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'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. I’m 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.
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...
I use sections to organize just the website, and skip the fancy multiple mailing lists feature.
A very useful feature that I asked for, and got, was the ability to put content in a section without it appearing on the home page. This gave me a lot of control over the home page, which I do appreciate. Thank you Substack.
Hi Patty, when you create a new section, see "Subscriber Settings" at the bottom of that page.
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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.
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 ‘show likes in profile’ feature; I run a Mental Health Substack and paid subscriber comments that are assumed to be private end up showing up in people’s profiles under ‘likes’ (although I do encourage subscribers to turn this feature off in their settings) so I’m 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 considering a dedicated section for a digest version of my newsletter (e.g. Monthly Digest). Do you use sections in publications? I'm curious to hear your use cases.
Hi Alex, I do use Sections in my paid pub... I have a section called "For Paying Subscribers" and one for "Live Events" too. However I don't encourage readers to subscribe or unsubscribe to different sections, and don't even tell them that's possible as I find it too clunky for readers to do.
The main benefit of using sections is that they automatically group related posts so they can be displayed together. These days tags can do exactly the same thing, but they didn't exist until recently.
I think a section called Monthly Digest, with a tab (navigation menu) on your homepage, or a group of posts on your homepage is a great idea!
Create a section called 'For paying subscribers' or 'VIP access' or similar.
Then add posts for paying people to that section (it can have a tab on your homepage too if you want).
Switch off the feature which automatically subscribes all new subscribers to that section.
Then when people upgrade to paid tell them to add themselves to the paid section so they receive the 'exclusive' paid content (Substack help explains how to subscribe to sections).
Don't forget to remind free readers what they are missing out on, since with this method they won't receive the paywalled posts to their inboxes.
As a blogger I think of sections as the categories, so a text should just be in one section for easy reference later. With tags you can have several and let them overlap, for example if you write about several topics in one text/newsletter you should tag it accordingly.
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'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. I’m 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!
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...
Your image for your article making me hungry 😂
I use sections to organize just the website, and skip the fancy multiple mailing lists feature.
A very useful feature that I asked for, and got, was the ability to put content in a section without it appearing on the home page. This gave me a lot of control over the home page, which I do appreciate. Thank you Substack.
Wow, that's great! How do you do that? I've been asking for it too, but haven't managed to do it.
Hi Patty, when you create a new section, see "Subscriber Settings" at the bottom of that page.
=============
Add new subscribers by default
If checked, anyone who subscribes to your publication, Hippy Toons, will be automatically subscribed to this newsletter as well. If unchecked, they will have to subscribe to this newsletter separately.
Copy your email list
If checked, people subscribed to Hippy Toons will automatically be subscribed to this newsletter.
Hi Phil! Thank you so much for such a detailed explanation. I'll do that. 🙏
Is it possible to move a post to a new section after it's been published? It seems to be eluding me.
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'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 ‘show likes in profile’ feature; I run a Mental Health Substack and paid subscriber comments that are assumed to be private end up showing up in people’s profiles under ‘likes’ (although I do encourage subscribers to turn this feature off in their settings) so I’m 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! I’m trying to map it all out before launching anything.
This was hugely helpful, thank you 🙏
I'm considering a dedicated section for a digest version of my newsletter (e.g. Monthly Digest). Do you use sections in publications? I'm curious to hear your use cases.
Hi Alex, I do use Sections in my paid pub... I have a section called "For Paying Subscribers" and one for "Live Events" too. However I don't encourage readers to subscribe or unsubscribe to different sections, and don't even tell them that's possible as I find it too clunky for readers to do.
The main benefit of using sections is that they automatically group related posts so they can be displayed together. These days tags can do exactly the same thing, but they didn't exist until recently.
I think a section called Monthly Digest, with a tab (navigation menu) on your homepage, or a group of posts on your homepage is a great idea!
Thanks for sharing, Karen ☺️.
I'd LOVE to have a free substack, but then have a section of it be paid. I can't figure out if that's possible or not. :(
Yes that's doable, Joe. Here's how:
Create a section called 'For paying subscribers' or 'VIP access' or similar.
Then add posts for paying people to that section (it can have a tab on your homepage too if you want).
Switch off the feature which automatically subscribes all new subscribers to that section.
Then when people upgrade to paid tell them to add themselves to the paid section so they receive the 'exclusive' paid content (Substack help explains how to subscribe to sections).
Don't forget to remind free readers what they are missing out on, since with this method they won't receive the paywalled posts to their inboxes.
Thanks Karen!
I'll test it out! :)
Thank you for the deep dive into Sections. That feature will suit me well. Cheers!
Great help, thank you!
As a blogger I think of sections as the categories, so a text should just be in one section for easy reference later. With tags you can have several and let them overlap, for example if you write about several topics in one text/newsletter you should tag it accordingly.