Visual Space manual, Articles, Choose An Article Summary
The summary is the article's introduction in the feed and at the top of its reading page. This guide helps you choose one format, prepare content that can be published, and confirm that readers see the introduction you intended.
The summary is the article's introduction in the feed and at the top of its reading page. This guide helps you choose one format, prepare content that can be published, and confirm that readers see the introduction you intended.
Decide What the Summary Must Accomplish
Start with the reader's first encounter with the article. The summary should make the subject understandable or give the reader a reason to open the full article. It should not try to carry every detail from the body.
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Choose Text for a concise message - Use it for an announcement, a short explanation, or an invitation to read further. It is often the clearest choice when the idea matters more than a visual or destination link.
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Choose Image for a visual entry point - Use one image when a single visual introduces the work, or upload several related items to form an album. A caption can explain what the reader should notice.
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Choose Link when the destination is central - Use it to share a resource that readers should open. The preview identifies the destination, while your caption explains why it is relevant here.
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Choose Poll for a focused decision - Use it when readers should answer from a small set of choices. State the question clearly in the article title, then use the poll summary for the answers.
An article publishes one selected summary, even if you experiment with several formats while drafting. Use the optional article body for evidence, instructions, background, or mixed content that would make a feed card too dense. Authoring and Publishing explains how the summary and body work together.
Prepare the Selected Format
Open your article draft and find the summary controls below the title. Select Text, Image, Link, or Poll, then complete the matching workflow.
The highlighted summary type is the one readers will encounter in the feed.
For a text summary:
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Write the essential message - Give readers enough context to understand the subject without copying the article's opening paragraphs. A direct sentence or a compact pair of thoughts is usually more useful than a miniature article.
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Keep within the limit - Text summaries allow up to 500 characters. If the message needs more room, keep the decision or promise in the summary and move the explanation into the body.
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Check that authored text is present - The prompt shown in an empty editor is a placeholder, not part of your article. Replace it with your own content before publishing.
For an image summary:
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Upload the visual introduction - Add one image for a single-image summary. Add more related media when readers benefit from an album they can browse together.
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Review every uploaded item - Keep only media that contributes to the same introduction. An album should feel like one small visual story, not a substitute for all of the article's supporting material.
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Add a useful caption - Explain the subject, context, or reason the visual matters. Captions are optional and allow up to 500 characters.
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Respect the destination's access - Summary media in a protected area follows that area's protected-media rules. Publishing the article does not make the image or album public to people who cannot access the destination.
For a link summary:
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Paste the complete URL - Enter the destination in the link field, then confirm the change so Visual Space can build the reader-facing preview.
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Inspect the preview - Check that the preview points to the resource you meant to share. Correct the URL if the destination is wrong or the required link is still reported as missing.
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Explain why it matters - Add an optional caption when the preview alone does not tell readers why the resource belongs in this article. Link captions allow up to 500 characters.
For a poll summary:
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Put the question in the title - The poll card does not have a separate question field. Write a title that makes the choice clear when readers encounter it in a feed.
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Replace both option prompts - A new poll starts with two fields displaying prompts such as Option 1 and Option 2. These placeholders are not authored answers and do not make the poll ready to publish.
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Write distinct choices - Give readers at least two meaningful options that answer the title's question on the same basis. Use Add Option when the decision genuinely needs more choices.
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Check the complete decision - Make sure the title and options still make sense without the body. Add a body when voters need definitions, evidence, or consequences before choosing.
Create and Vote in a Poll follows the full poll journey, including publication, voting, and results.
Try Another Format Safely
You can switch summary types while deciding which introduction works best. Visual Space keeps the content from a previously selected type available during the current editing session, so switching back can recover your text, media, link, caption, or poll choices.
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Wait for save feedback - Before changing types, let any active field save finish or use Retry saving when a failure remains visible.
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Select the alternative type - Prepare enough of it to compare the actual reader experience, not just the empty input.
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Switch back to compare - Confirm that the earlier content returns, then review it rather than assuming every field is still correct.
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Leave the intended type selected - Only the summary visible as the active type is publishable. Content retained for another type is working-session recovery, not a second published summary.
Do not depend on type recovery after leaving or reloading the editing session. Before you finish, choose the format you want readers to see and verify its visible content.
Check the Reader Experience
The editor keeps the summary in the article-page layout, which lets you inspect its reading context before publication. A draft remains private and does not appear as an ordinary published feed card.
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Read the title and summary together - Remove accidental repetition and check that the title identifies the subject while the summary adds useful context, a visual, a destination, or answer choices.
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Inspect the active content - Confirm the text is complete, the intended image or album is present, the link preview uses the right destination, or the poll contains authored choices.
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Resolve visible validation - After a publication attempt, Visual Space identifies missing content or exceeded limits near the affected field. Correct the selected summary rather than filling a format that is no longer active.
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Publish from the article workflow - Complete the destination, permission, and final publication checks in Create and Publish an Article. The article and its feed post are released together.
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Open the published feed card - Find the post in its destination feed and check that it shows the selected summary format, not one you tried earlier.
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Open the article from the card - Confirm that the same summary appears above the body on the article page. An image, album, link, or poll should remain part of the same article rather than leading to a separate authored copy.
If the article belongs to a protected area, verify it from an account that is meant to have access. Do not treat absence outside that audience as a failed publication; the destination's access rules also protect the summary. Posts and Feeds explains where published cards appear and what stays connected between the card and article.
Fix Common Problems
The Publish action says the summary is missing.
Check the currently selected type. Text needs authored text, Image needs uploaded media, Link needs a usable URL, and Poll needs meaningful option text. Empty prompts and placeholders are not content.
My earlier summary disappeared when I changed types.
Switch back during the same editing session and review the recovered content. If you left or reloaded the session, prepare the selected format again rather than assuming its earlier draft can be recovered.
The feed shows a different introduction than I expected.
Reopen the article editor and check which summary type is selected. Only that type is published to the linked feed card. Save the correction, then inspect both surfaces again.
My image appears as an album.
An Image summary displays one uploaded item on its own and groups multiple items as an album. Remove unrelated items if you want one focused image.
The link preview is not the resource I meant to share.
Edit the URL, confirm it, and inspect the rebuilt preview. Use the caption to provide context, not to disguise an incorrect destination.
