Shorthand Reviews & Product Details

I love how easy the platform is to use and how speedy their help service is to help (on the few occasions we have needed it). They have been super accommodating of us and are always willing to help! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There are a few things we wish we have control over (such as how the responsiveness works and some custom styling), however I know on higher plans this is available, and shorthand . The other thing I have found challenging is that the pricing structure changes every year, this being said, shorthand has always been willing to help and find a plan to suit our NGO budget. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It’s easy to use with simple guides (if needed) to on-board other team members. You can really push your creativity as the various options, especially tailoring content just for desktop AND/OR mobile, allow you to provide a unique experience for your users to consume your content/information. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The limited networks offered as sharing could be expanded, to truly reach the masses. Only one user can be editing at one given time so sometimes limits collaboration. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

For ease in creating custom multimedia storytelling experiences, Shorthand is the way to go. Their templates allow for elegant and simple stories that any novice could quickly master creating, as well as the option for more technically nuanced approaches to create slick and professional designs. But what has been as impressive as their platform is their customer support. They are always quick, efficient, and treat me and my team with personal professionalism that is often lacking from tech companies. Our early missteps received kind understanding and the support team immediately took the time to adjust things on the back end for us. I definitely recommend Shorthand, particularly for other cultural heritage institutions, like ours. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

We are very satisfied with Shorthand. One point our users mention is that they miss breadcrumbs that would easily direct them back to the previous story they were in when advancing through linked stories (rather than having to click back to the original tab). Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Shorthand makes it drag-and-drop-dead easy to build beautiful web pages with photos, video, animation and more. Powerful customization tools keeps each piece looking fresh. And the customer service is fast, friendly and extremely helpful. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The biggest downside is that it's outside of our standard editing workflow and CMS. Although Shorthand can do integrations, those go only so far. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It's easy to use for non-techy people, with very little training they can produce beautiful storytelling projects. If you have access to a graphic designer or know a little bit of code you can produce even more spectacular looking content that works a dream on mobile too. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Nothing. Whenever we have wanted to push the boundaries of what is possible with the tool the Shorthand support staff has always been supportive and their response time is super fast.

If there is one thing we would love the tool to have in the future it would be to have the ability for multiple editors to edit stories simultaneously as we often collaborate on stories with people in different countries, but there are ways around this so is not a big issue for us. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

As a student newspaper Shorthand has been a valuable aid in improving our digital media content and giving our editors more creative ways to present their articles. The guides created by Shorthand have been invaluable in bringing members up to speed with the best practice when using it. We have only ever had one small issue and support was quick and incredibly helpful. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

We haven't found any downsides so far, completely satisfied with the experience so far. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Shorthand makes it easy for writers to share stories, but also for developers/designers to create exciting new audio-visual experiences. The amount of resource needed to develop original online stories can be daunting, but Shorthand shortcuts the otherwise prohibitive development process. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Downloading the raw page code was an important part of developing our stories, however this is no longer available in the standard plan we're on. This would make it easier for us to maintain code on our repositories/domains. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

If you have an issue or just a question about what is possible or how one could make a desired outcome - just pop in a question and they get back to you with a solution almost before you press send! They really look after their customers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The mobile version could be better, smoother. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The platform allows the creation of agile stories - without cast amounts of programming and development work.

Bringing these elements to life is important - customers want an online experience, where they can be given an engagement to learn.

In control - under an agency model - everything costs. With Shorthand, the costs are fixed and we define the producer. This means we can match the stories, to the best storytellers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Load times can lag on bigger stories - but this may down more to our desire to create advanced published stories! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The ability to create engaging content for our clients & the ability to wow clients by transforming their content. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I would like to have more freedom with the backgrounds on the sections, the ability to upload patterned backgrounds. To have body copy as an option on text over media. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Shorthand has a really seamless interface and is very easy to use. The smoothness of the finished product makes you work look extremely professional. I also love the excellent and rapid customer support we have received when we encounter a rare problem. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I have not yet encountered anything I dislike about Shorthand. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

