Playbook 2: the newcomer path in Story Hub
Circle: Daily Notes — a markets-explainer news circle (Story Hub layout, Circle VIP).
Problem: the content is good, but newcomers are lost: the feed scrolls, sources scatter, and many never see their first genuinely useful piece — then go quiet.
Goal: within three minutes of joining, a new member has received a starter set of content, knows where things live, and knows what to do next.
What members experience
Section titled “What members experience”- The moment they join: the bot delivers the welcome card (primary button opens the circle home), followed by the starter pack — three featured source cards; tap to follow.
- Opening the home: a banner with the circle name, a notice-bar line (“new here? start with Start here”), and the first directory folder: Start here — the onboarding guide, a learning-path collection, one curated source.
- After the guide: the pinned post “Three steps to get settled” — follow the picks, choose sources, say hi in a channel.
- When they’re ready to pay: a “Membership” entry sits right beside the folder, one tap from the purchase page.
What the owner does
Section titled “What the owner does”| Step | Where | What |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pick starter sources | Content → Story sources | Feature your three most representative sources as the starter pack, sent automatically on join |
| 2. Write the guide | Content → Posts | One pinned “three steps” post explaining how the content is organized |
| 3. Build the home folder | Settings → Appearance → Customize → Home entries | Top-level “Start here” folder: the guide + a learning-path collection + one curated source; a “Membership” entry beside it |
| 4. Set the notice bar | Settings → Notice bar | One line pointing at Start here, persistent site-wide |
| 5. Align the vocabulary | Settings → Appearance → Customize | Rename “sources”/“stories” if they don’t fit — home copy and entries follow |
Variations
Section titled “Variations”- Circles with trial content: set the learning-path collection to trial visibility so non-members read the first few articles — the directory itself becomes the conversion entry (see visibility levels in the content toolkit).
- Circles with an archive: add a second “Archive” folder and keep Start here first — newcomers find their way, veterans find the back catalog.