We’re focused on making continuous improvements to existing products plus launching new features that help you grow and earn money with ease. Do you ever wonder, “How might I use that new feature?” or “Can Substack do ____?” This thread is your chance to ask.
Tip of the day: Having image assets when promoting a new post on social media can help drive engagement. After you publish a new post on Substack, you’ll receive an email with the post media kit.
In case you missed it, here’s what’s new on Substack: Group subscriptions update, Boost targeted group subscription offer, Chat on the web, and more.
- Whitespace. Sometimes I really want to add extra whitespace to a post (like, say, when simulating a timeline: https://www.ignorance.ai/p/ai-legal-timeline) but by default the editor trims multiple lines of whitespace. You can use a "zero-width space" (https://zerowidthspace.me/) to force larger blocks of whitespace to display.
- Settings. Test your subscriber onboarding experience! I haven't turned on paid subscriptions on purpose, but I didn't realize that Substack was still prompting new subscribers to pledge a future dollar amount before subscribing (which I then disabled). It might have just been me, but it was a reminder to make sure you know what your readers are seeing when they sign up.
- Videos. Video content is really engaging, but be careful with it! I've been burned a couple of times by videos that play correctly in the editor, but aren't playable for my audience. Unfortunately, I'd suggest uploading to YouTube and embedding the link rather than uploading directly.
I've got a few more tips, but this is turning into an essay!
Edit: Adding one from my reply to @Robert Urbaschek:
- Pages: You can create pages that aren't publicly visible on your homepage. I'm pretty sure they're meant for one-off informational sections, but you can use them to create unlisted copies of content.
I wonder if Substack has become large enough now to require the services of an independent ombudsman or public advocate/public editor who is focused specifically on *ethical issues* as well as reader and writer complaints with the aim of resolving problems that lead to poor service or poor user experience?
Even just a dedicated continuously open and accessible “Suggestion Box” page that maintains a history of complaints and suggestions as well as actual actionable responses from Substack leadership showing accountability, transparency, consideration of suggestions, thorough explanations for maintaining the status quo, or an agreement and time scale to change policy/product given the feedback received would go a long way toward building trust and confidence and improving the site. Periodic “Office Hours” where the majority of issues people bring up get no response at all or get a dismissive “thank you for your feedback” response is not harnessing the power of users to point out problems and solutions or gauge the level of friction these issues are causing.
But a dedicated “Suggestion Box” page that an ombudsman moderates and organizes/categorizes the issues for readability, and where only issues are discussed (and not side conversations between writers encouraging each other) that would allow polling, updates, an actual avenue to communicate with the decision makers, etc. would probably accelerate the fixing of sometimes minor problems that are causing some people major concerns.
Would love a response from Substack about this suggestion, and if there isn’t one, then I prove my point, and then one must wonder how committed or serious the site is in fixing problems efficiently and whether this lack of concern for users is detrimental to the sustainability and long-term health of the site.
Tip on free imagery. I use www.pexels.com to source license-free imagery. All they ask is that you put the respective photographer caption in your document. You can also subscribe to Shutterstock or purchase image bundles. Hope this helps folks. Pro quality imagery or art is important in establishing social proof with an audience or prospective subscriber.
-Can I get a caption to move WITH an image? Every time I move an image, the caption disappears. This is especially bad when the image is something I found on Unsplash :-(
-Can I change the text of the caption that goes with the “subscribe with caption” button? I’ve been doing it manually, but I’d love to set it and forget it somewhere. Am I missing this setting?
I’m curious when Substack plans to add more support staff? I’ve had a request in for technical help for a month now.... meanwhile my podcast posts look terrible and I have no way to fix.
Hello, weekly Office Hours happen during our workday, so we can't actively participate. We pre-wrote the words you're reading the day before Office Hours. Is there a space, independent of time, for Substack writers to gather? I'm thinking of the ones who have regular 9-to-5s, or some poor Substack writer based in Ulaanbaatar where Office Hours take place at 1am :-/
Dear substack, I would like an option to control what posts show up on my homepage. I currently have duplicates showing up there because I uploaded an audio (podcast rss) version of a video, which had to be a separate post to properly work with Spotify etc. Would be nice if I could hide posts from that list, so that they only show up in the archive.
