Simple Long Form: scrollytelling made easy

Laurence - EDIT : 2018/08/24

1 août 2018

Longform storytelling has never been so easy with Simple Long Form, a WordPress plugin. Version 1.3 is now released! Let's discover this tool for journalists and storytellers.

Originally developed within a journalistic context, the plugin has grow thanks to the users feed-backs. Among new features, you will find a better integration with WordPress (but it will also depend on the theme and plugins used, compatibility issues may still arise – in this case, you must uncheck « Link with WP » in the general options of the plugin and keep it so independant); the possibility of not embedding metadata if your website is already linked with the WordPress installation and a metadata management system is already in use; and the ability to add two additional social networks for sharing your contents. The code has also been optimized to improve the loading time.

All your longforms in one page? Let’s go to the redesigned Archives page, whith its dedicated options to customize. You can add now your own headline and description.

The size of the images will depend on the thumbnails generated by your WP theme. The appearance of this page will vary depending on the settings of your last published longform.

As in the previous versions, the user has a maximum of seven sections to tell his story, each of which is separated by a full-page image (preferable for readability) or a video. A field that is not filled will not be displayed and the control over the design remains elastic. It is always possible to duplicate a design once it is set and the widget proposing the list of the last longforms published has been kept.

General settings are related to the social networks links, the Google Analytics code, and different links with your WP installation. Compatibility problems could still occur. In this case, just uncheck the box « Link to WP and plugins » to keep the plugin independent.

The sub-menu « Metadata » proposes to preserve the metadata provided for each longform (OpenGraph, TwitterCard and Dublin Core)… or not because you may already have a solution to manage your metadata. You can also install the Simple Metadata Generator plugin, which is lightweight and non-intrusive. It allows you to simply manage your metadata in a few clicks for your whole installation.

Only the customizable template has been kept. The four themes developed at the beginning of the plugin have left their place to this one. If these have been used in previous installations and that you see problems with the design, do not panic: nothing is lost. You juste have to edit your longform and to save it again, everything should be fixed.

Finally, SLF is available in French, English, Dutch and German.

Every longform is highly customizable. You can also focus on a particular design and then duplicate the longform. You can chose your own colors and your own fonts among 23 available Google Fonts, as well as the size of text and of the column.

Differents settings are available for the intro effects as well as for the navbar and the progress bars. You will only need few minutes before starting to publish.

Above the edit box, the « Formats » tab gives the possibility to add a drop cap, boxes or a button. Advanced users will appreciate being able to add their own CSS style at the bottom of the editing area. The main CSS selectors are here explained.