Thank you for adding the new "Recommended Links" feature. It would be nice if those links would open in a new tab instead of taking the user out of Substack.
No, they shouldn't do this *by default*. They should be normal hypertext links. To open a link in a new tab click the middle mouse button (works on Firefox on Linux; I think Windows uses something else). My point is there is already a way to get links to open in a new tab, so leave it to the user's choice whether they want to do that or not, don't force one way or the other on them.
Thank you. Will all these changes be available for absolutely everyone?
One of my biggest problems is that after doing the very hard work of promoting my newsletter on my social media channels (heavy lifting all by myself) then the new subscribers get lost and tell me things like: "Is this your blog?" "Why doesn't it look like your blog?" "How do I find your articles?" "Why can't I find any of your articles on Google Search like I do with your Medium articles?" My hard-earned suscribers feel that my newsletter is like my "MailChimp" (emails, not articles).
I suggest making our newsletter home page look like what it is, a blog.
Separately, hopefully you can implement that "undo" button when writing, much needed.
Lastly, please, do consider letting us add audio as audio clips anywhere on the article, without creating a podcast, not as a podcast. Audio is 2021, but we can't treat the current audio feature as a real podcast (no editing to start with), so is neither one thing nor the other one in reality right now. I made this request long ago in a comment, like this one, and got many likes. Hopefully you can fetch that comment and check it.
Thank you for all you do, guys. I left Medium and came here because I believe what you believe. Let me know how else I could help.
Yep, this is also not very intuitive. They could just "emulate" what Medium does to see all the other writers in one place. That should be on Substack's home page. But not as "recommended ones" only but a catalog so people can select "language," "topic," and other filters, and we show up on different lists.
This way, Substack is actually helping us build the subscriber list without having to recommend everyone, which happens to be the absolute most difficult task: growing that list.
Will there ever be a function that allows the type to wrap (left or right) around images? Is this not available because of rendering problems with email readers?
I'd REALLY like to be able to do this in my posts but am limited to gigantic horizontal-only images throughout my text.
OK, that is nice. But the draft history is last week. I need to fix an accidental deletion I did in the last minute. What is needed is an Undo button. It would also be nice if there was a place at Support where one could ask a question. I would like to know how I can make the background color of the email the same as my homepage background color
These three additions look good. I still would like the ability to have rich embeds for ALL links exactly like the Revue feature or at least the ability to add the embed code from a service like iframely.
Excellent! Appreciate how you folks keep innovating without drastically shifting the basic template, which I value (for its simplicity and spaciousness).
These are FANTASTIC improvements. Thank you and keep 'em coming. This definitely is a HUGE incentive to focus on Substack as a writer vs other platforms.
Somehow I’m drawn to your comment. It felt—gracious and kind. (Okay, granted, I was scrolling through the comments. It’s a Sunday, and I catch up with the newsletters, and also take the time to connect with other readers and writers.)
I went to your newsletter, Grace For The Weary (love the name), read the description, read the About, and I’m like, yes...I think, this resonates with me. Something I’ve been searching for too. That said, 👀 on Jesus.
Fan-flipping-tastic. I genuinely appreciate the “recommended links” feature because those of us writing a “series” of articles ...this allows us to collate and/or create sub-categories. Again thank you for this nifty new feature.
Good news. Now could you please add the ability for poetry to be posted in single spaced verse with double spaces between verses. It is impossible to do whether by direct means or cut and paste. No matter how I format, once I hit “publish” the text is converted to straight double space with no added space between verses. Very frustrating and negatively affects the rhythm of the work. Thank you.
Hey Suzanne - can you try using shift+Enter when you make a newline instead of just the Enter key? That should make single line breaks.
Also - coming soon: we'll have a mode in the editor for entering pre-formatted text, which means it'll preserve things like leading and trailing whitespace in poetry
I usually post from my phone so no shift, but I’ll try that from my laptop. I anxiously await the new editor mode. That will make my life easier. Thank you.
If you have an Android, you can install "Hacker's Keyboard" from the Google Play Store and switch to it whenever you need a Shift + Enter. I just tried it with the Substack editor; it does produce a single-line break. I presume there's a third-party keyboard for iPhone that would allow a Shift + Enter when you want it. (I had a similar problem with spacing of poems on Patreon. It's nice to see that there's a workaround on Substack. I'd rather not have to switch keyboards – but it's better than nothing.)
Thank you for this info. I have an iPhone so I’ll check the Apple Store for an equivalent workaround. It would be very nice to have something that works until Substack updates its own editing capabilities to make them poetry-friendly. I appreciate your taking the time and effort to provide me with this assistance.
Rob, I wanted to let you know that your suggestion worked perfectly. As long as I prepare my post on my laptop, using the shift+enter creates single line breaks. Today, for the first time, my poem is formatted exactly like I want it. Thanks for the help. It’s a pain to have to type this way, but I can manage until you have the mode in editor that will preserve pre-formatted text.