Hello..I just sent this to your support mailbox (which was kinda hard for me to find...) but since this just appeared in my email, maybe you can help with this question:
I composed a post on my computer that included a quiz, using a numbered list for the questions. Then, when I went to write answers, when I indented I was given a lower case letter which I thought was fine. I tested the post using the test email feature and it looked good, with numbers and letters and also some strikethroughs I'd included. But when I looked at the post on the app, the lower case letters had turned into numbers, and the strikethroughs were gone. How do I avoid this happening again? Do people see one version in email but a different one on the app?
Would LOVE there to be more layout control. PINNING MORE THAN ONE POST to the top, for instance. Or a carousel of PINNED (maybe 3) posts. Right now it's very limited as far as what you can do to command attention on the landing.
Small irritation in the grand scheme of things, but I'd love to be able to collapse comment threads when they get long. Used to be able to do this until a few weeks ago! Anyhow, I assume there is reason this feature was removed, but I thought I'd mention it.
I have mentioned this before but someone came up with the best idea--the tip jar. I just cannot ask people I know, or even those I don't know to pay for something I love doing and they have gotten for free. I did have someone just pay for a subscription. Maybe you could come up with something the person to click on IN THEIR EMAIL. Ok just thought of something. What about a donation? They have an opportunity to click to donate and a portion goes to the writer and a portion goes to a charity of their choice?
I like the media assets. Somehow they never get emailed to me, but it's no big deal to get them from the little three dot thing on each article. I have a un-product-related question, though: what's the story on official Substack Meetups this year? Are they not happening? I really wanted to make it last September, but I had to be out of town.
Also, even though I was one of the people calling for separated Office Hours, the breakout room vibe feels slightly awkward. I'm glad we're trying it, though. I'm guessing it'll feel more normal with time.
Can Substack create a conversational community that doesn't feel like a thread of promotion and self advertising? Expert opinions abound when a question is asked but answers have a habit of being few and far between.
Has anyone successfully enrolled their Substack into the Amazon Affiliates program?
My Substack is a book blog, and I frequently link books, so I figured it would be an easy way to keep track of what people are interested in purchasing and make a few dollars. I'm wondering if Amazon allows Substacks into their program?
I like the media promo kit! My issue isn't the kit, which is great & super helpful, but the fact that sometimes Substack kicks out an automated email to me with the kit and sometimes it doesn't. Is there any way to standardize that? Also, if the email doesn't get sent to me, is there somewhere I can go in my dashboard to find the media kit? The concept is great, but the execution is hit & miss at the moment.
I love the way Media Assets looks when it uses my post picture but I find it almost useless since it’s not clickable. Or am I missing something? Shouldn’t it have a way to get into the post it’s promoting?
I'm realizing I should put this in the Product thread, so here it is:
We are using Substack to publish a serialized book (after running the main substack mindfulagility.substack.com for a little while), and this leads me to my question: I created a Section/Tab called "Mindful Agility Book" where we would put those serialized chapters, and I checked the box so new subscribers would automatically get that section subscription, but none of the existing subscribers were subscribed. I didn't realize this until I had already sent out the first chapter. So questions:
1. Can I somehow subscribe existing main subscribers to the new section?
2. Can I mail an article to the main subscribers who didn't already get it (after the article was published)?
The number of existing main subscribers we have on Substack is tiny (we're experimenting), but I'm partly interested because I'm considering moving 1400 subscribers from MailChimp and I'm worried the Substack functionality constraints might make that contraindicated.
Hi, there! I’ve really loved diverse functions and templates you provide from the begining, with which I can directly write on the Substack platform instead of moving initial drafts from MS Word files. An issue, however, is a backup. How could I back up my posts?
Hi there. Is there a way to set a subject line that's different from the headline of a post? I'd like the subject line to include the name of my publication, since it gets cut off when it's the sender name. I know I can change the post headline after sending, but I don't want the publication name to be part of every URL. Thanks!
