“ManyStories” is a Platform to Help Get Your Stories Read
Diversify the audience for your Medium stories
ManyStories is a website or online platform where you can share all your stories, regardless of where they are published. ManyStories is a place where writers grow their audience and readers discover stories.
The ManyStories website comes under the “umbrella” of Penname.
Penname is a platform of integrated websites dedicated to content distribution and discovery. It was designed, developed and produced by Lincoln W Daniel.
A great benefit of ManyStories is that the site has relatively high domain authority, and can be a great way to improve the search results associated with your author name or story titles.
It is easy for Medium writers to use ManyStories to further the distribution of particular stories or even all of their stories that they publish on Medium (with tact). Here are the steps.
- Create an account by using your Google Account or an email address.
- Edit your Profile page to make it appealing to readers. Click on “Profile” under your Avatar (the round picture) at top right.
3. Visit ManyStories many times to familiarize yourself with the platform.
4. Share your story by pasting the link to your story in the box below the text “Share your story.” Options for Yes or No to authorship will then pop up after pasting or typing in the URL. Tick the radio button next to Yes to indicate that you are the author of the story being shared, if you are.
5. Type in one or more keywords into the Tags area to facilitate searching and finding your story title. Type in a word and press the Tab key.
The information and instructions in this guide are current as of October 2023.
Keep in mind that ManyStories may operate differently with different browsers or browser settings. For example, using Mozilla Firefox you can scroll through the Featured stories. But when using Internet Explorer, there’s no scroll bar for sliders, so you can’t scroll through them.
Other benefits of ManyStories
“Read next” feature for your Medium stories
You can use the ManyStories programming to embed a number of tiled stories that you’ve shared on ManyStories at the end of one of your stories published on Medium or your blog website.
You can see this in action at the bottom of my “angelic” story! 👼
Right-click to open the story below in a new tab, so you won’t navigate away from this article. At the end of my story, I share 8 related stories in a slider which can be scrolled through using Mozilla Firefox.
Note: The Opera browser doesn’t have a scroll-bar to scroll through the embedded stories, but Firefox, Internet Explorer, and the Edge do.
Follow the instructions for how to do this at the page below.
ManyStories Update: Embed Your Stories on Medium & Your Blog (penname.me)
Keep in mind that stories considered by the Medium curators to be boost worthy must NOT have too many links at the end of the stories which promote the writer.
Perhaps just have 3 stories in an embedded “slider” at the end of stories that you think may be selected for boost.
Interaction with other writers
ManyStories is a platform for people to find and read stories of interest to them, as well as a means of sharing one's own stories. Sharing quality and useful content on ManyStories may result in organic follows (people following you because they like what you share).
Follow other writers on ManyStories and read stories of writers on ManyStories and some writers may follow you back. But, of course, do not spam writers and dishonorably follow writers galore to try to “game” the system. I don’t know about you, but many writers have got an inbuilt BS detector and can tell if somebody is a genuine follower/supporter or not!
BTW, my answer is “Yes and yes and no, it’s the end of separation or of the masses of humanity being unaware of how we need to treat each other and Earth collectively. And some people feel this, and others don’t.
Note that if you click on the Title, you will be taken directly to the story, whether it is hosted on Medium or elsewhere.
You can click on the 3 little dots next to “Share” to see what platform, for example, Medium.com, that the shared story is published on.
You can click on the “eye icon” to preview some stories, i.e., to go to the story details within the ManyStories platform. See the previous screenshot of a story title about the “end times” which shows an “eye icon” next to the sharer’s name (Jocelyn).
This “frame” gives a snapshot of the story content with a little more information about the story content.
There’s also a black “button” which you click on to take you to the story.
Not all stories have got the preview “eye” so you will go straight to the story if you click on the story title.
If your story has been featured (in the top section) of the ManyStories homepage, you will see a gold “sticker” telling you so, as above!
The homepage will show the latest 3 to 5 stories shared on ManyStories just under the top section. Your feed is customized for you.
“Recommended stories” or stories “From your network” are the stories of those who you are following. They appear under the latest shared stories. Stories of sharers who you aren’t following also appear here.
The last or bottom section shows recently shared stories.
The dates of publication of the stories and the dates the stories were shared on ManyStories are NOT given. You will only find the date of publication of a story shared on ManyStories by actually going to the story.
The sharer may want to share recent content or may choose to share an older published story, thinking that it could be liked or useful.
Recently shared stories are also sprinkled among recommended stories. Recommended stories are the story titles by writers who you are following.
“Top writers” in the column on the right are top sharers. Underneath “Top writers” are “Suggested sharers,” “From your network” and then “Top readers.”
