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🗺 Maps and Story Structure

A map is a picture of a topic's stories and the choices between them: readers see one on the site, and writers see the same tree in the Studio's "Story structure". This page will guide you through reading the structure view, fixing stories that are not connected, and how your structure turns into the reader's map.

The Story structure view​

Open "Story structure" from the navigation and pick a topic from the menu at the top. You see a tree of its stories, with a count of those on the main path, on side paths and planned.

  • Turn on "Show only main path" to see just the route most readers take.
  • Press a story to open a panel where you can see "What comes next" and press "Open story".
  • Press "Plan this story" in the panel to add a planned story under it.

You can also reach a topic's structure from its card in "Topics" with "Open structure".

Not connected yet​

Stories that no choice leads to are listed under "Not connected yet". Readers have no way to reach them, so they are not on the map and their endings earn no gems. To fix one, open a story in the topic and add it under "What comes next" with "Use a planned story", or link to it as a crossroad.

Where this story sits​

Inside the editor, the settings panel shows "Where this story sits", the story's place in its topic, such as "Step 2 of 6" on the main path. This allows you to check a story's position without leaving the page.

How readers see the map​

Readers open "Your map" from a story, from the side panel or from the "Explore" page. The reader's map shows the same tree, marked with their own progress:

  • Read and You are here for what they have read and where they are.
  • Not explored yet for published stories they have not opened.
  • Ending for each story with nothing under it, with its gem once reached.
  • Coming soon for planned stories, so readers can see where a path is heading.
  • Shortcut for each crossroad.

Drafts never appear on the reader's map. See Maps and gems for the reader's guide.

Best Practices​

  • Check the structure before publishing: stories under "Not connected yet" have no way in.
  • Count your endings: each one is a gem, so the tree's edges are the topic's belt.
  • Use "Show only main path" to read the topic as a first-time reader would.