Hey Substack, love working on your platform! I'm following up on my request for the analytics page, to add a column on each post's report that shows a simple chronological list of opens/reads, with the most recent open/read at the top. That way we can get a quick look to see who our most recent readers were since the last time we looked. There's no other way to know this. I believe this was submitted to your programming people and they were going to look at it. It would be so helpful and easy to add! At the moment it takes forever to figure out. How's it going??? Thank you!!!
Hello! I am a writer as well as illustrator and printmaker. I want eventually to use my paid list as a way to give supporters first access to original limited edition work, but also to have a way in public posts of letting people order prints of images (print on demand options like printful)...are there any artists already using their substack to platform things like this, and is there any plan on the horizon e.g. to integrate a third party API into substack for commerce (similar to how Shopify has a plug and play integration with dropshipping companies like printful)?
This is more of a technical issue, but does anyone else have a problem when trying to edit a line of text that has a hyperlink in it? This is hard to explain, but the little graphic that pops up when you click inside a hyperlinked line (it contains the linked web address) often covers exactly the spot I'm trying to edit. I feel like Substack did just modify it so it now sometimes appears below, instead of on top of, the line, but it doesn't always work. Am I the only one having this problem?
I want to learn more about how the algorithms (or whatever decides when to send emails) behind boost work. How many emails are sent to readers, for instance? How does it ensure it does not send too many special offers?
Also, from the faq page it looks like there is a standard template for the boost email, but for me it is empty if I want to edit it. So I made mine from scratch instead, partly based on the example from the faq. Not sure if that is a bug.
I don’t know if this is the place to ask this, but I’d like to know how to remove a block or poetry quote after you’ve put one in. Thanks! I love posting on Substack. It’s so user-friendly!
Suddenly, today, I saw an influx of subscribers to my inbox poetry magazine. I could not understand why. I would love to have some extension to the stats page to see where subscribers come from.
I have only been able to read articles on app, not upload new posts. Are they going to update the app so writers can upload their posts using the app on their smartphone? I do this with my Wordpress blog and it works wonders! So easy and accessible to write on the go!
Maybe the chat feature can be combined with Office Hours somehow? I love the idea of office hours because it reminds me of the times when I would visit my professors, but realistically it's a mess. The chat format is so much easier to navigate. I feel like office hours needs some major work, although the idea itself is great.
The concept of group subscriptions is intriguing. Does anyone have any tips for finding subscription partners or for figuring out what most appeals to readers?
(I started a second Substack page for my fiction writing. Cause my main one is for political/legal writing and the two just don't go together. One is for those who enjoy fantasy fiction and one is for those who want political takes/legal info. I'm thinking that like, group subscriptions would be for fairly similar concept pages. But I could be wrong.....maybe there's a general interest sort of appeal. But I'm curious to get takes on this from those who understand Substack far better than I do as I'm a novice).
Can you please give us the functionality to wrap text around images in posts ? Seems like it should be standard and will make posts look much more professional. The current default where the image is centered without the option to wrap, makes it look pretty clunky. Can you unleash the coders on this one? Thanks in advance substack. That's my only niggly naggly. Other than that I love the platform. I am just about finished moving a third newsletter of mine over from another platform to Substack.
I love unsplash for free imagery but I’m a designer so do my own. I think it’s important to have a distinctive look and feel to grow your substack “brand” successfully.
I gotta say, I really hate how the image gallery crops photos. Is that going to change any time soon? We should be able to dictate how the photos get cropped.
Is it clear yet that a certain critical mass helps make a “chat” thread worthwhile? I think I could pull it off for a big event, like live blogging an election, the Oscar’s, etc— but the newsy types like myself want to be in the pit on Twitter where all the action is. I suppose that indicates I should try a more personal chat prompt, not at all like Twitter, more the sort of thing one would quickly note on Facebook? I am concerned about how I ween those FB people away
What the hey? Suddenly it is no longer possible to edit the caption of gallery images. Until a few days ago, when I clicked a gallery, a pencil icon appeared at upper right of the gallery that allowed me to create or edit a caption. Also I could delete, re-order or add photos. Now that functionality has disappeared. Is this a planned change? Are going to restore editing to these images. Soon, I hope?
