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Preview and Publishing

Preview and Publishing

Preview your story

A key part of the writing process is testing. You'll need to make sure that your story plays from start to finish without glitches, that your characters are coming to life properly, and that you have implemented all of the tools correctly. There are two ways to preview your story:

Slide out test chat

To test in the slide out test chat:

  1. Press the arrow on the right-hand side of the story graph to open the slide out test chat.
  2. Save any memories needed using the Memory Setter in the top left-hand corner of the test chat window.
  3. Choose either Chat from start or Chat from selected node (you will need to have selected a node in the graph first to do this).
  4. Start chatting!

This slide out chat will not show any media in your story but will show you all character dialogue

Play in App

This is where you can see the full effect of your story, including any media, bubble positions, impacts and dialogue.

To Play in App:

  1. Press the arrow on the right-hand side of the story graph to open the slide out test chat.
  2. Save any memories needed using the Memory Setter in the top left-hand corner of the test chat window.
  3. Choose either Chat from start or Chat from selected node (you will need to have selected a node in the graph first to do this).
  4. Click Play in app.
  5. Use your camera app or a QR reader on your phone to read the QR code on the graph.
  6. Allow your phone to open the Charisma app.

You will need to have already installed the Charisma app to your phone, and be logged in for this to work.

Checklist

Promo Panels

Before you publish, you'll need to add Story Promo Panels. This is a short series of panels and text bubbles to give your audience a taster of your story when they select “View Trailer” in the app. To add Story Promo Panels head to the Story Overview page in the left-hand menu.

  1. Click Add Panel and choose an image. These should be the same size dimensions as the images in your story.
  2. Add Panel Caption. This will be the first line of text. You can use this as a sort of blurb or introduction to the story.
  3. Continue adding Panels and Captions until your promo is finished.
  4. Click Save Promo Panels.
You can add as many promo panels as you like, however we recommend keeping them short. Our in-house story promos are usually between 7-12 panels.

Publishing Checklist

Once you have tested, tested and tested again, you're ready to think about publishing. Here's what you should have completed before publishing:

  • Used at least 1 episode
  • Named your Episode(s)
  • Played through your story at least 3 times from start to finish, making different choices
  • Tested you story on a third party you trust, to gain feedback
  • Established an estimated playtime
  • Added a non-gated route whenever you have used a gate
  • Added a route without a memory tag, whenever a memory tag is used, if the memory might not have been saved.
  • Given your characters pictures
  • Selected a voice for all of your characters
  • Given your story a cover image
  • Written a story description
  • Credited any collaborators
  • Added impacts
  • Spell checked - test your story with the voices switched on to listen out for typos
  • Check your story abides by our Content Guidelines
  • Selected End Story on the final node of your story

    • Create a Preview version

    After crafting your story, create a preview version. This will give you a version number (e.g., V1, V2). This preview version is uneditable, can't be changed and it is not public yet. To make edits you have to return to the draft.

    Steps to create a Preview version:
    1. Click Draft under your story title in the left-hand menu.
    2. Click Create a preview version.

    Publish and Promote

    Make sure to check you've covered everything on the Publishing checklist first, and then you're ready to share your story to the wider world.

    • Once satisfied with the preview version, publish it to make it available to users.
    • The last published version automatically becomes the promoted one.
    • You can have multiple published versions, and all published versions are accessible to the public. If you simply access the story without specifying a version, you'll automatically get the promoted version.
    Steps to Publish and Promote:
    1. Create a preview version
    2. Select the ... icon next to the version you'd like to publish.
    3. Click Publish. This story will be automatically the promoted version, if you would like to promote a different version, select the ... icon next to the version you'd like to promote and click Promote.
    4. Congratulations! Your story is now published!

    Editing and Reverting

    • If you would like to make any changes to the story you will have to return to the draft version, make the changes, and publish/promote it again.
    • If you would like to use a previously published version, you can promote it by the ... icon next to the version you'd like to promote, and click Promote.

    These processes allow you to refine, and share your story while maintaining control over versions and content variations.

    Viewing Previous Versions

    After publishing you will be able to access past versions of your story by clicking Draft under your story title. Here you can reference back to any past version and check the analytics for published versions.

    To see the date a version was published, hover your mouse over the clock logo next to the version.

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