Frequently Asked Questions

What is Storybird?

Storybird is a service that uses collaborative storytelling to connect kids and families. Two (or more) people create a Storybird in a round robin fashion by writing their own text and inserting pictures. They then have the option of sharing their Storybird privately or publicly on the network. The final product can be printed (soon), watched on screen, played with like a toy, or shared through a worldwide library.

Storybird is also a simple publishing platform for writers and artists that allows them to experiment, publish their stories, and connect with their fans.

How does Storybird work?

It’s simple. Someone starts a Storybird by writing a few words or grabbing a few images. Then the other person takes a turn, adding more words and pictures. In as little as one or two turns they can finish and share a Storybird. It’s that easy. And they can do it sitting side-by-side or across the country from each other.

Who uses Storybird?

Storybird is designed for families and friends. There’s no specific age limit or range, but we suspect families with kids between 3-13 will enjoy it most.

Why did you create Storybird?

We created Storybird to connect families and friends. Everywhere we looked, people were living apart, working long hours, or separated by travel. Old routines like reading a book together or playing a board game have become increasingly rare and new routines, particularly online, haven’t caught up. There are grown-up services and kid services—but no service actually connects both groups. That’s where Storybird comes in. We use collaborative storytelling to connect kids with their families.

Why stories?

Stories are the currency of life, particularly in families. Parents entertain and educate their kids through stories. And kids contextualize and imagine the world through narrative. It’s how our brains work. For us, the goal was to design a service that made storytelling effortless.

Are there other benefits to Storybird?

Storybird promotes imagination, literacy, and self-confidence. Kids who play with words and pictures early in life tend to score higher in cognitive and aptitude tests later on. They read and draw more, and are better able to understand concepts and ideas. Plus, they become comfortable with the act of creation: turning nothing into something. In an idea-based society, that’s a key advantage.

How much does Storybird cost?

Making, sharing, and reading Storybirds online is free and will always be free. Printing and premium services—when we introduce them later this year—will have a fee associated with them.

Registering

Click on “Sign up” in the top right corner to register for an account.

Follow the instructions in the Sign up sidebar. In particular, choose a username carefully. You can’t change it.

Once you click “Create your account,” you’ll be sent an email to confirm your registration. Be sure you add us to your safe list and check your spam filter if you don’t see our email.

You’ll be able to start using Storybird once you’ve activated your account. (Actually, you can Read Storybirds without an account.)

Logging in

Click on “Sign in” to…well, sign in. (Login, Get Started, etc.)

We automatically keep you signed in for six months if you don’t Logout. If you clear cookies after each session, you’ll need to Sign in on your next visit. (But you knew that.)

If you disable cookies, you won’t be able to use many site features. Sorry.

If you forgot your username or password, use the links in the sidebar:

Artist accounts

Artist accounts are the same as regular member accounts with the added feature of a Storybird shop. Shops provide artists with the tools to distribute, market, and sell their narrative art within Storybird.

To learn more about the benefits of an artist shop, click here. Ready to set up an artist shop? Click here.

Children's accounts

If you’re a kid under 13 and have bothered to read this—bravo. We’re impressed. Click here to sign up. If you’re over 13, you can use the standard account sign up here. If you’re a parent and want to know about safety on Storybird, click here.

Your account

Once you’ve logged into Storybird you’ll find your account details by clicking on your username between the word “Hi” and “Logout” in the top right corner.

After you click your username, you’ll see the account panel:

In the “General” settings, you can update your avatar, password, and email (usernames can’t be changed). You can also delete your account at any time (careful—it’s permanent).

Clicking the “Privacy” link enables you to change your privacy settings.

Your Storybirds default to “Private.” This means that while you can make and share Storybirds, they won’t show up in the public library/timeline. Choosing “Public” from the pull-down menu resets the default so ALL your Storybirds are made public. However, these are just the defaults: you can change the Public/Private settings for each Storybird on a case-by-case basis.

“Email Notifications” settings help you control how often we tell you about comments on your Storybirds or when a collaborator switches turns with you.

Both are set to “Immediately” and both can be reset:

Your profile

We don’t ask for or display personal information about you on Storybird. Not your age, location, or interests. Here, your shared stories represent you to the community.

If you decide to make your Storybirds private, then your experience is anonymous. No public profile whatsoever.

Click on your avatar to see your public profile.

Finding Storybirds

Click on the “Read” link in the main navigation to reach the public library/timeline. This is where all publicly shared Storybirds live.

We’ll be adding more features, tools, and filters in the months ahead to help you explore the growing range of Storybirds.

Reading, commenting on, and hearting Storybirds

Each Storybird has a unique page where it lives. If the page is private, only you and those you invite can see it. If it’s public, everyone can see it.

Here are some of the things you can do on a Storybird page:

1. Read a Storybird: click anywhere on the cover.
2. Comment: scroll below the cover and use the comment box.
3. Heart a Storybird: click the heart icon.
4. Add to your reading list: click the link.
5. Send to a friend: click the link.
6. Link to the author: click the name(s) beside the author tag.
7. Link to the illustrator: click on the name(s) beside the illustrator tag.

Comments

You’ll find the comment box below the Storybird cover as you scroll down the page.

You can preview your comment and, once posted, edit it up to 15 minutes later.

If one of your Storybird’s receives a comment you don’t like, simply used the “Delete” link beside it. Presto, magic! Gone.

Reading lists

Any public Storybird can be added to your reading list. Simply click the “Add to reading list” link above the book and you’re done.

You’ll find a link to your reading list in links beside your avatar on your homepage:

To remove a Storybird from your reading list, navigate to the story’s main page. Now, click “Remove” from the menu. Done!

