Question 1

What is Shorthand?

Accepted Answer

Shorthand is the web content creation platform used by teams in marketing, communications, and media to tell their most important stories. From digital magazines and feature stories to reports, proposals, explainer content, and more, Shorthand stories deliver an immersive experience that helps delight your readers and move your metrics.

Shorthand accelerates the production of high-end visual content by providing a simple, easy-to-use editor and prebuilt section layouts that render beautifully in any browser. This means that your whole team can create engaging content for the web or private audiences — no code or web design skills required.

Question 2

How do I use the template?

Accepted Answer

To edit the template, click the “Try Template” button to open the Shorthand editor. You'll be able to modify any element, from text to images, videos, fonts, colours, and layouts.

You'll only need to sign up or sign in if you want to save or publish your work. It's totally free to create a Shorthand workspace — you'll only pay when you publish your second story or upgrade to one of our professional plans.

Question 3

Is the template free to use?

Accepted Answer

Yes! The template is free to use with the Shorthand platform. You can customise it as you wish with your own text, fonts, styles, images, and other media. Publish your first story for free from your Shorthand workspace. It's simple to sign up, invite your collaborators, and get started — with no credit card required until you're ready to publish.

Question 4

Can I use my own content?

Accepted Answer

Yes! The template is designed as a starting point to provide inspiration on layout, visuals, and narrative structure. Any element can be changed — from text to images, logos, videos, fonts, colours, and layouts.

Question 5

How do I add my brand elements and styles?

Accepted Answer

Once you open the template in the Shorthand editor you'll be able to customise colours, styles, photographs, videos, and illustrations to your brand guideline. You can also modify the story header to use your logo and brand colours.

Business and Enterprise plans offer additional options for tailoring content to your brand requirements, including a bespoke custom branded theme built to your specification, custom CSS, and developer tools for total control over styles, integrations, and layouts. The Team plan provides a basic theme builder, enabling you to create custom themes with your choice of fonts, colours, and logos.

Question 6

How do I share content I create using this template with my audience?

Accepted Answer

Once you've customised the template in the Shorthand editor you'll have access to a range of publishing and sharing options, including publishing to the web or to a private audience. You can host on Shorthand's servers or your own, using your domain or your choice of shorthandstories.com subdomain. If you already have a website or intranet site you want to publish to, you can also take advantage of simple embedding options.

It's free and simple to publish your first story to Shorthand hosting — simply sign up to the platform now.

To explore the available publishing options, we recommend getting in touch — we're happy to advise on the best solution for your unique requirements. You can also learn more about publishing in our Knowledge base.

Question 7

How do I create a Shorthand account?

Accepted Answer

Starting with Shorthand is easy and free. Sign up now, invite your collaborators, and create as many stories and projects as you like. Publish your first story for free on the Starter plan, or get in touch about upgrading to a Team, Business, or Enterprise plan.

Question 8

How much does a Shorthand subscription cost?

Accepted Answer

It's free to publish your first story on the Starter plan. Paid Shorthand subscriptions range from $1 per published story per month for the entry-level plan through to fully-tailored Enterprise plans to suit your publishing, integration, branding, and support needs. Visit our pricing page to learn more.

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