Quick Tips: Easy Does It.
Of Substack, Generative AI and Things You May Wish You Knew!
This post introduces a new format where I combine "Wish I Knew" tips that may come in handy now or in the future.
These tips are based on reader interactions, use cases I come across, or new information I discover that may be of help.
I plan to post these whenever I've curated enough tips.
Let me know if you like it, and feel free to share any tips you have as well!
Back to Basics!
Direct Messages on Substack
Do you check your Substack DMs often?
Use Cases: Collaborating with other writers and having 1-on-1 interactions with your readers!
How it Works: Set the chat settings to match your preference. Select "Settings" from the menu under your profile image on the right-hand side of the homepage.
Caveats: If you write for two publications, the same setting will apply to both (for now) and may sometimes work for only one of them (🐛)!
Anchor Links
An anchor link is a type of hyperlink that directs users to a specific section or point within the same webpage or document, rather than taking them to a different page or site.
Use Cases: Creating anchor links is a best practice for improving user navigation, enhancing the reader experience, and optimizing for search.
This feature is helpful when you have a long post and want to direct the user’s attention to specific content, reuse content across posts, or have your readers refer to specific sections.
You can also use these links to set up a table of contents (TOC), improving the overall reader experience.
How It Works: On Substack, use a header style (H1-H4) for section titles when drafting.
Once the post is published, hover over the title to get a direct link to that section. You can use this link in future posts.
Note: Check the above section header to see its anchor link.
To create a TOC with anchor links within the same post, use the 'Preview' button to copy the secret draft link onto a new tab.
In the previewed post, hover over the section headers to 'Copy' the relevant links.
Caveat: Substack only generates these links once the post is published, so this workaround is necessary for a TOC.
Table of Contents
Using Generative AI (GenAI)
Use Case: Raise a Support Ticket using GenAI Bots
Have You Tried Generative AI-Based Customer Support?
On this platform, Substack uses Decagon’s enterprise-level generative AI bot, built on the ChatGPT language model with potential enhancements from other models), through the "Ask a Question" feature for writers.
You can speak to it conversationally, just like ChatGPT, to resolve general queries.
What sets this feature apart is that the language model operates within the context of Substack (or other platforms), providing more tailored insights and solutions for you.
You can instruct the AI bot to raise a support ticket by saying, "Raise a ticket to support on this issue," or something similar when you need additional help. Ensure it is directed after it has provided you with an unhelpful response to your question!
This command automatically sends your conversation and relevant data directly to Substack's support team, saving you the hassle of manually raising tickets.
Pro Tip: Ensure your query with Decagon/Substack GenAI includes all relevant data to reduce back-and-forth with support. This ticket-creating feature should work across platforms, although specific companies may choose to disable it.
Use Case: Create Custom Policies
Did you know you can customize terms of use and privacy policies for your publication?
Use Cases: Given Substack's privacy policies outlined in its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page (see below), customizing some of these policies might be necessary, particularly if you have a large audience or are an established publication.
Additionally, keep in mind that Substack manages the entire workflow for payments, subscriptions, and cancellations, retaining control over all financial payment information for readers, with no access provided to writers.
Therefore, it may be important to clarify the workflow to your readers to ensure they understand the process.
How It Works: Go to "Dashboard → Settings" and enable the custom terms of service and privacy policies setting.
Once enabled, the footer of your posts will include additional links labeled as 'Publisher Terms,' which will direct readers to URLs automatically generated by Substack (e.g., yourpublication.substack.com/tos for Terms of Service and yourpublication.substack.com/privacy for Privacy Policy).
Speed up text generation by utilizing the Decagon bot (or use ChatGPT) to craft custom terms that integrate Substack’s policies.
Edit these as needed afterwards.
For instance, I used the bot to create a custom terms page that includes Substack’s cancellation policies and added notes to assist readers with the process.
I included custom sections to guide readers on how to cancel and access Substack support efficiently.
While this information might typically be included in a FAQ page, the redundancy is acceptable and I may remove it when I add the FAQ page to the site.
Check out my finalized custom terms of use and privacy pages.
Pro Tip: Generally, having a terms of use and privacy policy page enhances your external site’s credibility with search engines. Use standard templates based on your geographical region, such as GDPR compliance for European regions. However, this may be less relevant for Substack sites.
Bonus Tip: chatGPT Sessions
If you worry about ChatGPT sessions recording your interactions for its training, you may like its new feature—"Temporary Chats."
It is as indicated: your chat is private and transient, so you can still use its features as a regular chat to experiment with generative AI.
Choose the type of chat and model you want before starting the conversation by using the menu in the upper left corner as shown below to enable the temporary chat mode.
Caveats: If you don’t save the text separately on your local computer, you'll lose the responses when you exit the session. For 30 days, they retain a record for "safety" and "recall" to address risky or illegal activities—a necessary safeguard for new technology.
Overall Generative AI (genAI) Caveats: When using genAI tools, be aware of potential "hallucinations" in the responses. This term refers to the AI's attempt to fill in gaps with information from its general memory and knowledge base, which may not always align with reality.
Found this post useful? Why not explore my catalog of Substack articles?
Re the tip about the AI help bot raising a support ticket if the issue unresolved. It doesn’t happen, at least in my experience. Tried 3 times over the same issue, and crickets. Nada. Zilch follow up. Very ordinary customer service.
Very helpful post from Tech Made Simple. I tend to forget we have Direct Messages now. Given that I don't always check them. Furthermore, I would prefer to be able to opt in to group chats for various Substacks that I am subscribed to. I wonder if anyone else has thoughts on that.