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🌿 Threads and Choices

A thread is a topic of stories joined by choices, and a choice is one of the cards readers see at the end of a story. This page will guide you through adding choices in the Studio, the difference between the main path and side paths, the three-choice limit and the rule that paths never loop.

How a thread branches​

Each story in a thread can offer up to three choices. Each choice leads to another story, which can offer up to three choices of its own. The result is a tree that grows from the opening story:

  • The main path is the first choice on each story. Readers see it as "Continue the path", with a "Take this path" button. In the Studio it is labelled "Main path".
  • Side paths are any other stories placed under a story. Readers see them as "Go deeper". In the Studio they are labelled "Side path".
  • Crossroads lead to a published story elsewhere on the site. Readers see them as "Take a side road". See Crossroads.

Readers see a heading that matches the number of choices: "The path continues" for one, "The path splits in two" for two and "The path splits" for three.

Adding a choice​

In the story editor, the "What comes next" section holds the story's choices. The panel counts how many choices are left, and the first story you add is the main path.

Add a choice with one of three buttons:

  • Plan a new story: type a "Title of the story to plan" and an optional "Short reason to read it". The new story starts as a planned story with a title and teaser only.
  • Use a planned story: pick one from "Planned stories" that you have already jotted down. See Planned stories.
  • Link to any story on the site: a crossroad.

The short reason, or the story's teaser, appears as the hook on the reader's choice card. This allows readers to decide where to go without opening every story.

Ordering and removing choices​

Each choice can be dragged, or moved with the up and down buttons, to change the order. Moving a story placed under this one to the top makes it the main path. Remove a choice with the cross button. Removing a choice does not delete the story it led to, but a story nothing leads to is listed under "Not connected yet" in "Story structure", and readers have no way in.

Paths never loop​

A story cannot lead back to a story that comes before it on its path. The Studio enforces this: in the crossroad picker, earlier stories are shown but cannot be picked, so a path never loops back. This ensures every path moves forward and every branch can reach an ending.

The three-choice limit​

The editor stops you adding a fourth choice. If you need more routes, add them one level down: give one of the three choices its own choices.

tip

A story with no choices is an ending, and each published ending earns readers a gem. Plan your endings as deliberately as your forks. See Endings and gems.

Best Practices​

  • Make the main path a complete read: a reader who only presses "Continue the path" should still reach a satisfying ending.
  • Give each side path a clear reason: the teaser should say what the reader gains by going deeper.
  • Prefer two good choices to three thin ones: a short fork is easier to read.