5 features that would make Substack even better

Don't get me wrong, I love Substack. I write a bi-weekly Substack so use the platform regularly and overall, I am happy. It's probably the best form of social media there is.

But there are niggles.

When you're creating posts, there are things you learn very quickly about how to use Substack, but after you've been using it for a while, you realise there are just a few user experience issues that make creating on Substack that little bit more annoying.

Here are five things I think would improve the experience:

01. An image library

The other day I wanted to reuse an image I had already created in a previous post. I don't think this can be uncommon, particularly with end of the year roundup posts where people were looking back at past posts.

I assumed that I would have a gallery of my own photos within Substack, where I could just add ones that I'd already uploaded, but no. I didn't have the image I wanted saved on my computer so I had to find my original post, save the image and then reupload it, which felt like an unnecessary step. An image library would fix that.

02. An internal link finder

It's good Substack etiquette, or at least I think it is, to link back to your own previous posts. This type of internal linking is really useful for guiding people back to other posts and also just so you don't have to keep explaining the same concepts over and over again.

But Substack doesn't make this easy. It doesn't have a link searcher where you can easily find your previous posts to link back to, for example. You just have to go to your own page of posts, click to open your own URL and then insert it. This feels like a lot of steps just to insert a link.

03. A custom button saver

For the uninitiated, you can insert buttons into Substack. I like to insert a button where people can click to buy me a coffee, for example. Unfortunately there is no way to save a custom button so I have to recreate it each time.

This involves typing in the text 'buy me a coffee' and then inserting the URL to my Ko-fi page. As I do this every time I make a post, I'd really appreciate being able to save it. The same goes for changing the text to encourage people to subscribe, it'd be great to be able to edit this and then save it.

04. Clearer stats

The stats on Substack are a bit baffling. They don't really tell you what they mean. For example, under the 'emails' section, it tells you how many emails you have delivered and then the amount of emails opened. The number of emails opened is often way higher than the number delivered. Why is this? Is this people opening their emails more than once? Is it something else?

The traffic sources are also unclear. What's the difference between 'direct' and 'direct to app'? And then Substack app? It's confusing.

It's also not clear whether your own views of a post count towards your overall views.

05. Free users commenting

I haven't come across this problem as I don't use a paywall on my Substack, but Creative Bloq's design editor, Daniel John, uses a paywall with his bestselling Substack and he says he wishes free users could comment on paywalled posts.

"If I send a preview of a post to everyone but there's a paywall, only the paid people can comment – I'd love the free readers to be able to comment on the preview they've seen in order to drive engagement," he explains.

If you'd like to follow my Substack all about having bipolar disorder, you can read it at Mood Disorderly.