Medium: Customize Subtitle / Description
Customise fields that appear in a Preview (Title, Subtitle and Description)
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When stories are listed Medium, in a profile list say, there is a preview of the story showing Title and Subtitle. It is possible to customise this preview text of Title and Subtitle.
When Medium stories are listed in an internet search it is possible to customise the Description as well as Title and Subtitle.
Title
I’m not sure why you would want to customise a story Title that appears in a preview to be different to the actual Title, but it is possible. Perhaps you might want to shorten it to make it more “punchy” and eye-catching, or to fit into a smaller space.
Subtitle
One reason why the Preview Subtitle might be different to the Story Subtitle is to highlight some reason why you would want to read it. So, in preview it could say Microfiction, and when reading the story, the Subtitle could be blanked out.
Description
The default Description that appears in an internet search is the first 160 characters (approx) of the body of the story. I’ve always found this a bit confusing. Why does it not describe what the whole story is about, then you are better placed to decide to read it or not. This is where you can customise the Description.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Edit story:
Press the three dots … (top-right) to get drop-down menu:
Select option Customize title / subtitle
and note what the Automatic values of fields Title, Subtitle and Description:
click the Custom button:
change required fields:
Press Save (and remember it only takes effect after Publish)
In practice, not sure if the customised description propagates to search engines…
(note: unlisted document)
