I'm glad someone wrote a deep dive into sections. Since it appears as a tab on the navigation bar, would using tags for navigation work just as well?
I've been struggling since day one about whether to use sections or tags. Very soon I'm going to begin writing on a special topic that will be related to my original publication but it is content I'd like to keep separate yet easily accessible.
One thing that drives me crazy about the section/pages is that they do not appear on the phone app. Iām toying with both ideas. But when it comes to reading I exclusively use my phone. If someone created a whole section, they run the risk of someone not seeing a whole aspect of their work. I wonder how many users use the all though.
absolutely true. It's one year later, still not fixed. No changes. That sections are not visible on the phone app is kinda crazy. At this point, you might want to avoid having any sections and just have one clear topic-related publication.
I didn't check if tags are visible or could be added in the tabs bar. But I agree, it's a mess and totally confusing.
Sections are really helpful for me because they give each email a specific focus within the larger world of The Healthy Jew. Currently I have 5 sections: Healthy Jewish, Natural Israel, Eat Well, Move Well, and Be Well.
One of the best things about sections is that the images assets produced automatically for each post - which are key to sharing my content outside of the Substack ecosystem - each have the section at the top before the title, which gives followers an added focus on what the article is about.
Thank you for your insight. I've been looking for a feature to do what Sections apparently does. Knowing that the Section title appears at the top before the title is fantastic for my organizational needs. Cheers!
I love to think of all of the unique ideas that I could leverage the use of Sections for! A serialized project, a paid subscriber perk, dedicated social engagement, a co-work and accountability club...
Thanks for the overview! Figuring out whether to use sections or publications is driving me mad (partly because I don't have a thorough understanding of my potential audience yet). The part about how "publication owners donāt get to choose which subscribers receive emails from each section" is also stumping me. It's baffling that I am unable to remove some subscribers from one of the sub-lists.
Yep, itās super annoying isnāt it, Matt. One solution is to email everyone and give them instructions about how to remove themselves from that section. Alternatively, start a new section and set it up from the beginning so that new subs are NOT automatically added to it. Then move your older content into the new section (through post settings from within the post editing window) - tedious if you have a lot of posts but a definite work around.
One of the intended purposes of using sections is to send out newsletters that do not appear on your main publicationās webpage. I realize there are other workarounds. But your post says NO and YES to starting a completely new publication. The sections configuration elements even have a specific toggle switch to activate this feature. Maybe that was added after your post? Thanks!
Hi Stone, you're right, the ability to stop posts from one section from appearing on a publication's website did get added after I wrote this post. Thanks for the heads up.
To assign a published post to a section you go back into the post (edit post), open the settings (click the little gear/cog icon on the page editing screen), within settings assign the post to the section, then close settings, then click 'continue' to publish your changes.
You have to do this separately for each post you want to assign (tedious!)
You can 'hide' a section from your home page, so that posts in the section don't appear on your home page, and make it so that readers don't get subscribed to the section by default.
Then make sure that all posts in the section are locked for paying subscribers only.
This method doesn't make the section completely hidden though. If you want something 100% private, create a second publication, make it private and add your paying subscribers to it manually.
Hmm, it's likely that other people can't see it in the app feed, even though you can. You'll always see everything by default because your account has an "access all areas" pass to everything in your publication.
Two ways to test this: (1) If you have a buddy who's subscribed to you (but not a paying subscriber) get them to check their app feed.
(2) ask the Substack help chatbot, which is much better than most chatbots. Find it at the bottom left of your publication dashboard on desktop (click 'Help')
Thank you for the tips! I created a new account under another email of mine. I subscribed to my substack group. Using the app, I still see posts that are supposedly "hidden". To explain: I created a section and checked the box that says "hide posts on homepage". But for some reason, they still show up on the app (not the web). Even the section is hidden at this time.
Thanks for the pointer on Help. Here is what I learned:
"Can I see one section on its own on the Substack app?
At this time, sections are not separated on the Substack app. When viewing a publication, you'll see every post from that publication
From 20222
So it appears the Substack app simply spews all posts from all sections into a feed on the app, even if they are not visible sections on the homepage! Does that agree with you understanding? (I have no paid subscribers)
Thatās so bad, isnāt it?! I had no idea the app would share hidden posts, and Iāll be updating my post to reflect that.
There would be work-arounds of course but there shouldnāt need to be workarounds!