I suggest that you take your time going to the ManyStories homepage on different days and at different times and scrolling through the story titles to see “what’s what.” That is, get a feel for who is posting what, and how the platform works, etc.
Good netiquette will be not to spam or deluge the ManyStories platform with a ton of your own stories all at once. If a reader (like me) sees 10 of one person’s stories in a row, this multiplicity, indicative of a space-hog, will put the reader off engaging with the hogger (perhaps).
But if you see a lot of “Recommended stories” by one writer, be aware that it is due to the programming or “algorithm” showing the stories of sharers whom you are following.
You need to find a balance between whose stories you want to see in your ManyStories feed on your homepage and who you are following via ManyStories. Do this by following several sharers who share consistently so that you see their story titles in your feed.
Clicking on the 3 little dots OR on the “little eye” is a good idea to browse which platforms writers are using. And of course, it’s a great idea, if say, you only want to read stories published on Medium.
You can identify the platform that the story is in by “looking” via the “eye spy” icon. 😃
What I love about ManyStories
Ease of use
It is easy-peasy to sign up and to share stories, but please remember to be a good “ManyStories” citizen. Be honorable and respectful, by NOT spamming the site or posting awful stories or any content that is slanderous or inciteful of unpleasantness or that is downright false. Or else! (Somebody is watching you)
I love emails
I don’t know whether I’m “Arthur or Martha” which means that I have too much data in front of me. I have 7 active email addresses! Being that I LOVE data and information (and to genuinely help others) I apparently need all these for 7 different streams of e-mailed correspondence. Duh!
One day I’ll get around to pruning the number of In Boxes that I have. I am glad although that I receive lovely, amazing emails from ManyStories, like the one shown below.
I don’t have time to explain why__ but here’s the link to the story above that had been viewed by 100 people so far!
You get emails at milestones, such as 300 readers and then 400 readers having “seen your story.” And I think that this means (Lincoln W Daniel) that they clicked on the “eye icon”.
I am the proud and happy recipient of many emails from ManyStories kindly telling me that various stories that I share on MS have been viewed 10, 20, 30, 50, or 100 times, as well as multiples of 100 up to 700!
I don’t know about anyone else, but these email messages give me a warm, fuzzy glow (honestly). I am easy to please. And I don’t care about the duration of time that these reader views apply to or if the readers have actually read the complete story that I shared.
This is because even if a fraction of some viewers of some of my ManyStories stories read many or a few or one of my many stories, this is a bonus or a benefit to me!
And lookee here!!
I am very grateful to Lincoln W Daniel for featuring some of my stories on ManyStories. My favorite In Box has revealed to me that since July 2022 six of my stories submitted to ManyStories have been boosted.
I began sharing stories on ManyStories in 2019 and have shared 105 stories since then. And 17 of my stories shared on ManyStories have been featured!
I receive emails when any of my stories shared on ManyStories have been featured.
Diversification in life is important
Writers love to write because they want to share messages, ideas, thoughts, and experiences.
I joined Medium in November 2018 to share my learned lessons and thoughts regarding “spirituality” and self-care.
And because I LOVE information and like to help and support others and can write technical things, I began sharing guidelines and information about working with Medium.
I even share instructions on working with websites or software that is helpful to Medium writers, such as how to work with Mastodon.
Accurate and substantial “meta Medium” information or guidelines about working with Medium are great sources of support for writers, along with Medium’s official Help Centre.
If you want to get more “eye balls” on your Medium stories, you can share links to them via ManyStories. Who knows what this will lead to, if you carefully “curate” or pick which of your stories that you will share on ManyStories.
Practical tips for working with ManyStories
Viewing the stories that you have shared
When signed into ManyStories, clicking on your Avatar at the top right corner then on Profile brings up a list of all the stories that you have shared.
You will see how many people have gone to your story preview on ManyStories by them clicking on the “eye icon.”
There will be a number next to the “eye” icon indicating the number of previews of your ManyStories story description by people signed into ManyStories and not signed in (passersby) of your shared story.
This needs to be confirmed by Lincoln W Daniel.
Liking stories on ManyStories
If you see a heart with a number next to it along a story title, that means that a person or persons “liked” the story.
The person did this by actually reading the story (by clicking on the link to the story) then clicking on the “eye icon” (the preview function) and then clicking on the “heart” icon. A story has to be read before being liked.
You can’t see who “liked” a story. But you can check out which stories that YOU liked by going to your profile page.
Click on “Profile” under your avatar, then on Visited at the top left. This shows the history of titles you have previewed. Those you have “liked” will have a green heart against them.