User-friendly, clean, multi-functional, high quality final product, aesthetically pleasing, adaptable Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Publishing ZIP file system, inability to crop photos within back end, need to manually republish changes (amendments not instantly publishable to front end) Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The very first time I was using Shorthand was when I created an awareness story for a non – profit organization and the perpetuators were literally overwhelmed about the way the story came out. They later used it on their website and television for awareness. I cant say much about shorthand because it is what every story teller needs. The illustration features, the audio are all overwhelming features as compared to most of the software in the category of shorthand. I also love the fact that new users are given free trial periods which helps them get familiar with the software. The ability to share the stories on ones emails is another good feature I cant help but use frequently when I want the stories to go further but also the free illustration video tutorials are an amazing feature that make shorthand stand out from the other software of its caliber. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I have really not found a lot of problematic issues with shorthand but if the operators or developers of the software could allow for a free version then more people especially school goers may get involved in using the application. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I emailed Shorthand's customer support team after I had accidentally deleted a large chunk of work from my dissertation. I received a reply from Alex Marshall , a member of the team who replied within an hour and had restored my work to the best of their ability the next day. They were kind, understanding and efficient. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

That I deleted the work in the first place! I can't fault Shorthand's response, I got the sense that they would do everything possible to help. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Shorthand gives us the flexibility to produce a wide range of resources from technical walkthroughs to professional development training materials.

The interface is very easy to use and the quality of the final output is excellent. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There is nothing about this product that I dislike. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The CMS is easy to use and quick to pick up, with great examples to help you get everything just right. Their customer support is also very good and super helpful Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Nothing to add. Very happy with our experience so far. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The ease of use is key. Some features over the past year or so such as Set Focus have also helped to take some duplication about preparing content for mobile which is really helpful. Shorthand is fantastic at making good photos look great and great photos look amazing. It's so intuitive as a system that absolute beginners can design really compelling looking content in no time at all. It would be great if Shorthand were able to run more events and get some of the leading longform and Shorthand practitioners in the field to come along. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I'm not a huge fan of how scrollmation pictures appear on mobile. They can sometimes take up a fair amount of available space. I'd like to see a couple more basic templates and font choices available. Perhaps a sans serif font for standard text in the basic template would be great. Likewise, although it's great that we now a choice of font colours, some of them are quite weak/not bold enough, and the choice remains relatively limited. I'd also like more say as to where and how text appears in text over media sections and perhaps a choice of where exactly text could be placed in background scrollmation. Somtimes a narrower column might work best for certain photos, although I appreciate this would be harder work to code than just the left, centre and right options currently available. Perhaps more transition choices between reveal section photos would be fun. It would also be great to have a blurring/highlight tool available to have to rely less on Photoshop for those who don't have it or don;t have the skills for it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Ease of use and ability to mix/repurpose existing content from multiple channels, quickly and easily. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Having to upgrade to access fonts and colour palette customisation. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The ability to make quick changes, making ordinary graphics more interactive through scrollmations and text overlay sections, and the organisation of articles. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Not a great selection of colours for backgrounds and text. can sometimes become laggy when working on long articles (may be an internet issue though) Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like that Shorthand seamlessly incorporates text, photos, video, and audio into a visually interesting and interactive story for readers/users. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

If you asked me a few weeks ago, I would say I dislike the limited tools and options. But recently, they've been adding more features. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

We've a lot of stories to tell, and Shorthand uniquely gives us a single melting pot, allowing various production roles to work together in a truly collaborative sense. After the story narrative is nailed, there is very little we can't realise from a creative point of view. That's where the magic can happen. With your creative approach in draft, the format is inherently easy to get to grips with and simple transitions can be used to great effect. With the right story, and your reader in mind, Shorthand lets you wield and deliver your precious content in an absorbing and engaging way. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I don't like that you can't edit , easily, after go-live. Seems a little clunky. A few more formatting options inside the set themes would be a great bonus. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like the dynamism, the beauty of the layout possibilities and the features that help a story come to life. This format allows us to add dimension (e.g. video, static shots, maps, etc.) that helps to give our stories the depth and beauty that is commensurate with the subject matter. We treat our stories and the people that we work with seriously - and we need a platform that can help us communicate that. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I don't like that you can't edit or make changes once you've published. Also, it would be great if you could manipulate font sizes in the body text. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I had the pleasure of working with Shorthand's customer support team, as usual, a deadline was bearing on us and help received from Daniel Wolkowitz and Andrew Dekker was superb. Quick handling of requests from us, patient, calm, efficient and smart- thank you guys; you're an asset toShorthand, which is a great product that we have just started using and will continue to do so. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I think there should be more flex on editing post going live. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I like best about Shorthand is the ease with which the users can get to task and find their way, the beauty and richness of their final products, and the generosity and incredible swiftness of the support team at Shorthand. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

How can I fill the required space of 40 characters minimum? Nothing. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I like best about Shorthand is the versatility with the other software already in use. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I dislike about Shorthand is the price that we pay for the quality of product. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.