How about adding a splash screen, or a about button?

[ghost]

It's becoming a very popular need that organizations want to display some background information about the map when it start, like these live samples:
http://maps.raleighnc.gov/yourparksbond/
http://gis.fortlauderdale.gov/GreenYourRoutine/

It'd be great if ESRI can implement this functions at core rather than we all have to customize the same function in 100 difference ways, 100 times.

[RupertEssinger]

Thanks for bringing this idea up. Similar to this that we are also looking into is the idea of having the option to provide a full-screen launch/cover page on which authors could show a single large eye-catching graphic, title and additional supporting text as a way of drawing people in and setting the scene before the end-user proceeds, with a click, to the actual map.

[ghost]

Do you have a timeline for this? Thanks.

[RupertEssinger]

Do not have a timeline for this at this point. How much info would you want to convey? Advantage of splash dialog or cover graphic over About button is that users will see it (and read it if it has brief text) and doesn't add another button into the UI.

[daFiter]

Is there an update on this issue?

[RupertEssinger]

We aren't planning to implement this in the Shortlist beta. However we are starting dev work on a new app for showing places that will eventually include the Story Map Tour and Story Map Shortlist functionality, and that app will support the definition of a cover page. Look for the beta release of that later this year or early next year.

Like the original @darkbluemsu says above, it is possible to define a cover page or about for a Shortlist app as part of a customzation. For example here's a customized app with a cover page that provides access to both a Shortlist and a custom app (a prototype for the tour UI in the new app we are starting work on): http://storymaps.esri.com/stories/2017/flw/

I also found this additional customization in our gallery, which is based on Shortlist version 1.x: https://gisappsecure.ewashtenaw.org/public/HP/HeritageTours/GreekRevival/