I have been having issues when I do the writing for my post on my laptop and then upload and edit on my phone. When I go back to the computer, the work I did on the phone is not there. I have tried signing out and back in. It hasn't helped. Since I do a travel newsletter, it really helps me to manage some of my work on the phone. Any hints?
I may be in the wrong thread and it may be too late (I wasn't home during posted hours). But I want to alert you to my difficulties with Google Chrome. Last week I couldn't upload any images for a post, formatting such as Footnote or block quote didn't work, and when I decided to do without images the published article was garbled and full of errors. I finally had to use Firefox where everything worked. I know Chrome can cause problems, but I'm hoping you can fix this? Maybe I'm not the only one with problems?
The video features: I've used it a time or three, but I tend to opt for static images, because I don't always want the visual at the top of the post. Unless I've missed a memo, and there are more options than I realize...? Happy to hear more about this if there's more to hear. :) Thanks for all you do, Substack.
I have a question about Cross-posting. Would it be possible to make it so that cross-posts don't reach readers twice? For example, if now I'd cross-post a post from someone who has many common readers with me, they would effectively be getting the same piece twice.
A few product tips and tricks I've learned:
- Stock photos and icons. There are tons of resources for free, copyright-friendly stock photos. I believe someone has mentioned https://www.pexels.com/, but there's also https://unsplash.com/. For simpler, more abstract concepts, I love https://thenounproject.com/.
- Whitespace. Sometimes I really want to add extra whitespace to a post (like, say, when simulating a timeline: https://www.ignorance.ai/p/ai-legal-timeline) but by default the editor trims multiple lines of whitespace. You can use a "zero-width space" (https://zerowidthspace.me/) to force larger blocks of whitespace to display.
- Settings. Test your subscriber onboarding experience! I haven't turned on paid subscriptions on purpose, but I didn't realize that Substack was still prompting new subscribers to pledge a future dollar amount before subscribing (which I then disabled). It might have just been me, but it was a reminder to make sure you know what your readers are seeing when they sign up.
- Videos. Video content is really engaging, but be careful with it! I've been burned a couple of times by videos that play correctly in the editor, but aren't playable for my audience. Unfortunately, I'd suggest uploading to YouTube and embedding the link rather than uploading directly.
I've got a few more tips, but this is turning into an essay!
Edit: Adding one from my reply to @Robert Urbaschek:
- Pages: You can create pages that aren't publicly visible on your homepage. I'm pretty sure they're meant for one-off informational sections, but you can use them to create unlisted copies of content.
Serious Question❗️🧐
I wonder if Substack has become large enough now to require the services of an independent ombudsman or public advocate/public editor who is focused specifically on *ethical issues* as well as reader and writer complaints with the aim of resolving problems that lead to poor service or poor user experience?
Even just a dedicated continuously open and accessible “Suggestion Box” page that maintains a history of complaints and suggestions as well as actual actionable responses from Substack leadership showing accountability, transparency, consideration of suggestions, thorough explanations for maintaining the status quo, or an agreement and time scale to change policy/product given the feedback received would go a long way toward building trust and confidence and improving the site. Periodic “Office Hours” where the majority of issues people bring up get no response at all or get a dismissive “thank you for your feedback” response is not harnessing the power of users to point out problems and solutions or gauge the level of friction these issues are causing.
But a dedicated “Suggestion Box” page that an ombudsman moderates and organizes/categorizes the issues for readability, and where only issues are discussed (and not side conversations between writers encouraging each other) that would allow polling, updates, an actual avenue to communicate with the decision makers, etc. would probably accelerate the fixing of sometimes minor problems that are causing some people major concerns.
Would love a response from Substack about this suggestion, and if there isn’t one, then I prove my point, and then one must wonder how committed or serious the site is in fixing problems efficiently and whether this lack of concern for users is detrimental to the sustainability and long-term health of the site.