Followers and Following
When signed in when you go to your Profile page (under your Avatar) you will see a “bar” at the top left with the number of people you are following and the number of followers of you.
Click on “Followers” to see the names of people with ManyStory “accounts” who are following you.
Click on a name of a “Follower” to go to his/her Profile page on ManyStories to quickly see what he/she has shared.
A solid green “Follow” button means you are not following the person. When the “Follow” button is transparent it indicates that you are following the person. This is a toggle button, meaning if you want to stop following someone, click on the Follow button so that it goes from clear to solid.
Reading history
Clicking on “Visited” at the top left of the homepage when you’re signed into ManyStories will show your history of story titles that you previewed, by clicking on the “eye icon.” This list includes stories that you have “liked”, shown by a green heart.
Only you can see the story titles that you have previewed or visited.
Boost a story
When you click on “Boost” under the 3 little dots on the right next to “Share” (see Screenshot in the section “Interaction with other writers”) this will make the story appear on your Profile page.
The story title will be “boosted” i.e., will be visible to anyone who is curious enough to visit your ManyStories Profile page. You could boost similar content to yours, stories which are really helpful to readers, or boost the story of a sharer as a reciprocal action if she shares one of your stories or follows you.
Getting help
Clicking on Forum from the drop-down menu after clicking on your Avatar will take you to the Penname community forum. Here you can read instructional articles by Lincoln, the founder of Penname and its associated websites/platforms.
If you click on Chat, it will take you to the Penname Chat.
If you haven’t already signed into Penname chat, you will have to sign in using the email address that you used to sign up with ManyStories (or the email address associated with the Google account that you used to sign up with MS).
There will be a number of different Channels or chat categories to post your message or question under.
Hover your mouse over the Avatar of the person who posted in the chat to see how long ago the post was published (e.g., minutes, hours, weeks, months, or years ago).
You can reply to a person by copying their username and entering the ampersand symbol i.e., @ followed by the username. This will send a message or notification to the person so she/he will know that you have replied.
Clicking on Help will take you to the Penname Chat, opening a conversation thread between you and Lincoln.
If you are in the Penname Chat area, to return to ManyStories you must click on the beautiful little colored circles at the top right (next to your Avatar), as shown above. This will drop down some choices as shown below.
Click on ManyStories to return to “ManyStories.”
Ask a question and search for a question (and answer)
When you click on Forum under your Avatar on the ManyStories homepage, you will be taken to the forum area (with posts by Lincoln).
You will see “Ask a question” at the top right.
Click on “Ask a question.” Type in your question and you MUST add a Tag or two to summarize the issue covered. For example, your tag name could be “technical help.” You must add a link to a relevant website also, e.g., link to the Medium homepage.
Click on the green button to submit your question.
It would be a good idea to take a snapshot of your question or to save it to your computer.
There’s a chance that nobody will answer your question. But in that case don’t cry. Smile proudly at yourself for “trying” and put on your “thinking cap” (meaning think if you might find the answer another way).
And then move on into a “future” where you appreciate what you do have and make the best of things.
Please read the information also about the chat function and the forum provided earlier in this article.
When you click on Forum under your Avatar on ManyStories, you will be taken to the forum area (with posts by Lincoln). This is part of Penname.
Search for your question by typing in the Tag(s) that you used or the actual question into the search field.
This page has a search field where you can type in a word, or a few words related to an issue or question asked by you OR not raised by you.
For example, if you are looking for information or questions and answers relating to “embedding” type in “embed”. And the results will appear in a few seconds in the lower part of the page.
If there is a “speech balloon” next to the “question” it indicates an answer. Click on the “speech balloon” icon to go to the answer. An example of a speech balloon is shown below next to the number one.
This is a good way to find if there is an answer to a question that you have asked, if you type in the Tag that you used when posting your question or type in some exact words used in your question.
Your question will appear, and you can see if there is an answer or not (i.e., whether there is a speech balloon icon or not).
You can also see your questions on your Penname Community Profile page.
Don’t get confused because you will have several profile pages!
To go to your Penname Community Profile page, make sure that you are accessing the Penname Forum.
See the screenshot above titled “Screenshot showing Penname homepage, Oct 2023.”
To get to this from ManyStories or from PenChat, click on “Forum” under your Avatar.
If at the top left you see the logo of the black square with the colored dots, as shown in the screenshot of the Penname homepage above, then you are accessing or using the Penname site.
Then click on “Profile” under your Avatar to go to the Profile Page for the Penname Community.
If you don’t see your question, you are on the Profile page for ManyStories. In other words, you need to click on Forum and then on Profile.