Using Storymaker

Storymaker is the engine that helps you make Storybirds. The best way to understand it is to use it or to watch our demo.

Otherwise, here are some basics.

1. Pictures: drag art thumbnails onto the page.
2. Words: mouse over the white page and start writing.
3. Pages: add or delete pages using these controls.
4. Menu: invite a collaborator, publish, or save and close.
5. Clear thumbnails: removes all thumbnails but leaves pages.
6. Start over: removes all pages and thumbnails.

Making a cover

Storymaker automatically creates a cover for you after you add your first image to a page. When you start, your page menu looks like this:

After you’ve added some art to your pages, you’ll notice a new page icon labeled “C” in your page menu. That’s your cover. Click it.

Here’s an example of a cover and how you customize it:

1. Cover art: use this, or replace it with another art thumbnail.
2. Title: write your title in this area.
3. Title color: click the color squares to choose your color.

Inviting a collaborator

Storybird is extra-fun when you work with friends or family. You can invite a collaborator in two places.

From the menu inside Storymaker:

And from your dashboard:

Click the “Invite” link and fill in the invite form. Your collaborator will get an email that looks like this:

When your collaborator clicks on the link they’ll be taken to an invite landing page where they can jump in and start playing:

Taking turns

You can jump in and make changes to a Storybird anytime you want. But to make things easier we assign turns and notify you on your dashboard and by email when your partner has taken their turn or is switching turns with you.

Publishing Storybirds

When you (or your partner, if you’re collaborating) want to finish and publish your Storybird, choose “Publish” from the Storymaker menu…

…or click the “Details” link beside the cover on your dashboard:

Choosing “Publish” or clicking “Details” will take you to the “About this Storybird” panel where you can include details about your story, set your privacy option, and publish it.

Here’s what’s on the page:

1. Change cover: Don’t like the cover? Change it.
2. Change title: Same as above—change it if you want.
3. Summary: Your story’s “flap copy” or synopsis.
4. Tags: Keywords that describe your story.
5. Privacy: Public or private option.
6. Age range: Who’s the story most suited for?
7. Delete: Don’t like it? Throw it away.

You can change all of these at any time—even after you publish.

Public/Private settings

Storybirds can be set to public or private on a story-by-story basis. Just toggle the privacy menu in the “About this Storybird” panel.

Remember, you can also set the default to public or private in your account settings. That way your preference will always be used each time you publish a Storybird, even if you forget.

And, when you publish your first Storybird, we also insert this reminder onto your page about how to manage privacy.

Tags

Tags help you manage your Storybirds and make it easier for everyone to find them (if you make them public).

You can add tags to your Storybird in the “About this Storybird” panel when you publish or update your story.

These tags will appear on your published Storybird page and become active links to other stories with the same tags.

Making changes

You can make changes to your Storybirds even after they’re published. This includes the story itself and the details about the Storybird.

To make changes, simply navigate to the Storybird page and click on “Edit story” or “Edit details.”

Deleting or opting-out of Storybirds

Storybirds made by one author can be deleted at anytime. Click on the “Details” link of your Storybird and scroll to the bottom. You should see a “Delete this Storybird” option. Clicking it will take you to a confirmation page where you can delete the story or cancel and return to the information panel.

Storybirds made with two collaborators have some conditions.

1. Before the Storybird is published, the originating author—the person who started the story and invited a collaborator—can delete it whenever they choose. Follow the instructions above. However, the collaborator—the person who was invited—can NOT delete it. They can “Exit” or “Opt out,” which removes them from the Storybird.

To Exit/Opt out of a Storybird, scroll down to the bottom of the “Details” page where you’ll see “Exit/Opt-out of this Storybird.” Click on the link and follow the instructions.

2. After a Storybird is published, both the originating author and the collaborator can ONLY Exit/Opt out. But once one party exits, the other can delete it. In other words, both collaborators have to agree to delete a Storybird after it’s published.

Is Storybird safe?

We designed Storybird to be as safe as possible for kids and their families.

First, we are NOT a virtual world. There is no chat engine built into Storybird, so there’s no way for your child to have a real-time conversation with anyone.

Two, Storybird does NOT create public profile pages for members that reveal their interests, locations, phone numbers, etc. (In fact, we don’t ask you for your interests, location, and phone number ;)

Three, Storybirds can be made private and only shared among people you choose. If you want, you and your kids can have a completely anonymous experience. That said, we encourage everyone to publicly share their Storybirds since sharing doesn’t reveal private information and makes the public library better and better.

Finally, all Storybirds that are shared publicly are reviewed for offensive or inappropriate content before appearing in the library. If we find inappropriate material, the Storybird is pulled. It’s that simple. And if we miss something, any Storybird can be flagged for immediate review.

Flagging a Storybird or art

Each Storybird page or art page can be flagged for inappropriate content, spam, or general violations of our community guidelines. You can also use it to suggest a more appropriate age range for the item. You’ll find a “Flag this Storybird” or “Flag this art” in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.

Once clicked, you’ll see a report form where you can select a category and add notes about why you’re flagging the item and where it’s located on Storybird (the page address/URL).

Be specific and concise with your report. But also be mindful. Abusing this feature can result in actions by Storybird.

Reporting abuse

The “Report Abuse” form can be found in the footer of every page on Storybird. Use it when you want to report inappropriate content, community guideline violations, spam, or other general concerns. Unlike the “Flag Storybird or Art” form above, “Report Abuse” is used for actions or issues that happen in and around Storybird, particularly on comment threads.

Be specific and concise with your report. But also be mindful. Abusing this feature can result in actions by Storybird.

Community Guidelines

Short and simple rules on how to play nice.

Help

Not sure what to do? Help is on the way. (Well, if you click on “Help.”)