If Substack allowed articles to be written in Markdown, that would solve this problem (and lots of other problems). I have suggested that, along with other suggestions, here: https://pontifex.substack.com/p/making-substack-better
That said, it’s my fourth issue on Substack after I switched from two platforms to do the same thing (web + newsletter) on just one platform. I’m thankful to Substack for making publishing, the easiest so far. So, I’m taking the “limitations” in that context. Just enough frills to not overwhelm me. And get on with the writing and connecting with people. ❤️ Substack
By the way, Suzanne, I laughed along with you at your poem of soft-boiled satire. 😬
Hi my. Thanks for the tips. I’ll take a closer look at your links tomorrow. It sounds like a good temporary “fix” until Substack catches up with remedying editing issues. Thanks, too, for sharing your reaction to my Eggistential pondering. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Fine improvements. This is slightly off-topic but very definitely Substack : the search page that greet new or interested readers. Maybe someone can explain to me how or why it works the way it does. To be honest, a third of the pages I visit have few or old or no entries. I don't mind the big stars getting theirs, but the page seems terrifically undeveloped from what it could be. Thanks.
A round of applause for the updated Stats page. This is the the most crucial missing feature set compared to email delivery services. Please continue to build out the stats page (unsubscribes by subscriber, # of opens by subscriber, links by click) so I can better understand my audience. Thank you!
Awesome! Using the blogroll on all of my blogs but there is one problem––It's looking too cramped with the sidebar on the Desktop. Specifically, the width of the list of posts feels too short, I think the sidebar should be pushed a bit outward?
Thank you for adding the new "Recommended Links" feature. It would be nice if those links would open in a new tab instead of taking the user out of Substack.
I agree - it's been changed
No, they shouldn't do this *by default*. They should be normal hypertext links. To open a link in a new tab click the middle mouse button (works on Firefox on Linux; I think Windows uses something else). My point is there is already a way to get links to open in a new tab, so leave it to the user's choice whether they want to do that or not, don't force one way or the other on them.
Omg— restore drafts! I once accidentally wiped away content and had to re-create the wheel, shocked there wasn’t a simple undo button. Thank you!
Thank you. Will all these changes be available for absolutely everyone?
One of my biggest problems is that after doing the very hard work of promoting my newsletter on my social media channels (heavy lifting all by myself) then the new subscribers get lost and tell me things like: "Is this your blog?" "Why doesn't it look like your blog?" "How do I find your articles?" "Why can't I find any of your articles on Google Search like I do with your Medium articles?" My hard-earned suscribers feel that my newsletter is like my "MailChimp" (emails, not articles).
I suggest making our newsletter home page look like what it is, a blog.
Separately, hopefully you can implement that "undo" button when writing, much needed.
Lastly, please, do consider letting us add audio as audio clips anywhere on the article, without creating a podcast, not as a podcast. Audio is 2021, but we can't treat the current audio feature as a real podcast (no editing to start with), so is neither one thing nor the other one in reality right now. I made this request long ago in a comment, like this one, and got many likes. Hopefully you can fetch that comment and check it.
Thank you for all you do, guys. I left Medium and came here because I believe what you believe. Let me know how else I could help.
Jacob Gheller, MrGheller
Miami, FL.
I can't see how to visit other substack writers. Is there a catalogue of writers and subjects that would tell me who everybody else is?
Yep, this is also not very intuitive. They could just "emulate" what Medium does to see all the other writers in one place. That should be on Substack's home page. But not as "recommended ones" only but a catalog so people can select "language," "topic," and other filters, and we show up on different lists.
This way, Substack is actually helping us build the subscriber list without having to recommend everyone, which happens to be the absolute most difficult task: growing that list.
Yes, there is. But it is under another domain: https://reader.substack.com
Rob C.
Will there ever be a function that allows the type to wrap (left or right) around images? Is this not available because of rendering problems with email readers?
I'd REALLY like to be able to do this in my posts but am limited to gigantic horizontal-only images throughout my text.
OK, that is nice. But the draft history is last week. I need to fix an accidental deletion I did in the last minute. What is needed is an Undo button. It would also be nice if there was a place at Support where one could ask a question. I would like to know how I can make the background color of the email the same as my homepage background color
These three additions look good. I still would like the ability to have rich embeds for ALL links exactly like the Revue feature or at least the ability to add the embed code from a service like iframely.
Definitely more embeds. Surely many writers would embed content from TikTok, Pinterest, DeviantArt, etc, etc.
Yes, please.
Brilliant additions! Love the blog roll feature. Finally a way to sort of have categories to encourage readers to browse more of our content.
That's what I'm gonna do with mine.
Excellent! Appreciate how you folks keep innovating without drastically shifting the basic template, which I value (for its simplicity and spaciousness).
I so agree. Simplicity. I fear the day if it ever gets so clunky and featurified to the point that it hinders the writing work.
Any chance we could get the ability to add a drop cap?
These are FANTASTIC improvements. Thank you and keep 'em coming. This definitely is a HUGE incentive to focus on Substack as a writer vs other platforms.
