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How to Upload a Story

This guide covers how to manually share a story with your Group, including adding text content, attaching media files, and configuring publication settings.

Looking for RSS uploads?

If your Outlet publishes stories through a content management system with an RSS feed, you can streamline the upload process by importing stories directly from your feed. See How to Upload Stories with RSS for details.

Before You Begin

You will need:

  • A Plucky Wire account with a verified Outlet (see Join an Outlet)
  • Membership in at least one Group (see Join a Group)
  • Your story content ready (headline, body text, and any media files you want to include)

Note

Your Outlet must have upload permissions within your Group. If you don't see the Upload option in your navigation, contact your Group administrator.

Instructions

  1. Log in to your Plucky Wire account.

  2. Go to the Upload page at https://wire.pluckyworks.org/upload/.

    You can also click Upload in the navigation menu at the top of any page.

  3. If you belong to multiple Groups, select the Group you want to share the story with from the dropdown at the top of the page.

Required Fields

Headline
This is the main title for the story as it will appear on Plucky Wire.
Author(s)
List all authors, separated by commas (e.g., "Jane Smith, John Doe").
Publication Date
This should be the date the story was originally published.
Outlets

  1. Click the Select Partners button to open the Outlet selection modal.

  2. Check the boxes next to each Outlet that should be credited on this story.

    Typically, you'll select your own Outlet. If the story was co-published with other Outlets in your Group, select those as well.

  3. Click Done to close the modal.

    The selected Outlets appear as badges next to the button.

Info

Outlets can upload as many stories as their subscription allows. If an Outlet has reached its upload limit, it will be greyed out in the Select Partners modal with a note explaining that its upload limit has been reached.

Body Text

  1. Click in the body text editor to start writing or pasting your story content.

  2. Use the formatting toolbar to add:

    • Bold and italic text
    • Headings
    • Bulleted and numbered lists
    • Links
    • Block quotes

  3. To paste content from Word, Google Docs, or another source, simply paste directly into the editor. The editor preserves basic formatting while cleaning up unnecessary styles.

Warning

All images should be uploaded separately -- not as part of the Body Text. Images that are left in the main body text will be removed when the story is saved.

To upload images that you dropped into the body text field, drag and drop images from the Body Text field into the sidebar drop zone. The images will be added to your story's media attachments farther down the page. If you add a cutline to the popup that appears when you drop an image into the drop zone, the cutline will be saved and also displayed farther down the page.

License

  1. Select a License from the dropdown.

    This determines how other Outlets can use your story. Your Group administrator sets up the available license options.

Optional Fields

Sub-headline
A secondary headline or additional context.
Original URL (ie, Canonical URL)
The URL to the story where it was published first. This helps other Outlets properly attribute the source.
Outside Contributors
If the story includes contributions from Outlets that aren't part of your Group, enter their names in the Outside Contributors field, separated by commas. This is useful for one-off collaborations with external partners.

Note

Outlets that are listed as Outside Contributors won't get analytics on how their stories perform. If an Outlet wants to see the data on where their story gets republished, they should register and join the Group.

Media

You can attach images, audio files, video files, and PDFs to your story. Other Outlets can download these files when they reprint your story.

Type Formats Max Size
Images JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, HEIC, BMP, TIFF 200 MB
Audio MP3, WAV, OGG, AAC, M4A, FLAC, WebM 200 MB
Video MP4, WebM, OGG, AVI, MPEG, QuickTime 200 MB
Documents PDF 200 MB

To add media files:

  1. Drag and drop files into the upload area, or click Select files to browse.

  2. Wait for the upload to complete. A progress indicator shows the upload status.

  3. Once uploaded, add a Cutline (caption) for each file to help other Outlets understand the context.

Note

Images are automatically converted to JPEG format for consistency.

Audio and video files may take a few seconds to process after uploading, with longer files taking longer to process.

Embedded Media

If your story includes embedded content from external services, you can add those here so other Outlets can include them in their reprints.

Supported providers:

  • YouTube
  • Datawrapper
  • DocumentCloud

To add embedded media:

  1. Click Add Embed in the Embedded Media section.

  2. Paste the URL of the embedded content (e.g., a YouTube video URL).

  3. Add an optional cutline to describe the embedded content.

  4. Repeat for additional embeds.

Editor's Note

Use the Editor's Note field to add context that other Outlets should know, such as:

  • Background information for editors
  • Special attribution requirements
Series
If your story is part of an ongoing series, select it from the Series dropdown. This helps other Outlets discover related stories that you've written.
Boilerplate
Select a Boilerplate to automatically include standard text with your story. Boilerplates typically contain information about your Outlet or Group. This text appears at the beginning and/or end of the story when other Outlets download it.
Tags

If your Group uses tags, click Select Tags to categorize your story. (Tags aren't visible if the Group hasn't enabled them.) Tags help other Outlets find relevant stories by identifying specific aspects of stories:

  • Geographical tags - Locations covered in the story
  • Editorial tags - Story type (investigation, feature, breaking news, etc.) or methods (anonymous sources, data heavy, etc.)
  • Topical tags - Subject matter categories (education, crime, sports, etc)
Embargo Until

If you need to delay when other Outlets can access the story, set the date and time when the story should become available.

Embargoed stories are visible in search results but cannot be previewed or downloaded until the embargo expires. This is useful if, for example, you want to post the story to all your feeds (thereby sending it to Plucky) but you still want exclusivity for two days.

Info

You can still edit embargoed stories before the release date. Use this feature to let other partners know that a big story is ready for release before you're ready to share it with them.

Submit Your Story

  1. Review all the information you've entered.

  2. Click Upload Story to submit.

  3. If successful, you'll be redirected to your new story's page. If there are issues you need to address, you'll be sent back to the top of the page. Look for red badges highlighting issues that need your attention.

Note

Stories are immediately visible to other Outlets in your Group once submitted (unless embargoed). Double-check your content before uploading.

Next Steps

After uploading your story:

  • Find stories shared by other Outlets in your Group
  • View your story's analytics to see how many Outlets have downloaded it

Troubleshooting

  • "A story with this headline already exists" error: You may have already uploaded this story, or a Group admin uploaded that uploaded that story for you. (Stories are considered identical if they have the same Outlet, Publication Date, and Headline.)

  • I can't select an Outlet: The Outlet may have reached its upload limit for the current period. Contact your Group administrator to request an increase or wait until the next period.

  • My media files won't upload: Check that your files are under 200 MB and in a supported format. Try uploading one file at a time if you're having trouble with multiple files.

  • The rich text editor isn't working: Try refreshing the page. If pasting from Word or another application, try pasting as plain text first (Ctrl+Shift+V or Cmd+Shift+V).

  • I need to edit a story after uploading: Go to the story page and click Edit to make changes. You can update any field, including adding or removing media.

Note

Stories can only be edited by Users who are either Admins in the story's Group or Users who are associated with one of the Outlets that published the story. All edits are tracked and published on the story preview page.

  • I uploaded to the wrong Group: You'll need to delete the story and re-upload it to the correct Group. Stories cannot currently be moved between Groups.