in the final project. At the moment the two CSVs that I am sure I wil include are Forts and My Places (name subject to change). The Forts CSV will contain a picture and information about each fort around Verdun. The My Places CSV will contain pictures that I or my classmates took while in France. Other possible CSV files could be Ouvrages, Maps, Ghost Villages, and Forts of WWI.

Project Status Update 3

Project Overview:
An ESRI story map displaying the locations, pictures, and worthwhile information of all the forts surrounding Verdun.

With the Storytelling Shortlist Template, 4 tabs can be utilized to display different data. Each tab corresponds to a CSV file or Shapefile. My tabs could include: forts, battle lines, troop advancements, places or regions of interest, present day

With the Storytelling Countdown Template, two basemaps at different scales and a sidebar displaying a ranked list of places can be utilized to display a set of data. Using this template, I could rank the forts (by completion date, importance, etc) and display a picture and information for each while showing its geography location on the battlefield scale and through satellite imagery.

With the Storytelling Map Tour Template, a large picture and caption next to a base map can be utilized to display a photograph at its geographic location. If I can't use either of the above templates I will default to this one. It is hosted by ESRI and I know that it will at least function. I am making a overall trip story map displaying all the places we visited in France with this template. I have thirty pictures already completed in a CSV file that I have tested and works perfectly.

The quantity and quality of information I get in the next few weeks, along with figuring out how to properly use all the templates through our own web server, will determine the ultimate outcome. For now I will begin researching the forts and writing down any other data along the way that I find I might be able to use to enhance the final product.

Project Sources:
Alistair Horne's The Price of Glory
John Mosier's The Myth of the Great War, and Verdun: The Lost History...
Christina Holstein's Walking Verdun, Fort Douaumont, and Fort Vaux
Clayton Donnell's Fortifications of Verdun 1874-1917

This Weeks Progress:
Walking Verdun and Fort Vaux by Christina Holstein have arrived in the mail. I am starting my research with reading Walking Verdun. Assuming that I will be able to use the shortlist template, I am making multiple CSV files with the specific template categories. For my forts.csv, I have a name and location for most of the forts and am currently working on finding the rest and writing in 1-5 paragraphs of worthwhile information for each. Here is a screenshot of the CSV in its early stages.

I found a website that has locations and pictures of many of the forts around Verdun. Here is a really helpful Google Earth screenshot of all the fort locations.

I have updated my Overall Trip Story Map and it now contains 30 pictures, with thumbnails, and captions. I won't work on this story map again for a couple weeks in favor of fort research. I plan to have all three of Christina Holstein's books finished by the end of the week. Then I will begin re-reading select parts of The Myth of the Great War.

Project Status Update 2

Looking through the templates, I found one I think might work well for the project I want to do. It is called the Storytelling Shortlist Template. This template has up to four tabs to click on that show different data on the map. Each tab is a separate CSV or shapefile. As it turns out this template is not available on ESRI's Cloud service so I need to download the source code and put that on a web server. I am not too sure if the folder Martin, UWEC's Geo Spatial Technician, set up for us is a web server or not, judging on the fact that it didn't work, I have to assume it is not. I made a couple sample CSVs called Forts and Stollens, added the CSVs to a webmap, downloaded the template and placed it in my folder on the space Martin set up for us, edited the Index.html (with textpad 7) to reflect the webmap I wanted to use......and all I got was the header bar on top of the page and nothing else. HERE is my webmap. Here are screenshots:

Readme file on left, index.html on right. I don't know what else to do.

The results.

So after failing with the Shortlist Template, I tried updating my first story map using the Storytelling Map Tour Template. Made a CSV for it and dragged it in. Everything worked fine, probably due to the fact that the template is offered on ESRI's cloud service and I didn't need to do anything with source code or edit any files. HERE is proof that it worked. I didn't really like the Map Tour look though and wanted to try the Storytelling Countdown Template. Though again this is another template I would have to download.

At this point I would like to mention that the Shortlist template had a 17 page readme file while the Countdown template has a 2 page readme file. So the chances of me figuring this one out is almost nil.

After making two web maps and adding in a CSV file to one of them (one and two) editing the config.js file, following directions to the best of my abilities, I get a never ending loading screen.

Extremely unhelpful readme file on the left, edited config.js on the right

The results

I know my CSV file skills are on par because the Map Tour Template worked just fine. I also made sure to publicly share all of my web maps. I have to believe I am doing something wrong with the placement of the templates on the web space, or that the web space set up for us is not the same thing as a web server.

Just for kicks I downloaded the Map Tour Template and tryed opening the Index file which should display the default view of the template and got this...

Tried following the directions, making a web map and editing index.html, blah blah blah, got the same screen. So something has to be up with hosting the templates because when I made the only story map that worked the template was hosted by ESRI not by my own web server.


Lastly, I made a thank you poster for Remi.