Updated: Sep 5, 2024

What’s coming in the new post builder

At beehiiv, we’re always moving fast, but this time we’re taking a moment to slow down and let you in on what’s next.

We’ve built an entirely new post builder experience, and we’re excited to offer Early Access to anyone on a Max or Enterprise plan. Want to be part of it? Join the Early Access Program here — or upgrade to Max and then fill out the form to get in on the excitement!

Otherwise, take a look at this demo with a written (or audio) overview of the new steps and features of the post builder flow.

Watch and learn: Post Builder Flow

Disclaimer: The Early Access program is available exclusively for users on Max and Enterprise plans. Additionally, due to the evolving nature of the program, some details shown in this video demo may differ from what you see in your account.

Compose Page

The new post builder flow starts with Compose, which is now designed to give you more writing space and a more organized layout for settings.

Previously, key settings were located in a sidebar, but now they are easily accessible within this new layout. This change ensures you won’t miss important post configurations before publishing. With more room to write, you’ll also find more dedicated space for individual settings.

If you're using the beehiiv Ad Network to send ads in your post, your upcoming ad placements will appear here on the Compose page.

You can drag and drop them directly into your post to build your content, and the section can be closed at any time for convenience.

Key Features

You’ll have quick access to essential post settings such as the post title or thumbnail, content tags, subtitle, and authors — all within the post editor itself. To edit any of these, simply click on them.

There are helpful tooltips built in, like when uploading or replacing a thumbnail image, you'll see a ‘Recommended thumbnail size’ displayed to ensure optimal formatting.

At the top of your posts, you can add or edit the following:

Post Title: named New Post
Post Subtitle: named Add a subtitle

By default, the Email subject line and Preview text will match the post title and subtitle. However, if you prefer different preview text for your email, you can manually change these from the Email page.

To hide your post title or subtitle from email or web versions, simply click on the visibility settings next to the title or subtitle, and toggle the "Show in email" or "Show in web post" options.

New Visibility Settings

Clicking the 6-dots menu to access the Visibility settings for each item, you can:

Hide post titles and subtitles in emails.
Hide the author's names and profile pictures in emails.
Choose whether to show the post thumbnail at the top of the web post.

Preview Options

Additionally, you can preview your post on different devices by clicking Preview. The preview will display how your post looks on both the web and email versions.

To share a draft of your web post without publishing, you can generate a Draft Link through the dropdown next to the Preview button. Draft Links do not expire, however, resetting the link will cause the previous link to become inactive.

You can also send a test email or preview your post from a subscriber’s perspective.

Audience Page

On the Audience page, it's now easier than ever to define who will receive or view your post. You can publish the post to both your email subscribers and your website audience, or select one of the two. Depending on your choice, you’ll be guided to the Email page, or Web page, or both.

For email, you can:

Choose to send to Free and/or Premium subscribers.
Include or exclude specific segments of your audience.
See a summary of your selected audience after making your choices.

For your Web Audience, you can select specific premium tiers or free subscribers to view the post on your website. If you want to limit access to specific premium tiers, this is where you’ll configure that.

Email Page

The Email page is where you customize the content and layout of your email before sending it to subscribers.

Here, you can:

Edit the Subject line and Preview text of your post.
Set up A/B testing for subject lines, creating up to 4 variations to compare.
Customize how long the A/B test runs and the percentage of your audience it’ll reach.

In addition to A/B testing, social and engagement buttons can be configured to enable readers to share, like, or comment.

Email Header Buttons

By default, Social sharing will be enabled for each new post you create. You can toggle this off from these Email page settings. From here, you can also turn on Engagement (the like and comment buttons) at the top of your post.

Advanced Settings

Under Advanced Settings, you can also modify the Read Online URL, which is particularly useful for those who publish posts on non-beehiiv-hosted websites.

Web Page

The Web page controls settings for how your post appears on your beehiiv website.

Here, you can:

Customize the Post URL before the post is published.
Enable Email Capture like popup or gated capture for the post.
Control who can comment on your post.
Toggle on the Audio Newsletter feature, which converts the post into audio, displayed at the top of the web post.

Post URL

If you have Web Audience selected on the Audience page, the Post URL is where your readers will go after clicking the link in your newsletter. You can update your Post URL here.

SEO Settings

You'll also find various SEO tools to optimize your post for search engines. You can enter the Meta title and description for the page and configure Visibility settings, such as hiding the post from your website feed or featuring it on the home page.

Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter have their own SEO options (this does not autofill), so you will click into each module to update the Meta and Descriptions.

Review Page

The final step in the flow is the Review page, where you can double-check all your settings before publishing.