As a bestseller I get to submit bug fix requests to Substack and I will definitely mention this as itās misleading and could be quite problematic for some creators.
I'd like to add a section as a paid subscriber perk. But I see no way to add *only* paid subscribers to a new section. Do you happen to know if this is possible, Karen? Or is this yet another almost-good idea that doesn't quite work, which I run into a lot here on Substack.
Yep that's totally possible, in fact I do it in my paid publication. You don't add subscribers to a section you add posts to a section.
So all you need to do is create a section for paying subscribers and then every time you publish a post for paying subscribers, publish it to that section.
You can see how this works in my paid publication, published under my 'real' name Karen Constable: https://therottenapple.substack.com/ The section is called 'For Paying Subscribers' and all posts in that section are paywalled, except for the 'teaser' post.
Thanks, Karen. I wanted to also have a chat feature associated with one of my exclusive paid subscriber groups that I want to be hidden and private so I went with a new publication and that looks like it will work. Posts are out for me due to the āshow likes in profileā feature; I run a Mental Health Substack and paid subscriber comments that are assumed to be private end up showing up in peopleās profiles under ālikesā (although I do encourage subscribers to turn this feature off in their settings) so Iām relegated to chat now if I want to ensure a discussion on sensitive issues with paid subscribers is truly private.
Hello Karen! I am just starting out on a pretty ambitious Substack. My vision is a website style, with multiple categories. Since a lot of my content also includes crossover ( ex. wine & spirits, food, travel). *Is it possible to assign the same post to multiple sections? I have other sections as well, some destined for subscribers only. One is city-specific. Another is more literary.
I'm glad someone wrote a deep dive into sections. Since it appears as a tab on the navigation bar, would using tags for navigation work just as well?
I've been struggling since day one about whether to use sections or tags. Very soon I'm going to begin writing on a special topic that will be related to my original publication but it is content I'd like to keep separate yet easily accessible.
I have struggled with the tag v section concept too.
The advantage of tags is that tagged posts can get their own space on the homepage, whereas sections live on separate pages(tabs).
One thing that drives me crazy about the section/pages is that they do not appear on the phone app. Iām toying with both ideas. But when it comes to reading I exclusively use my phone. If someone created a whole section, they run the risk of someone not seeing a whole aspect of their work. I wonder how many users use the all though.
Oh wow I didn't know that about not seeing sections in the app! That's huge.... thanks for the heads up.
it's been a year, since no change, right? That's brutal.
absolutely true. It's one year later, still not fixed. No changes. That sections are not visible on the phone app is kinda crazy. At this point, you might want to avoid having any sections and just have one clear topic-related publication.
I didn't check if tags are visible or could be added in the tabs bar. But I agree, it's a mess and totally confusing.
I've decided to just make different pages and tabs! Got to work the system!
Sections are really helpful for me because they give each email a specific focus within the larger world of The Healthy Jew. Currently I have 5 sections: Healthy Jewish, Natural Israel, Eat Well, Move Well, and Be Well.
One of the best things about sections is that the images assets produced automatically for each post - which are key to sharing my content outside of the Substack ecosystem - each have the section at the top before the title, which gives followers an added focus on what the article is about.
Thank you for your insight. I've been looking for a feature to do what Sections apparently does. Knowing that the Section title appears at the top before the title is fantastic for my organizational needs. Cheers!
Your image for your article making me hungry š
I love to think of all of the unique ideas that I could leverage the use of Sections for! A serialized project, a paid subscriber perk, dedicated social engagement, a co-work and accountability club...
Damn I love that cake š°
Very helpful post. Thank you, Karen!
Is it possible to move a post to a new section after it's been published? It seems to be eluding me.
Thanks for the overview! Figuring out whether to use sections or publications is driving me mad (partly because I don't have a thorough understanding of my potential audience yet). The part about how "publication owners donāt get to choose which subscribers receive emails from each section" is also stumping me. It's baffling that I am unable to remove some subscribers from one of the sub-lists.
Yep, itās super annoying isnāt it, Matt. One solution is to email everyone and give them instructions about how to remove themselves from that section. Alternatively, start a new section and set it up from the beginning so that new subs are NOT automatically added to it. Then move your older content into the new section (through post settings from within the post editing window) - tedious if you have a lot of posts but a definite work around.
One of the intended purposes of using sections is to send out newsletters that do not appear on your main publicationās webpage. I realize there are other workarounds. But your post says NO and YES to starting a completely new publication. The sections configuration elements even have a specific toggle switch to activate this feature. Maybe that was added after your post? Thanks!
