How to write and format a Story on Houfy

A Story is Houfy's long-form post format. It gives you headings, lists, images, links and embeds, so a guide or an update reads like a proper article instead of a wall of text. This page walks through the editor as it works today.

Start a Story

Open your dashboard and click Create Post in the left sidebar. Anything you start but do not publish is kept under My Posts, so you can come back to it.

Title and description

The title sits at the top of the editor with a character counter beneath it. Keep it to 70 characters - the counter turns red past that, and search engines cut off what does not fit. Write a title that says what the reader will get, not one that only makes sense once they are already reading.

Under the title is the description, capped at 230 characters. This is what shows in search results and in link previews when someone shares your Story, so it is worth writing properly. Leaving it empty means search engines invent one from your first paragraph.

Write the body

Click into the body and start typing. The toolbar above it stays available the whole time, and most of it also works from the keyboard:

• Type ## followed by a space to start a Heading 2, or ### for a Heading 3.

• Type 1. followed by a space to start a numbered list, or - and a space for a bullet list.

• Wrap words in **double asterisks** to make them bold.

These shortcuts work at the start of a new line. They do not work inside a list item that already exists - use the toolbar there instead.

Headings and structure

The leftmost control in the toolbar is the Text style dropdown. It offers Normal text, Heading 2, Heading 2 TOC, Heading 3 and Heading 3 FAQ.

Use Heading 2 for the main sections and Heading 3 for the points inside them. The two tagged options do extra work: Heading 2 TOC adds that section to the table of contents, and Heading 3 FAQ marks the heading as a question so it can be picked up as an FAQ entry. The Convert all H2 to TOC sections button in the toolbar switches every Heading 2 in the Story over in one click.

Lists, quotes and callouts

The toolbar carries Bullet List, Numbered List and Task List for checkboxes. Quote indents a passage, so you do not need quotation marks around it. Quick Answer callout pulls a short direct answer out of the surrounding text and highlights it. Code Block is for anything a reader is meant to copy exactly, such as an embed code. Horizontal Rule draws a divider between sections.

Images

Click Insert Image and either drag a file in or pick one from your computer. Each image gets a caption field underneath it.

One thing worth knowing: nothing written inside an image can be read by Google, by AI assistants, or by a screen reader. If a step only exists as words inside a screenshot, then as far as search is concerned it does not exist at all. Put the instruction in text, and use the picture to show what the reader should be looking at.

Links and embeds

Select the words you want to turn into a link and click Insert Link. To pull in a rich preview instead - a listing, a video, another Story - use Embed Link Preview and paste the address.

Saving and drafts

The editor saves as you write, and Saved appears next to the title each time it does. Save draft forces a save straight away. Unpublished work stays under My Posts until you are ready.

Publish

Click Publish and the Prepare your story for readers panel opens. It holds two things:

1. Tags - up to five, to help readers find it. You can change them later.

2. Visibility - Public (anyone on or off Houfy) or Private (only you can see it), from the dropdown at the bottom left.

Then click Publish now.

Editing after publishing

A published Story stays editable. Open it from My Posts, make the change, and publish again.

Changing the title changes the address of the Story, but nothing breaks: Houfy creates the redirect from the old address for you. Anyone following an old link still lands in the right place.