Hi McKay and Kristy,
Somehow I’m drawn to your comment. It felt—gracious and kind. (Okay, granted, I was scrolling through the comments. It’s a Sunday, and I catch up with the newsletters, and also take the time to connect with other readers and writers.)
I went to your newsletter, Grace For The Weary (love the name), read the description, read the About, and I’m like, yes...I think, this resonates with me. Something I’ve been searching for too. That said, 👀 on Jesus.
Subscribed!
Fan-flipping-tastic. I genuinely appreciate the “recommended links” feature because those of us writing a “series” of articles ...this allows us to collate and/or create sub-categories. Again thank you for this nifty new feature.
Good news. Now could you please add the ability for poetry to be posted in single spaced verse with double spaces between verses. It is impossible to do whether by direct means or cut and paste. No matter how I format, once I hit “publish” the text is converted to straight double space with no added space between verses. Very frustrating and negatively affects the rhythm of the work. Thank you.
Hey Suzanne - can you try using shift+Enter when you make a newline instead of just the Enter key? That should make single line breaks.
Also - coming soon: we'll have a mode in the editor for entering pre-formatted text, which means it'll preserve things like leading and trailing whitespace in poetry
I usually post from my phone so no shift, but I’ll try that from my laptop. I anxiously await the new editor mode. That will make my life easier. Thank you.
If you have an Android, you can install "Hacker's Keyboard" from the Google Play Store and switch to it whenever you need a Shift + Enter. I just tried it with the Substack editor; it does produce a single-line break. I presume there's a third-party keyboard for iPhone that would allow a Shift + Enter when you want it. (I had a similar problem with spacing of poems on Patreon. It's nice to see that there's a workaround on Substack. I'd rather not have to switch keyboards – but it's better than nothing.)
Thank you for this info. I have an iPhone so I’ll check the Apple Store for an equivalent workaround. It would be very nice to have something that works until Substack updates its own editing capabilities to make them poetry-friendly. I appreciate your taking the time and effort to provide me with this assistance.
Rob, I wanted to let you know that your suggestion worked perfectly. As long as I prepare my post on my laptop, using the shift+enter creates single line breaks. Today, for the first time, my poem is formatted exactly like I want it. Thanks for the help. It’s a pain to have to type this way, but I can manage until you have the mode in editor that will preserve pre-formatted text.
Glad to hear it. You can try the pre-formatted block now if you go into the editor and click Style -> More -> preserve whitespace
This will create a block where you can enter any pre-formatted text, and should serve well for poetry
Terrific. I’ll try it with my post tomorrow. Sounds perfect. Thanks for your help.
Hi Rob, maybe have this hack documented in the Help section?
Ah! Will try!
If Substack allowed articles to be written in Markdown, that would solve this problem (and lots of other problems). I have suggested that, along with other suggestions, here: https://pontifex.substack.com/p/making-substack-better
Suzanne,
I have this same problem! 😖 Some poems have these lovely layout that is part of the art. Having them double-spaced just won’t do. :)
My workaround for now is to screenshot my document and upload it as an image! Here https://hopemail.substack.com/p/sometimestrustingingodlookslikethis . And I sometimes just write the poem out, snap a photo and post it. Old school way, yes. https://theporcupinelab.substack.com/p/abeautifullifepoem
That said, it’s my fourth issue on Substack after I switched from two platforms to do the same thing (web + newsletter) on just one platform. I’m thankful to Substack for making publishing, the easiest so far. So, I’m taking the “limitations” in that context. Just enough frills to not overwhelm me. And get on with the writing and connecting with people. ❤️ Substack
By the way, Suzanne, I laughed along with you at your poem of soft-boiled satire. 😬
https://skieraarts.substack.com/p/seriously-funny
Hi my. Thanks for the tips. I’ll take a closer look at your links tomorrow. It sounds like a good temporary “fix” until Substack catches up with remedying editing issues. Thanks, too, for sharing your reaction to my Eggistential pondering. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Fine improvements. This is slightly off-topic but very definitely Substack : the search page that greet new or interested readers. Maybe someone can explain to me how or why it works the way it does. To be honest, a third of the pages I visit have few or old or no entries. I don't mind the big stars getting theirs, but the page seems terrifically undeveloped from what it could be. Thanks.
You can also view https://apnpgc.org/project-qt-mod-apk/
A round of applause for the updated Stats page. This is the the most crucial missing feature set compared to email delivery services. Please continue to build out the stats page (unsubscribes by subscriber, # of opens by subscriber, links by click) so I can better understand my audience. Thank you!
I think this post might include some things that you're looking for - https://blog.substack.com/p/new-better-analytics-for-your-subscribers
Awesome! Using the blogroll on all of my blogs but there is one problem––It's looking too cramped with the sidebar on the Desktop. Specifically, the width of the list of posts feels too short, I think the sidebar should be pushed a bit outward?
Substack, @Rob, any thoughts on this?