Hi Stone, you're right, the ability to stop posts from one section from appearing on a publication's website did get added after I wrote this post. Thanks for the heads up.
Your handy-dandy chart was very helpful! Thank you so much!
Very helpful for this newbie
Thank you, how do you gather Posts into Sections after publication?
To assign a published post to a section you go back into the post (edit post), open the settings (click the little gear/cog icon on the page editing screen), within settings assign the post to the section, then close settings, then click 'continue' to publish your changes.
You have to do this separately for each post you want to assign (tedious!)
Same process for assigning tags.
Thank you, Karen! Perfect!
How can I indicate that I want a section only to be viewed by paid subscribers? I cannot indicate it.
You can 'hide' a section from your home page, so that posts in the section don't appear on your home page, and make it so that readers don't get subscribed to the section by default.
Then make sure that all posts in the section are locked for paying subscribers only.
This method doesn't make the section completely hidden though. If you want something 100% private, create a second publication, make it private and add your paying subscribers to it manually.
I tried this - and it works for web view. But within the app, it still shows the "hidden" post in the feed. Any ideas?
Hmm, it's likely that other people can't see it in the app feed, even though you can. You'll always see everything by default because your account has an "access all areas" pass to everything in your publication.
Two ways to test this: (1) If you have a buddy who's subscribed to you (but not a paying subscriber) get them to check their app feed.
(2) ask the Substack help chatbot, which is much better than most chatbots. Find it at the bottom left of your publication dashboard on desktop (click 'Help')
Thank you for the tips! I created a new account under another email of mine. I subscribed to my substack group. Using the app, I still see posts that are supposedly "hidden". To explain: I created a section and checked the box that says "hide posts on homepage". But for some reason, they still show up on the app (not the web). Even the section is hidden at this time.
Thanks for the pointer on Help. Here is what I learned:
"Can I see one section on its own on the Substack app?
At this time, sections are not separated on the Substack app. When viewing a publication, you'll see every post from that publication
From 20222
So it appears the Substack app simply spews all posts from all sections into a feed on the app, even if they are not visible sections on the homepage! Does that agree with you understanding? (I have no paid subscribers)
Hi Robert,
Thatās so bad, isnāt it?! I had no idea the app would share hidden posts, and Iāll be updating my post to reflect that.
There would be work-arounds of course but there shouldnāt need to be workarounds!
As a bestseller I get to submit bug fix requests to Substack and I will definitely mention this as itās misleading and could be quite problematic for some creators.
Thanks for letting me know.
I'd like to add a section as a paid subscriber perk. But I see no way to add *only* paid subscribers to a new section. Do you happen to know if this is possible, Karen? Or is this yet another almost-good idea that doesn't quite work, which I run into a lot here on Substack.
Yep that's totally possible, in fact I do it in my paid publication. You don't add subscribers to a section you add posts to a section.
So all you need to do is create a section for paying subscribers and then every time you publish a post for paying subscribers, publish it to that section.
You can see how this works in my paid publication, published under my 'real' name Karen Constable: https://therottenapple.substack.com/ The section is called 'For Paying Subscribers' and all posts in that section are paywalled, except for the 'teaser' post.
Thanks, Karen. I wanted to also have a chat feature associated with one of my exclusive paid subscriber groups that I want to be hidden and private so I went with a new publication and that looks like it will work. Posts are out for me due to the āshow likes in profileā feature; I run a Mental Health Substack and paid subscriber comments that are assumed to be private end up showing up in peopleās profiles under ālikesā (although I do encourage subscribers to turn this feature off in their settings) so Iām relegated to chat now if I want to ensure a discussion on sensitive issues with paid subscribers is truly private.
Chat is definitely better for privacy, good call. As a bonus you might also find them easier to respond/moderate/see compared to comments on posts.
Hello Karen! I am just starting out on a pretty ambitious Substack. My vision is a website style, with multiple categories. Since a lot of my content also includes crossover ( ex. wine & spirits, food, travel). *Is it possible to assign the same post to multiple sections? I have other sections as well, some destined for subscribers only. One is city-specific. Another is more literary.
Hi Annie,
Unfortunately you can't assign the same post to multiple sections. Have you explored tags as an option?
I have not yet, and thank you for answering! Iām trying to map it all out before launching anything.
This was hugely helpful, thank you š