Use the "More" drop down menu, select "Poetry" and insert the lines of your poem between the lines, and other typesetting tricks available on Substack on your laptop or PC. Not your phone. Plus...
Actually, there was a time when “poetry” disappeared from that menu. I can’t remember the circumstances.
How I would like to indent, or center, text at various times. Can’t be done.
If I were going to add a photo, I’d cut and paste some text in poetry, add the photo, then set up another poetry block.
Sometimes when I follow a poem with with a subhed, it tries to put the whole poem in the headline font. The easiest way to get around this is to add a comment button. Write the subhead, then delete the comment box.
I was playing around with the poetry setting on, and made a clever workaround for doing right align. Basically, inside the poetry block, you type 10 spaces, highlight them, then paste-paste-paste till you get to the end of the line. Backspace to eliminate the extras. Type in your text, then delete one space at a time until it is aligned right.
I think this will work as the column width is standard, but it is too long for a phone--and 59% of users read Substack on their phone.
Just did another calculation for the phone, and my apple 12 phone can display 30 characters per line. Don't believe that will be standard for all phones. Paragraphs are easy to wrap, poems not so much.
Maybe Substack can make a "paste a poem" feature that can display it as a graphic so it can be resized? Would love to hear thoughts on this subject. Asking for my friends.
You're welcome Andrew! Wonderful to hear that one of the first problems I had to solve to use Substack helped in your time of need. Love the poem, too. Captures my feelings perfectly.
It is working. I've added tweo screenshots below the original story to show you what it should look like when you paste or type your poem between the two lines. If you type outside the lines it will not work.
This week, I've read, Substack is launching new features (but only for some users at the moment--not me!). Whenever that happens, things change. I use an iPhone, MS laptop, and a PC. I can confirm that each one of these platforms the app runs on has different features, in my own experience. It works on my PC ... and laptop, but not the phone. I don't remember trying it on my phone., which they are targeting for their new video features. I'll clarify that the phone doesn't have this feature.
Actually, there was a time when “poetry” disappeared from that menu. I can’t remember the circumstances.
How I would like to indent, or center, text at various times. Can’t be done.
If I were going to add a photo, I’d cut and paste some text in poetry, add the photo, then set up another poetry block.
Sometimes when I follow a poem with with a subhed, it tries to put the whole poem in the headline font. The easiest way to get around this is to add a comment button. Write the subhead, then delete the comment box.
I was playing around with the poetry setting on, and made a clever workaround for doing right align. Basically, inside the poetry block, you type 10 spaces, highlight them, then paste-paste-paste till you get to the end of the line. Backspace to eliminate the extras. Type in your text, then delete one space at a time until it is aligned right.
I think this will work as the column width is standard, but it is too long for a phone--and 59% of users read Substack on their phone.
Just did another calculation for the phone, and my apple 12 phone can display 30 characters per line. Don't believe that will be standard for all phones. Paragraphs are easy to wrap, poems not so much.
Maybe Substack can make a "paste a poem" feature that can display it as a graphic so it can be resized? Would love to hear thoughts on this subject. Asking for my friends.
Thanks! This was helpful. I put it into action as I shared an original poem at my new Substack The Human Adventure. Feel free to check it out: https://thehumanadventure.substack.com/p/dear-algorithm
You're welcome Andrew! Wonderful to hear that one of the first problems I had to solve to use Substack helped in your time of need. Love the poem, too. Captures my feelings perfectly.
Thanks, Rob. Good to connect with you!
Don’t think this works on the iPhone app. Maybe on the desktop.
Correct. You can post videos (think tiktok) and photos and simple text on your phone, as it is mostly for viewing.
Do you know what may be working for this nowadays? I cannot get stanza breaks no matter what I do, and I've tried all of these suggestions.
It is working. I've added tweo screenshots below the original story to show you what it should look like when you paste or type your poem between the two lines. If you type outside the lines it will not work.
hmm okay, maybe it was user error. thank you!!
This week, I've read, Substack is launching new features (but only for some users at the moment--not me!). Whenever that happens, things change. I use an iPhone, MS laptop, and a PC. I can confirm that each one of these platforms the app runs on has different features, in my own experience. It works on my PC ... and laptop, but not the phone. I don't remember trying it on my phone., which they are targeting for their new video features. I'll clarify that the phone doesn't have this feature.