Stories are short text or image slides at the top of the Home screen in the mobile app and the web app. You group them in storylines. Each storyline is one round bubble in the stories row. You choose which registrant lists see a storyline, when it is visible, and whether it belongs to a sponsor.
Before you start
You need to be an organization admin or an event admin.
Each storyline needs a name and an image.
You choose the lists per storyline. All stories in a storyline have the same audience.
Announcements appear in the stories row too, as the first bubble, Announcements. You manage them in Communications > Announcements. See Send announcements to attendees.
Where to find it
Communications > Stories in the admin panel.
The page lists your storylines in the order attendees see them. Each row shows the status, the lists that can see the storyline ("All attendees" when no list is selected), the schedule, the number of stories and the statistics. A dollar icon marks a sponsored storyline.
Create a storyline
Open Communications > Stories and select Create storyline.
Under Storyline details, enter a Name of up to 15 characters. The Home screen can cut long names short.
Under Upload image, select Upload, choose an image and crop it to a square. The recommended size is 200 x 200 px. JPEG and PNG work best.
Under Which lists can see this?, choose All Lists or Specific Lists. For Specific Lists, choose one or more lists under Selected lists.
To link the storyline to a sponsor, turn on Link sponsor to the storyline under Sponsored?, then choose the sponsor under Sponsor linked.
Under Status, choose Active, Scheduled or Hidden (see Status and scheduling).
Select Save.
Brella shows "Storyline created successfully!". The Preview at the top of the form shows the bubble on the Home page and the storyline header (When user clicks on a collection).
Add stories to a storyline
In Communications > Stories, select the storyline name, or select Stories under Actions.
Select Create Story.
Under Story type, choose Text or Image.
Enter a Title of up to 45 characters. Attendees see the title only on text stories. On image stories it is visible only in the admin panel.
For a text story, enter the Body, up to 600 characters. For an image story, select Upload under Upload image and crop the image to 9:17. The recommended size is 1080 x 2040 px. JPEG and PNG work best.
To add a button, turn on Contains link ?, then enter the Link Text (up to 14 characters) and the Link Url.
Under Status, choose Active, Scheduled or Hidden.
Select Save.
Brella shows "Story created successfully!".
Links in stories
If you leave Link Text empty, the button reads Visit link.
Link Url takes a web address or an SMS link such as
sms:+358401234567?body=Hello. Enter web addresses withhttps://.A link to a screen of the app opens that screen inside the app. Other web addresses open in the in-app browser. An SMS link opens the attendee's messages app. See Use deep links to open screens in the app.
Create image stories in bulk
Open the storyline.
Drag image files from your computer onto the page. The page shows "Drop images to create stories".
Drop the files. Brella creates one image story per file, one file at a time, and shows the progress in a window.
When the window title reads Stories created, select Close. Finished with errors or Upload failed means some or all files failed.
The new stories are Hidden and have no title. For each one, select Edit, set the Status to Active or Scheduled, add a title or a link if you want, and select Update.
Brella uses only image files and doesn't crop them. Use 9:17 images so they fill the story.
Status and scheduling
Storylines and stories each have a status:
Active (default): visible in the app right away.
Scheduled: visible only in the time window you set.
Hidden: not visible in the app.
For Scheduled, choose the window:
Visible between: set Start date and time and End date and time.
Visible until: set End date and time.
Visible starting on: set Start date and time.
Times are in the event's time zone.
A story is visible only while its storyline is visible too. A storyline with no visible stories doesn't appear in the app.
In the tables, a scheduled item shows Scheduled before its start, Active during its window and Hidden after its end. The Scheduled column shows the window. On a storyline page, the Published column shows when a story was published or is scheduled to be published.
Reorder storylines and stories
Drag a row by its handle at the start of the row.
Drop it in the new position. Brella shows "Position saved".
Attendees see storylines in this order, and the stories of a storyline in their order. Two things change the order in the app: the Announcements bubble is always first, and storylines an attendee has fully seen move to the end of their row.
Edit or delete
Edit a storyline: select Edit under Actions, or Edit Details on the storyline page. Make your changes and select Update.
Edit a story: on the storyline page, select Edit on the story's row. Make your changes and select Update.
Delete a storyline: select Delete under Actions, type
DELETEand select Delete. This deletes all its stories.Delete a story: on the storyline page, select Delete on the story's row and confirm Delete Story? with Delete.
Warning: Deleting a storyline or a story also deletes its statistics. You can't undo a delete.
Read the statistics
The Stories page shows totals per storyline. A storyline page shows the numbers per story.
Total views: how many times attendees viewed the stories. Each time an attendee opens the stories and reaches a story counts as one view.
Unique viewers: how many different attendees viewed at least one story.
Story click count (storyline) and Total Clicks (story): how many times attendees selected the link button.
What attendees see
The stories row at the top of the Home screen, in the mobile app and the web app. Each bubble shows the storyline image and name.
Each story plays for 10 seconds. Text stories show the title and the body. Image stories show the image.
In a sponsored storyline, selecting the storyline name at the top of a story opens the sponsor's booth.
Attendees see only storylines for their lists. The row is hidden when there is nothing to show.
For the attendee side, see Announcements, stories and Activity.
Limits
Storyline Name: up to 15 characters.
Story Title: up to 45 characters. Body: up to 600 characters. Link Text: up to 14 characters.
Images: up to 5 MB.
One link per story.
Lists apply to a whole storyline, not to single stories.
Troubleshooting
A storyline doesn't appear in the app
The storyline or all its stories are Hidden or outside their schedule, the storyline has no stories, or the attendee isn't in a selected list.
"Name is required!"
Enter a storyline name. The image is required too.
"Please select lists!"
Specific Lists is chosen with no list selected. Choose at least one list, or choose All Lists.
"Invalid URL"
Link Url accepts only letters, digits, _, ., - and / in the path, and letters, digits, _, =, & and % after the ?. Remove other characters, such as #, +, ~, or a hyphen after the ?.
"Invalid SMS format (e.g., sms:+123456789?body=Hello)"
Write the SMS link as sms: followed by a phone number of 6 to 15 digits, optionally with ?body= and the text.
The link is gone after saving
Brella removes a link it can't read, such as an SMS link with spaces in the text. Write each space as %20, for example sms:+358401234567?body=Hello%20there.
A bulk upload shows "Finished with errors" or "Upload failed"
The window marks each file that failed. Files larger than 5 MB fail. Make the image smaller and drop it again.
Plan the storyline
Use one storyline for a clear purpose. Keep each story focused on one message. Give a linked story a short button label that describes its destination.
Choose examples that fit your event:
Event FAQs: explain check-in, what attendees need on arrival, Wi-Fi access, restrooms, food options and where to find the schedule. End with a short recap.
Daily recap: share photos and highlights from sessions, audience discussions and social activities.
Feedback: link to an external survey with a label such as Open survey. Explain any incentive your event offers in the story.
Networking: remind attendees to book meetings, or recognize participants you have selected. Add a link to the relevant app screen.
Sponsors: show where to find a booth, introduce its representatives, or promote a product demonstration. Link to the sponsor's website when useful.
Event initiatives: explain a sustainability project or another event commitment, then link to its details.
For image stories, put the message in the image itself. The Title entered in the admin panel is not shown to attendees.
Before showing the storyline, check its audience, schedule, image crop and links in the app. See Plan your event communications.