Live Story Threading feature enables you to provide deeper context, answer questions, and highlight different perspectives as events unfold, keeping our audience informed and engaged. This document outlines how to effectively use the reply feature to create these threads.
If you are looking for SEO guidelines on live stories, read here. or general info on live stories, read here.
TLDR: Best Practices for Live Story Threading
Reply to colleague posts via the three dots next to each post in Copilot.
Limit threads to a maximum of 2 replies per parent post.
Avoid adding headlines to individual replies.
Always include contributor profile photos.
Do not add replies to older posts (older than ~5 minutes). Instead, create a new update and link to the original.
Aim for a new parent post every 3-5 minutes to maintain user engagement and alert frequency.
Keep reading for detailed info.
How to start replying
The Reply Function: You can initiate a thread by replying to a colleague's post. You can do this by clicking the three dots (...) located within the Copilot interface on a post and selecting Reply.
The Reply window will open with same fields as a live story post. Add your content and click Reply.
You can see the replies to a post by clicking on the arrow right underneath the post .
Just like regular posts, replies can be Edited or Deleted using the three dot button on each reply .
How does it look on the website ?
Each live story post is followed by the replies editors posted in response to the post.
Key Guidelines for Effective Threading
How often should new posts be added? Ensure a new post every 3-5 mins. This maintains the ‘new post’ alert is frequently shown to all users arriving on the page.
Can you thread older posts? We advise against adding threads to older posts and planning the post cadence as a team. The user alert always takes users to the top of the story to avoid a jarring experience. If you want to reply to a post that has moved from the first page we recommend starting a new update and start a new thread and link to the original update.
Can you add a headline? Whilst it’s possible - we advise against adding a headline to individual updates. Only the parent update should include one.
Is there a recommended number of replies per post? While this feature can be used freely by editors to showcase conversation around an event, we recommend limiting the number to 2 replies per post for the following reasons.
Ad Logic. Ads only appear between parent posts. Fewer parent posts and more replies could mean less ad impressions overall.
Performance. The page will request 20 posts at a time (these can be parent posts or replies). If there are posts with lots of replies surpassing 20 posts, then page speed and performance could degrade.
X Number of Updates button. This appears after any new parent post or reply is made. It will always take the user to the top of the page. So adding replies to posts older than ~5 minutes is not recommended.
Include contributor profile photos. This enhances the visual presentation of updates and threads, allowing readers to associate faces with our editors.
By following these guidelines, we can effectively utilize the Live Story Threading feature in Copilot to deliver engaging, informative, and high-performing real-time event coverage.
Need More Help?
If you have any questions or encounter issues using the live story threading feature, don't hesitate to reach out to our friendly product support team via the Copilot chat bubble. They're happy to assist you!