Getting Started

Welcome to StoryMaster! This guide will help you get started with the platform.

Table of Contents

1. What is StoryMaster
2. Browsing Stories
3. Creating Stories
4. Live Stories
5. Navigating the Platform
6. Content
7. Polls
8. Users
9. Need Help?

Don't forget to also check out the Terms and Conditions of using StoryMaster.

StoryMaster is a real-time story creation and interaction platform. It allows users to create stories and share them with others in real-time.

To browse stories, simply click on the "Browse" tab in the navigation bar. When you find a story you like, you can open it to read the content and interact with other users.

You can also search for stories using the search bar at the top of the page.

To create a story, click on the "Create Story" button in the navigation bar. You will be prompted to enter a title, description, tags, and an image for your story.

Once you have created your story, you can add chapters and passages to it. You can also invite other users to write with you, or moderate the chat rooms.

Please note that the use of copyrighted material in your stories, such as images or text, is not allowed. Please ensure that you have the rights to all content you use in your stories.

When a story is live, it means that the author is currently writing the story and other users can read and interact with it in real-time. It's possible to schedule a live time for a story in advance, so users can know when to expect the story to be live.

Currently, there is no notification feature for when a story goes live. You will need to check the site regularly to see if a story is live, or scheduled to go live soon.

When you open a story, you will see the following screen:

From left to right, the header contains the following elements:

• Story Title
• Broadcast Button (): Click to start a live broadcast (only available to the Story Master)
• Chat Rooms (): Click to open breakout chat rooms
• Notifications (): Click to toggle notifications

The sidebar contains the public chat room, where users can interact with each other and the author. From left to right, the sidebar contains the following elements:

• Settings (): Click to open the settings menu for this room (only available to the Story Master or room moderators)
• Polls (): Click to view and participate in polls
• Users (): Click to view a list of users in this room

The main content area contains the story content, which is updated in real-time as the author writes. From left to right, the toolbar contains the following elements:

• Chapter Selection Dropdown: Click to select a chapter to view. The last viewed chapter is selected by default if you revisit the story later.
• Add Chapter Button (): Click to add a new chapter to the story (only available to the Story Master or authors or writers or contributors)
• Users Button (): Click to view a list of users in this story

Content in StoryMaster is divided into chapters and passages. Chapters are the main sections of the story, and passages are the individual pieces of content within a chapter.

The passages are rendered with a fixed width and height, and scaled to fit the screen. This is to ensure that the content is identical for all users (and between the editor and the reader), regardless of their screen size.

Passages may contain text and images. Full HTML markup is supported, so you can include almost anything in a passage. (JavaScript and CSS are not allowed and will be blocked by the server.)

The poll feature allows the author to ask questions to the audience and receive feedback.

Polls can allow multiple selections and custom answers. They have a time limit which is set by the author.

It's also possible to restrict who can view and participate in a poll. This is useful if you want to ask a question to a specific group of users, or if you want to exclude certain users from participating.

The story and the chat rooms are independent of each other, so you may have different users in each room. The users list shows the users who are currently in the section you are viewing.

Users have roles which determine what they can do in the story or room. The roles are as follows:

• Story Master: The author of the story. They have full control over the story and can add chapters, start polls, and more.
• Author: A user who has been granted permission to write in the story. They can add passages and write content. They can also edit and delete other users' passages.
• Writer: A user who has been granted permission to write in the story. They can add passages and write content. They can only edit and delete their own passages.
• Contributor: A user who has been granted permission to write in the story. They can only add draft passages to the story.
• Moderator: A user who has been granted permission to moderate the chat room. (Only applies to chat rooms.)

With the exception of the Story Master, permissions are not inherited for each section. For example, it's possible to be a moderator in one room but not another.

There is only one story - so roles related to that are global. However, these roles do not have an impact on the chat rooms.

If you have any questions or need help with StoryMaster, please join the Discord server.