Tip on free imagery. I use www.pexels.com to source license-free imagery. All they ask is that you put the respective photographer caption in your document. You can also subscribe to Shutterstock or purchase image bundles. Hope this helps folks. Pro quality imagery or art is important in establishing social proof with an audience or prospective subscriber.
Hi everyone!
I have two unrelated “product-based” questions:
-Can I get a caption to move WITH an image? Every time I move an image, the caption disappears. This is especially bad when the image is something I found on Unsplash :-(
-Can I change the text of the caption that goes with the “subscribe with caption” button? I’ve been doing it manually, but I’d love to set it and forget it somewhere. Am I missing this setting?
Thanks!
I’m curious when Substack plans to add more support staff? I’ve had a request in for technical help for a month now.... meanwhile my podcast posts look terrible and I have no way to fix.
Hello, weekly Office Hours happen during our workday, so we can't actively participate. We pre-wrote the words you're reading the day before Office Hours. Is there a space, independent of time, for Substack writers to gather? I'm thinking of the ones who have regular 9-to-5s, or some poor Substack writer based in Ulaanbaatar where Office Hours take place at 1am :-/
Dear substack, I would like an option to control what posts show up on my homepage. I currently have duplicates showing up there because I uploaded an audio (podcast rss) version of a video, which had to be a separate post to properly work with Spotify etc. Would be nice if I could hide posts from that list, so that they only show up in the archive.
I wish the média assets came with the link embedded or, the url printed below the jpg, part of a jpg
Hello..I just sent this to your support mailbox (which was kinda hard for me to find...) but since this just appeared in my email, maybe you can help with this question:
I composed a post on my computer that included a quiz, using a numbered list for the questions. Then, when I went to write answers, when I indented I was given a lower case letter which I thought was fine. I tested the post using the test email feature and it looked good, with numbers and letters and also some strikethroughs I'd included. But when I looked at the post on the app, the lower case letters had turned into numbers, and the strikethroughs were gone. How do I avoid this happening again? Do people see one version in email but a different one on the app?
Here's what I mean:
https://open.substack.com/pub/williamklein/p/still-waiting?r=9bfq3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Thanks!
Would LOVE there to be more layout control. PINNING MORE THAN ONE POST to the top, for instance. Or a carousel of PINNED (maybe 3) posts. Right now it's very limited as far as what you can do to command attention on the landing.
Small irritation in the grand scheme of things, but I'd love to be able to collapse comment threads when they get long. Used to be able to do this until a few weeks ago! Anyhow, I assume there is reason this feature was removed, but I thought I'd mention it.
*continues scrolling while hair turns gray*
I have mentioned this before but someone came up with the best idea--the tip jar. I just cannot ask people I know, or even those I don't know to pay for something I love doing and they have gotten for free. I did have someone just pay for a subscription. Maybe you could come up with something the person to click on IN THEIR EMAIL. Ok just thought of something. What about a donation? They have an opportunity to click to donate and a portion goes to the writer and a portion goes to a charity of their choice?
I like the media assets. Somehow they never get emailed to me, but it's no big deal to get them from the little three dot thing on each article. I have a un-product-related question, though: what's the story on official Substack Meetups this year? Are they not happening? I really wanted to make it last September, but I had to be out of town.
Also, even though I was one of the people calling for separated Office Hours, the breakout room vibe feels slightly awkward. I'm glad we're trying it, though. I'm guessing it'll feel more normal with time.
Can Substack create a conversational community that doesn't feel like a thread of promotion and self advertising? Expert opinions abound when a question is asked but answers have a habit of being few and far between.
Can Substack create a 'sort new' on the explore page. It's kinda a pain to find new articles
The media kit is cool, and looks great on your socials, nice addition for sure by Substack - valuable asset.
Dear substack, it would be great to have a text wrap functionality for pics
Has anyone successfully enrolled their Substack into the Amazon Affiliates program?
My Substack is a book blog, and I frequently link books, so I figured it would be an easy way to keep track of what people are interested in purchasing and make a few dollars. I'm wondering if Amazon allows Substacks into their program?