When you see “Community” at the top left, you are on the Penname Forum page. Clicking on “Profile” under your Avatar will show any questions you have asked.
When you are in Penname you can search for a person registered with Penname or click on someone’s name in a Chat channel on PenChat. If the person has asked a question, it will appear on their profile page.
To answer someone’s question that you know the answer to, you have to find questions. You do this by using the Search field on the Forum page, as described above. In other words, you must type in a key word of interest to you, such as “stats” or “embed” into the search field. Press Return to see if any questions come up.
Delete a story share from ManyStories
You may want to remove a story link from ManyStories sometime, for reasons known to you.
If you do, find your story link on your Profile page or by a search.
Click on the 3 little dots, then click on “Stop sharing”. Confirm this action.
Notifications
To update your email advices, click on “Account” under your Avatar, and then on “Email Preferences” then on ManyStories.
Alternatively, go to an email that you have received from ManyStories. At the end of the email, you will see a link for “Manage email preferences” that you can click on to go to your email settings.
When signed into ManyStories you will see the “bell icon” glowing when you have new notifications. This may be advices about milestone number of views of your stories shared.
I like this because I love numbers and data. Technically speaking, it shows (in real-time?) the number of previews within ManyStories of your story content by people visiting ManyStories.
And a preview may lead to a visit to Medium and a read of your story!
Chat with a sharer on PenChat
To politely message a sharer on ManyStories go to the person’s profile page, as shown below.
Click on the Penname logo shown as the dark square above the “Follow” button. You can see the logo in the next screenshot too.
This will take you to a screen similar to below. You have navigated to Penname.
From this screen, you can choose to chat with the sharer/person or ask a question or look for answers in the PenChat area. Click on your choice.
Alternatively, when you are in the PenChat area you can search for a person to chat to or message. You will see the Search field at the top left corner, as shown below.
Tips for navigation
If you see the following screen (the Forum area), to go to the Chat click on your Avatar at top right then click on “Chat.”
If you see the following screen (sign in page for Penname), click on “Continue to your dashboard.”
If you are on the Penname pages or site and want to return to ManyStories, click on the little colored circles at the top right corner. Then click on ManyStories.
The Take Away
The founder of ManyStories, Lincoln Daniel says:
“The value of ManyStories is in its ability to surface your stories to readers over the long-term; the value is in the long-tail. ManyStories aims to be the single point between your stories and your readers, regardless of where you choose to publish. In the short-term, your stories are shown to your network, those who follow you. In the mid and long terms, the platform continues to drive traffic to your stories by putting them in front of readers from around the web.”
Put in the time and effort to explore ManyStories and share your Medium stories there, with tact. This means don’t share on ManyStories in a rambling fashion but choose worthy stories to share.
Research what content is posted when, which may give you ideas about what days and times to share your content.
Have a look at what story titles are on the ManyStories homepage when you are signed out.
This will show what is in the feed for visitors who haven’t registered with MS. Visitors to ManyStories (MS) don’t have to be signed into MS to click on the link to your Medium story that you share on MS.
If you share the link to a paywalled Medium story from ManyStories, be mindful that only paying members of Medium will be able to read the story in full.
Browsing the preview stats for stories (by looking at the numbers next to the “eye icons”) gives you great information about what readers are interested in.
You might want to look, from time to time, at the ManyStories profile pages of “Top readers” (at the bottom right). See what they share, which shows what they like reading.
Maybe your stories will be the sort that they like reading, so you could follow them, and/or otherwise politely and genuinely interact with them and share stories on ManyStories that you think they will like.
Readers of ManyStory content may be paying Medium members or not.
Of course, if your Medium story is not pay-walled, meaning that you haven’t “locked” it to paying members only, then the viewer can read your story in full.
This article has explored the purpose, benefits, functions, and practicalities of ManyStories. I get great enjoyment at seeing my story title at the top of the ManyStories page after I share it. It will stay there until more stories are shared by other sharers, thus filling up the page.
You can share as many or as few of your own stories on ManyStories.
And I think that, as it is for me, it would be thrilling for you to have one of your stories featured! I guess that a feature story would be one that Lincoln (or the algorithm) deems to be highly useful or encouraging or important.
Having a story featured means that it will be displayed in the very top section of the ManyStories homepage for a few hours to signed out visitors or to the passerby.
And this could bring visitors to your ManyStories profile page and/or to your Medium profile page!
“Do or Do not, there is no try” as Yoda said.
Do use ManyStories!
I think that you will find ManyStories helpful to give your Medium stories a further boost. Go to ManyStories by clicking on the link below.
Thank you Lincoln W Daniel for running ManyStories.
