Managing Branches, Links, Move, and Reorder

Managing branches, links, move, and reorder

The chapter tree determines how readers travel through a story. Add a normal chapter for a new path, use a Link Chapter to join an existing path, move a chapter when its parent is wrong, and reorder branches when readers should see the choices in a different order.

Read the branch structure in the Story Map

Open View Story Map from a chapter, select Map under My stories, or use Story map from the story tools. You must be logged in to view it.

The map has three orders:

• Branch order shows the parent-and-child structure.
• Recently updated shows the newest edits first.
• Recently published shows newly published chapters first.

In Branch order, use Collapse all and Expand all to control large trees. Go to current locates the chapter from which you opened the map. Status labels help collaborators distinguish published, draft, under-review, and other chapters they are allowed to see.

The Story Map is a view of the story, not a drag-and-drop editor for the whole tree. Open the chapter actions to move a chapter, or open Reorder next chapters on a parent to change its immediate choices.

Add a normal branch

At the end of the parent chapter, select Add a new chapter or choose Write a chapter from its adjacent menu. The new chapter becomes the last choice below that parent.

Its Answer is the label readers select and the title shown in the Story Map. Write it from the perspective of the preceding Follow-up Question.

When a destination has game-state conditions, put those conditions on the destination chapter. They do not belong on the parent simply because the parent displays the choice.

Join branches with a Link Chapter

A Link Chapter creates a follow-up choice that redirects to an existing content chapter in the same story. It is useful for:

• bringing two routes back to a shared scene;
• returning to an earlier hub;
• creating a deliberate loop without copying the destination prose.

To add one:

1. open the parent chapter;
2. open the menu beside Add a new chapter;
3. choose Link a chapter;
4. enter the required Answer;
5. search for the destination in This chapter is linked with;
6. save, publish, or submit it like another chapter.

The destination must belong to the same story and must be a content chapter. A Link Chapter cannot point to another Link Chapter.

A Link Chapter has no chapter-content field, follow-up question, tags, or polls of its own. It may still have game-state conditions and changes when the story uses game state. During an active game, CHYOA checks the Link Chapter's conditions, applies its changes, and then applies the destination chapter's changes. It does not separately check the destination's conditions during that jump, so put any requirement for the linked route on the Link Chapter itself. Test the complete route in an active game.

Use a Link Chapter instead of copying a shared scene. Copies can drift apart when one version is edited, while a link keeps one destination as the canonical scene.

Understand links versus moving

Linking and moving solve different problems:

Use a link when several paths should reach the same scene. Move when the chapter itself is filed under the wrong preceding choice.

Move a chapter and its branch

Owners and Editors can open a non-first chapter's actions and choose Move Chapter. On the move page:

1. choose the New parent chapter;
2. select Move chapter;
3. return to the Story Map and check the result.

The moved chapter becomes the last branch under its new parent. All chapters beneath it move with it. CHYOA offers only valid destinations, so a chapter cannot become its own parent or be moved beneath one of its descendants. The first chapter cannot be moved.

Moving changes the route readers take to reach the branch. Review:

• the new parent's Follow-up Question;
• the moved chapter's Answer;
• any conditions on the moved chapter;
• references in the prose to the previous route;
• Link Chapters that enter or leave the moved subtree.

The chapter itself remains the same chapter, so direct CHYOA links and bookmarks that identify it continue to lead to it.

Reorder a parent's choices

Owners and Editors can reorder a chapter when it has at least two immediate follow-up chapters. Open the parent chapter's actions and choose Reorder next chapters.

Drag a row by its handle or use Move to top, Move up, Move down, and Move to bottom. Select Save order when the list is correct.

This changes the order readers see after that parent; it does not change any chapter's parent, content, conditions, or descendants. During an active game, inaccessible choices may be disabled or hidden, but the remaining choices keep their relative order.

Assistant Editors can edit chapters but cannot move or reorder them. Authors can edit or delete their own eligible chapters, but cannot move or reorder them. See Story Modes, Roles, and Review for role details.

Use reader paths from the Story Map

The Story Map can guide a reader from the beginning of the story to a selected visible chapter. The guided route highlights the next branch to choose. When the reader entered the map from a suitable earlier chapter on that same route, the map may also offer a path beginning there.

This is reading guidance, not a replacement for a well-structured story. A guided route only uses chapters the current reader may view. Conditions can still affect choices during an active game.

Check a structural change

After adding a link, moving a branch, or changing an order:

1. open Story map in Branch order;
2. locate the affected parent and descendants;
3. read the route from the parent chapter;
4. test Link Chapters all the way to their destinations;
5. test conditions both with and without an active game;
6. check the Back and Start Over routes;
7. confirm drafts and submitted chapters remain in their intended states.

Related Guide chapters

• Write and Publish Chapters
• Chapter Conditions and Game-State Changes