Working on a community paper with local news. Would love to be able to post a calendar showing events. Is there a template for that?
I like the media promo kit! My issue isn't the kit, which is great & super helpful, but the fact that sometimes Substack kicks out an automated email to me with the kit and sometimes it doesn't. Is there any way to standardize that? Also, if the email doesn't get sent to me, is there somewhere I can go in my dashboard to find the media kit? The concept is great, but the execution is hit & miss at the moment.
I love the way Media Assets looks when it uses my post picture but I find it almost useless since it’s not clickable. Or am I missing something? Shouldn’t it have a way to get into the post it’s promoting?
I'm realizing I should put this in the Product thread, so here it is:
We are using Substack to publish a serialized book (after running the main substack mindfulagility.substack.com for a little while), and this leads me to my question: I created a Section/Tab called "Mindful Agility Book" where we would put those serialized chapters, and I checked the box so new subscribers would automatically get that section subscription, but none of the existing subscribers were subscribed. I didn't realize this until I had already sent out the first chapter. So questions:
1. Can I somehow subscribe existing main subscribers to the new section?
2. Can I mail an article to the main subscribers who didn't already get it (after the article was published)?
The number of existing main subscribers we have on Substack is tiny (we're experimenting), but I'm partly interested because I'm considering moving 1400 subscribers from MailChimp and I'm worried the Substack functionality constraints might make that contraindicated.
Hi, there! I’ve really loved diverse functions and templates you provide from the begining, with which I can directly write on the Substack platform instead of moving initial drafts from MS Word files. An issue, however, is a backup. How could I back up my posts?
Hi there. Is there a way to set a subject line that's different from the headline of a post? I'd like the subject line to include the name of my publication, since it gets cut off when it's the sender name. I know I can change the post headline after sending, but I don't want the publication name to be part of every URL. Thanks!
Hey Substack, love working on your platform! I'm following up on my request for the analytics page, to add a column on each post's report that shows a simple chronological list of opens/reads, with the most recent open/read at the top. That way we can get a quick look to see who our most recent readers were since the last time we looked. There's no other way to know this. I believe this was submitted to your programming people and they were going to look at it. It would be so helpful and easy to add! At the moment it takes forever to figure out. How's it going??? Thank you!!!
Hello! I am a writer as well as illustrator and printmaker. I want eventually to use my paid list as a way to give supporters first access to original limited edition work, but also to have a way in public posts of letting people order prints of images (print on demand options like printful)...are there any artists already using their substack to platform things like this, and is there any plan on the horizon e.g. to integrate a third party API into substack for commerce (similar to how Shopify has a plug and play integration with dropshipping companies like printful)?
This is more of a technical issue, but does anyone else have a problem when trying to edit a line of text that has a hyperlink in it? This is hard to explain, but the little graphic that pops up when you click inside a hyperlinked line (it contains the linked web address) often covers exactly the spot I'm trying to edit. I feel like Substack did just modify it so it now sometimes appears below, instead of on top of, the line, but it doesn't always work. Am I the only one having this problem?
Hi! Is it possible to change the size of photos? Put photos side by side?
I need help. For some reason I cannot access the page to write my Substack article.
I want to learn more about how the algorithms (or whatever decides when to send emails) behind boost work. How many emails are sent to readers, for instance? How does it ensure it does not send too many special offers?
Also, from the faq page it looks like there is a standard template for the boost email, but for me it is empty if I want to edit it. So I made mine from scratch instead, partly based on the example from the faq. Not sure if that is a bug.
I don’t know if this is the place to ask this, but I’d like to know how to remove a block or poetry quote after you’ve put one in. Thanks! I love posting on Substack. It’s so user-friendly!
Suddenly, today, I saw an influx of subscribers to my inbox poetry magazine. I could not understand why. I would love to have some extension to the stats page to see where subscribers come from.
Then I got an email. From Substack...
I was featured on the homepage!
Many thanks for that, Substack.
The question still stands, though
I have only been able to read articles on app, not upload new posts. Are they going to update the app so writers can upload their posts using the app on their smartphone? I do this with my Wordpress blog and it works wonders! So easy and accessible to write on the go!
