Hi. I'm Dummy Story.
You read that right. Dummy Story is right in the title but it also happens to be my name.
My parents, Mr. and Mrs. Story, named me Dummy. They gave me life just so I could be here for you. I wish they'd named me Helpful or even Sample, but they chose Dummy. We're going to pretend it's okay.
Anytime you want to quit and close the window, just think about the fact that I was born a Dummy and how sorry you feel for me. This is going to be an interactive process, so please stick with me. Stay with me until the end of the page. Please.
Formatting your words just right
See what I did there? "Formatting your words" used to be regular text just like you're reading now. But I made it a subheading. Just let me know when all of this gets too exciting for you.
Once you select the words you want to format, and you'll see a toolbar pop up where you can choose to:
- bold,
- italicize, or
- underline a word
You can even go really nuts make words:
- really small, or
- add links to redirect your readers elsewhere
- become in bulleted or numbered lists
I bet I just gave you goosebumps.
The whole Dummy Story needs to be a success, so please humor me and play along. I just can't bear to be the laughing stock of the family.
"Here lies our beloved but failed Dummy Story."
Please don't let that be my epitaph. I need something better on my tombstone when I'm finally retired from Story Chief. At best, I've just not-so-subtly taught you how to add a quote to your story, haven't I?
Are you're wondering what that text bubble at the end of the toolbar is for>
Well, it's meant for comments during the editing process. Just select the questionable text in your story and click on the text box icon. Your text will turn orange. (Look at the top right of your screen NOW and you'll see there's a comment for you already.)
Adding stuff to your story (or Dummy Story)
I hear that adding stuff to your stories is all the rage now. Everybody's doing it and research shows that readers like you love all kinds of visual content.
So. I'm gonna need you to hit <Enter ↩> at the end of this sentence so I can start showing you how to add stuff. <HIT ↩ NOW>
Leave your cursor on the line above so I can tell you what each icon is for. Or, you can take your mouse and hover over each one of those grey icons on the toolbar and read for yourself.
This is what you should see:
Adding an image
All you have to do is click on the first icon in the bar and follow the instructions:
I've added one of me and my parents:
By the way, these captions I'm putting under each photo are optional.
And if you think my family portrait looks funny, then you should check out other awkward ones on the internet.
Now, once you've added an image (or even clicked on an image you've added previously), you'll see this menu pop up:
It means you can choose to make the image bigger or keep it the way it is. Big life decisions eh?
You can also hyperlink the image so that when your readers click on the image, it redirects them somewhere else.
Most importantly, don't forget about the eyeball.
👁️!!!
The eyeball serves as a reminder for you to add an ALT tag.
The ALT tag is not only important for SEO purposes, but for your blind or visually impaired visitors who need to know what the image is about.
Adding an image gallery
Apparently image galleries are considered way fancier than just adding one single image. Now you can include a gallery of your 18 best selfies of all time!
Just click on the image gallery icon and...
Ain't we fancy?!
Feel free to add your awkward family portrait to the gallery. And don't forget ALT text and captions for each picture!
Adding a video
You can embed links to add video to your stories so readers don't fall asleep.
Want to see video evidence of how my parents met back in 2012? They were both cast for some movie and pretty much hating life.
I love pulling this video up whenever we have people over.
I know. Cringe-worthy, right?
They said it was love at first sight. Who knew bad acting was such an aphrodisiac?
Adding rich media
Because ain't nobody got time for poor media!
Seriously though, adding rich media is a good way to be extra superficial. Showing off your social media posts can make you feel better about yourself.
You can even embed quizzes or polls asking people how much they like you.
Adding lead capture forms
Lots of people use this for sales purposes. But you can also use it for finding people to stalk—er, I mean—date.
SEO and Readability
It's free!
Just look at the top left corner of your screen and you'll see how you're doing. You can even click up there and you'll get details and guidance to live your very best storytelling life.
If you look at the top right corner of your screen, then you'll see that you get to invite people to read the draft of your story and give feedback. Please be sure to check out the comments while you're there.
There's lots more cool stuff that Story Chief has come up for you. Most questions you have will be answered by going to this link.
If you've made it to the end...
Thank you. You make me feel like I'm more than just a Dummy Story.
