Choosing the right form for your presentation, magazine, brochure or any other type of online publication can be quite the challenge. How are you going to bring structure to your story, and how should your audience navigate through it? We’ll take you through the different navigation methods for each type of publication, so you can deliver the best experience.
Start by taking a look at your audience
Always start by looking towards your audience. Do they want to have control over the way they navigate through your newsletter? Or do they wish to be guided through the story by you, the creator? Should it be a linear experience, or should it be a multilayered, spiderweb-like experience your audience can control themselves?
Ultimately, it all comes down to your audience and their preferences. Digital natives will probably like to have more control over the way they navigate through your publication, while technophobes would welcome more guidance.
Different publication types call for different structures
The type of publication you're creating is also important. Are you creating a newsletter, presentation or annual report? Then you’re most likely using all pages to tell the whole story, so it might be better to guide your audience through it. But when it comes to brochures or whitepapers, your audience might want a little more control, so that they can navigate directly to the page they are interested in.
Which publication type should you choose?
When starting a new project in Maglr, you have three types of publications to choose from. Each one has its own strengths & characteristics to help you fulfil the wishes of your audience:
Slide publication (available with all plans)
Maintain the look and feel of a physical magazine or report, by creating a linear multi-page slide publication. Your audience is still free to decide how they’re navigating through the pages themselves, but you’ll be their guide across the entire publication. From its fixed starting point, all the way towards the end.
This type of publication works best when you’re creating a newsletter, presentation, magazine, annual report. Or when you would like to guide your audience through the publication.
Click here to see an example of a Slide publication.
Stack publication (available with Pro & Enterprise plans)
Start your story from a main (scrolling or fullscreen) page, with manually placed links to all other (sub)pages of your project. Every new page is displayed ‘layered’ or ‘stacked’ on top of the first page, which brings a new segment to your story. Closing this subpage takes your viewer back exactly where they left off on the previous page. These ‘stacked’ pages can go up to three layers deep.
Stack publications work best when you’re creating a brochure or whitepaper, or when you’re looking to give your audience more control over the way they’re navigating through your publication.
Click here to view an example of a Stack publication.
Micro content (available with Pro & Enterprise plans)
Micro content publication types are used to create ‘standalone’ pages, meaning that every page within these projects is regarded as a separate page.
This publication type is mostly used in the form of a landing page, infographic or editorial. And because of its more extensive (single page embedding) options, it can be embedded (iFrame or HTML inject) directly into your website or blog.
Click here to view an example of Micro content.
What should you do if you change your mind?
Because the available publication types in Maglr can be used for multiple purposes, it can be hard to choose the right one for your next project. You might start off with a Stack publication, but what if you find out later that a Slide publication is the better choice here?
Rest assured, as there’s no need to make up your mind right away. Luckily, it will always remain possible to change your publication type after you have created your project. Simply head on over to your project’s settings, check the publication type you’d like to change your project to, and click save to apply your changes.
Need more help?
Still in doubt which publication type works best for your next project? Head on over to our list of examples (click here) to get inspired. Also feel free to ask your questions directly via live chat or at info@maglr.com.
