⚡ Briefs
A Brief is a short post of a few sentences, with an optional link and image, and the Studio's "Briefs" screen is where you write them. This page will guide you through writing, publishing and managing Briefs, and how they appear in The Wire.
Writing a Brief
Open "Briefs" from the navigation, or press "Write a Brief" on the Dashboard. The screen opens with a composer headed "Write a Brief".
- "What's worth sharing?": the text, plain text only, up to 5,000 characters. A sentence or three is typical.
- "Link (optional)": a web address, with a "Link title" shown instead of the address.
- "Image (optional)": click or drag an image in. See Images.
- Status: choose "Draft" or "Published".
Press "Save draft" for a draft, or "Publish" for a published Brief. When you edit an existing one the button reads "Update". A preview on the right headed "Preview in The Wire" shows roughly how the text will scroll in the strip.
Managing Briefs
Under "Recent Briefs" every Brief is listed with its status, when it was last changed, and whether it has a link or an image. The buttons "All", "Published" and "Drafts" filter the list. Press "Edit" to change one, or the bin icon to delete it. Press "New" in the composer to clear it and start another.
Turning a message into a Brief
In "Messages", open a message and press "Turn into a Brief" to start a Brief from it. Check the wording before you publish, since a message is written to you, not for readers.
When Briefs go live
A Brief is public once it is published, and changes reach the site at the next site update. A draft never causes an update. See Publishing and rebuilds.
How readers see them
Published Briefs scroll in The Wire under the site header, are listed on the website's Briefs page, and have an RSS feed. A Brief has no choices and is not part of any topic. If an AI story posts a Brief, it follows each reader's "Hide AI-generated stories" setting. See Briefs and The Wire.
The Android app does not show Briefs.