Maybe the chat feature can be combined with Office Hours somehow? I love the idea of office hours because it reminds me of the times when I would visit my professors, but realistically it's a mess. The chat format is so much easier to navigate. I feel like office hours needs some major work, although the idea itself is great.
The concept of group subscriptions is intriguing. Does anyone have any tips for finding subscription partners or for figuring out what most appeals to readers?
(I started a second Substack page for my fiction writing. Cause my main one is for political/legal writing and the two just don't go together. One is for those who enjoy fantasy fiction and one is for those who want political takes/legal info. I'm thinking that like, group subscriptions would be for fairly similar concept pages. But I could be wrong.....maybe there's a general interest sort of appeal. But I'm curious to get takes on this from those who understand Substack far better than I do as I'm a novice).
Dear Substack,
Can you please give us the functionality to wrap text around images in posts ? Seems like it should be standard and will make posts look much more professional. The current default where the image is centered without the option to wrap, makes it look pretty clunky. Can you unleash the coders on this one? Thanks in advance substack. That's my only niggly naggly. Other than that I love the platform. I am just about finished moving a third newsletter of mine over from another platform to Substack.
I love unsplash for free imagery but I’m a designer so do my own. I think it’s important to have a distinctive look and feel to grow your substack “brand” successfully.
I gotta say, I really hate how the image gallery crops photos. Is that going to change any time soon? We should be able to dictate how the photos get cropped.
Is it clear yet that a certain critical mass helps make a “chat” thread worthwhile? I think I could pull it off for a big event, like live blogging an election, the Oscar’s, etc— but the newsy types like myself want to be in the pit on Twitter where all the action is. I suppose that indicates I should try a more personal chat prompt, not at all like Twitter, more the sort of thing one would quickly note on Facebook? I am concerned about how I ween those FB people away
One more product question: when will the customized menu for our newsletters that are visible on the web be available in the Substack app?
What the hey? Suddenly it is no longer possible to edit the caption of gallery images. Until a few days ago, when I clicked a gallery, a pencil icon appeared at upper right of the gallery that allowed me to create or edit a caption. Also I could delete, re-order or add photos. Now that functionality has disappeared. Is this a planned change? Are going to restore editing to these images. Soon, I hope?
My media assets always come up as a solid color with a title even though I use my own custom art, let me know if there is a fix.
For images DALLE 2 is good
Just a little thing: I noticed this in the analytics recently for one of my subscribers:
Opens: 0 Clicks: 1 Devices: 0
How is this possible? Basically I have a feeling that somehow some "opens" aren't being counted.
Anyway, doesn't really affect me too much but thought I'd point it out in case it's a bug.
I really like the promo media assets. They're great for platforms like instagram, or for when a link preview does not work somewhere.
Yes: images, links, subscribe buttons all help 👌👌
Michael Mohr
‘Sincere American Writing’
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
I have been having issues when I do the writing for my post on my laptop and then upload and edit on my phone. When I go back to the computer, the work I did on the phone is not there. I have tried signing out and back in. It hasn't helped. Since I do a travel newsletter, it really helps me to manage some of my work on the phone. Any hints?
I may be in the wrong thread and it may be too late (I wasn't home during posted hours). But I want to alert you to my difficulties with Google Chrome. Last week I couldn't upload any images for a post, formatting such as Footnote or block quote didn't work, and when I decided to do without images the published article was garbled and full of errors. I finally had to use Firefox where everything worked. I know Chrome can cause problems, but I'm hoping you can fix this? Maybe I'm not the only one with problems?
The video features: I've used it a time or three, but I tend to opt for static images, because I don't always want the visual at the top of the post. Unless I've missed a memo, and there are more options than I realize...? Happy to hear more about this if there's more to hear. :) Thanks for all you do, Substack.
I have a question about Cross-posting. Would it be possible to make it so that cross-posts don't reach readers twice? For example, if now I'd cross-post a post from someone who has many common readers with me, they would effectively be getting the same piece twice.