Introducing new and improved Section Options

We've expanded our storytelling tool box. Shorthand's latest update means you can now change background colours, hide/show sections easily on different devices and more!

_{By Dawn Murden}
_{Friday April 26th, 2019}

Our latest update means Section Options are now even more powerful.

For the last six months, the Shorthand team have been working hard to propel the storytelling power of the Section Options even further.

The Section Options were first released in February 2018 and they have certainly enabled customers to exercise their creativity and added variety to stories — from x-ray vision effects and title tricks, to those 'wow' moments. In fact, just six months after they were launched we showcased 5 ways they were being used.

In the pursuit of innovation and constant improvement in our storytelling platform, it was clear — from our own internal conversations and those with customers — that there were a number of features we should add to the Section Options.

While we wanted to commit to adding more options, it was important not to overwhelm or add negative complexity. After all, the appeal of our editor and much of our ethos lies in its intuitive nature.

So, the remedy was to move the Section Options cog from next to the 'edit media' button, out to the sidebar.

For ease of use, this also meant switching the Section list from the right to the left (see images to the right on landscape screens, or above on portrait screens).

This is the first big change you will notice in the editor, in the week commencing Monday April 29th when it's released.

Before the Section Options update

After the Section Options update

Expand your options

When you click the Section Options cog underneath the tile of the Section you wish to change, the Section Options will expand revealing all of the options available. The options will differ for each section.

Tailor for different devices

You can already set a focus point on background images (launched last week!) or add an alternative portrait crop in order to tailor the experience on mobile compared to desktop. However, sometimes further optimisation is required.

That's where the new visibility buttons come in.

This means for every section you can decide whether it should show on portrait and/or landscape screens (Shorthand assumes the breakpoint of 900px wide viewport). If not, you can easily hide it with one click on either device orientation and then create another section in its place (or not, you decide).

The only section you won't see this on — as the first section in every Shorthand story by default — is the Title Section. If you want to hide the Title Section, you will need to use CSS.

Advanced options

The advanced options are aimed at those wanting to use the developer tools to further customise their Shorthand stories with code. They enable you to easily add a CSS class to a section.

They also provide a much simpler way of identifying the Section ID so that you can create a link to a particular section, rather than having to trawl through source code or developer tools to find it!

Background and font colours

Previously, you were able to switch between 'dark' and 'light' on built-in Shorthand and custom branded themes. You could also change background colours using CSS (if your subscription plan included developer tools).

Now, on Prime plans and above, you will be able to select font and background colours from a choice of up to 12 that will be determined by the theme you are using — like so.

Shorthand basic theme colours

Shorthand basic theme colours

If you are using one of the Shorthand-built themes we can turn on a range of pre-determined colours. Just let us know, and we can enable those for you.

If you have your own branded theme and have set up font colours previously, your background colours will automatically inherit those. If you have not yet given us a colour palette, you will not see a selection of colours on your custom branded theme(s). To set this up or alter your current colours, please contact us.

The new and improved Section Options will be released in the week commencing Monday April 29th, 2019.

What do you think?

We're always eager to get your feedback on how new features are working for you, and to hear about other enhancements you'd like to see in the future.

Get in touch with us if you want to have a chat about the new Section Options or anything else!