What is a theme?
Themes are a way to apply your organisation's preferred styling to your Shorthand stories. Creating a theme ensures that your Shorthand stories are consistent with your other content and also creates visual consistency across all Shorthand stories.
All Shorthand users have access to several default standard Shorthand themes within the Themes menu of the Editor.
Custom branded themes are created by the Shorthand design team according to your brand guidelines and specifications.
Users can also build their own basic themes via our Theme Builder.
How can I set up a theme?
Build your own basic custom theme with the Theme Builder
You can build your own themes with our Theme Builder. Theme Builder themes are included with most plans and allow you to customize some of the primary elements of Shorthand stories.
Get a fully custom branded theme from the Shorthand design team
Note: Custom branded themes are only available on some plans.
If your plan allows for one or more bespoke branded themes, you can complete a theme form with the specifications and our design team will build it based on the specifications and your feedback. These themes allow for more detailed customisations than Theme Builder themes, including custom code.
You will need the following elements to set up your custom branded theme:
FONTS: Provide fonts in WOFF format, typically hosted by a service like AdobeFonts (formerly known as TypeKit), Google Fonts, or on your own servers. Other font types (such as .ttf or .otf) are usually not licensed for web use and may not show correctly in all browsers. Include all desired weights.
COLOURS: Provide colours in HEX or RGB format.
LOGO: We recommend SVGs or PNGs, and an image that is at least 60px high will generally ensure it will displays well across screen-types. You may include a different logo for small screens if needed.
FAVICON: Provide the url of the desired favicon (the small logo or icon that shows in the browser tab of the page) to have it added to your theme.
CUSTOM CODE: Our team can incorporate custom code into your theme, such as a third-party tracking code from an analytics service. Please provide clear instruction on where in the DOM the code needs to be injected.
You may also upload relevant style guides within the theme forms below. Any guides or font files that are too big to upload to the form can be emailed to [email protected].
Our standard, detailed theme form allows you to specify details like default colour and font applications for all design elements. This form is best for teams that would prefer to make specific decisions on how your brand translates into Shorthand.
Alternatively, you can submit a simplified theme form for specifying basic brand guidelines. The simplified form may be best for teams that would prefer Shorthand to make broad decisions on how your brand translates into Shorthand, i.e., we take care of it for you. If you are particular about default colour and font applications for specific elements, you should complete the detailed form above instead.
Once the initial theme is created, Shorthand will send you a preview story for you to review how your theme defaults are applied to different story sections and elements.
Please allow up to 72 hours (Mon-Fri) for theme creation.
Can different teams have access to different themes?
If your plan allows for multiple teams and themes, each team can have access to different themes or the same themes. Team theme access can be managed by workspace owners, admins, and team leaders from the team settings of their dashboard.
How do I change the theme of my story?
You can change the theme of your story at any time by clicking the THEMES button at the top of the Shorthand story Editor and choosing from those shown in the panel that appears.
Here, you will see any custom branded themes currently available within your team, as well as the Shorthand standard themes available on all plans:
If you're building multiple stories grouped under a Shorthand Project, the theme will be set from the Project settings and will be applied to all stories within the Project.
Can I change my story styling to be different than the theme?
The theme determines the default styles for your story, but for most elements you can still make changes on a per-story basis from within the Shorthand editor.