Who can use this feature?
This feature is only available to editors of a Medium publication.
- Learn more about getting started with a Medium publication.
- Learn more about the differences between a Medium account and a Medium publication.
- To learn how to customize your user profile page instead, see this article.
Activating beta publication layout
- Go to your publication homepage.
- Click on your publication avatar in the top-right corner of the page.
- Click Homepage and settings.
- Under Try the beta section click Opt in.
Designing your publication pages
The new design editor lets you make style changes to your homepage and article pages.
To access your publication's design tools:
- Click on your publication avatar in the top-right corner of your publication homepage.
- Choose Design your publication from the menu.
These tools are only available on desktop.
On the Design page, you can click between Homepage and Story views in the top navigation bar to see how your changes reflect in each.
In the editor panel on the left, you can:
- Change your background and accent colors
- Change your fonts
- Customize publication homepage header
Let’s work our way down the editor panel.
Changing your background and accent colors
In the editor panel on the left side of the page, click Colors to open the colors section, where you can change your publication's accent color, as well as the color of your background.
- Accent color
- Color used for the buttons and links, such as the publication's Follow button or the authors' names on your stories.
- Background color
- Color of the page on all your stories.
Your font color will adjust for darker background colors automatically to retain accessibility for your readers.
If you don’t like your changes, click Reset color from the color picker dropdown at the bottom to return to the previous color selection.
Changing your fonts
Click Fonts in the editor panel on the left side of the page to open the font options. Medium currently support three fonts, which you can apply to your story titles, details, and body.
- Titles
- Font used for story titles.
- Details
- Font used for story subtitles, publish date, author name, kickers, and headings.
- Body
- Font used in the body of your stories.
Customizing your publication homepage header
Click Header in the design editor panel on the left side to open customization options for your homepage header.
Applying an image or color to your header’s background
In the Background section, you can make the following changes:
- Apply a color or image to your header’s background.
- Choose between a solid image or color or a gradient overlay.
- Adjust the display type and position of your image, if applicable.
You can also change the story page’s header background color in this window. Click over to the story view to see the changes.
Adding a logo or editing your publication name
In the Name section of the header dropdown, you can add and adjust a logo for your publication. If you don’t have a logo, you can edit the color and size of your publication name here instead.
Tip: When adding a logo, upload it as a PNG so that its background is transparent.
Customizing your publication navigation sections
In the editor panel on the left side of the page, click Sections to open up your publication navigation section.
Publication navigation links appear on your publication header, next to your logo and the Follow button.
From there, click Add section by to add a new section:
- Click Topic to add a link to your publication's topic page. Type in the section name and the topic that the section should be displaying. Your section will show all the stories in your publication with that topic.
- Click Link to add a URL to a Medium story or any non-Medium URL.
You can add up to nine sections to your publication navigation bar at a time. To delete a section, click the X button near the section you want to delete and confirm.
Publishing or canceling your changes
When you’re ready to publish your changes, click the Publish button in the top-right corner of the page and confirm. When you publish for the first time, your new publication will become visible for all your readers to see. You can also cancel your changes from there.
Your publication homepage
The new homepage is streamlined and designed to get readers right into the content. If a story is short, the whole post will appear inline on the homepage. If it’s longer, the homepage will show the first few paragraphs then a “read more” link. Stories automatically appear in the order they were published, with the exception of pinned stories (see below).
While your publication is in beta, but not yet visible for readers, you’ll still have access to the previous Homepage manager under Settings. That’s where you can continue to manage your old homepage until you make the old one visible to readers.
Once you make your publication “Visible”, you’ll no longer manage your homepage from this interface. It’ll always show readers the latest stories, and you can use the pinning function to highlight a particular story or stories by placing it at the top.
Pinning stories on your publication homepage
You can pin stories on your homepage to always have them at the top of the feed.
- On your publication homepage, click the three-dot button on the lower right hand side of the story card.
- Click Pin story.
You can unpin your story by following the same steps. Additionally, you can do this during the publish flow by clicking Pin story on the publish screen.
You can pin as many stories as you want, and the most recently pinned piece will have top priority.
Deactivating beta publication layout
You can deactivate the beta publication layout and go back to the earlier design at any time.
- Go to your publication homepage.
- Click on your publication avatar in the top-right corner of the page.
- Click Settings.
- Under Beta section click Opt out.