Add rich elements to your posts: callouts, charts, images & widgets

Most of a post is plain text - paragraphs, headings, lists. But you can do more than that. Steeren lets you drop in rich elements wherever a plain paragraph isn't enough: a callout to flag something, a table to compare options, a chart to show a trend, a generated image, or a small interactive widget your readers can play with.

This guide is a menu. It walks through what you can add, when each one is worth reaching for, and how images and widgets get generated for you.

[!NOTE] You don't build any of these by hand or write HTML. You either ask the AI writer to include one when it drafts your post, or you add one in the editor. Steeren turns your description into the finished element.

How you add a rich element

Two ways, and you'll use both:

1. Ask the AI writer. When you generate or regenerate a post, tell the writer what you want - "add a comparison table of the three plans," "include an FAQ at the end," "add a chart showing growth over the last year." The writer drops the element into the draft for you.
2. Add it in the editor. Open a draft and insert the element directly. Fill in the fields (the question-and-answer pairs for an FAQ, the rows for a table, a prompt for an image), and Steeren renders it.

Either way, your changes go live when you publish. Until then, you can keep editing - visitors see the published version, not your in-progress draft.

[!TIP] If you ever see a {{component:...}} snippet in raw text, that's just Steeren's internal placeholder for a rich element - you never type these yourself. The editor and the AI writer handle them for you.

The elements you can add

Here's the full set, grouped by what you'd use them for.

To call something out

• Callout - a boxed note that draws the eye. Pick a level - note, tip, important, warning, or caution - and Steeren gives it the right icon and label automatically. Use it to flag a tip, warn about a gotcha, or highlight a key point so it doesn't get lost in the prose.

To structure information

• FAQ - an expandable list of questions and answers. Great for the bottom of a post, or anywhere readers tend to have the same handful of questions.
• Steps - a numbered, top-to-bottom sequence with a connecting line. Use it for instructions or any "do this, then this" walkthrough.
• Process - horizontal stages joined by arrows. Use it for a left-to-right flow or pipeline - the stages of a project, a buyer's journey, a how-it-works overview. You can give each stage an icon.
• Card - a titled box with text and an optional image on top. Handy for highlighting a single thing - a featured offer, a profile, a standout point.

To show data

• Table - a clean, simple table. Reach for it whenever a few rows and columns say it better than a paragraph.
• Comparison - a table built for "us vs. them" or "option A vs. B vs. C," with the comparison columns emphasised. Use it for plan comparisons, before/after, or you-against-a-competitor.
• Chart - a data chart for trends and breakdowns. Supported chart styles include line, bar, doughnut, bubble, and mixed charts - pick whatever fits the story your numbers tell.

To add visuals

• Image - a single inline image with an optional caption and credit. You can pick one from your library, upload your own, or have Steeren generate it for you (more on that below).
• Image carousel - a swipeable gallery readers can page through with prev/next. Use it when one image isn't enough - a product gallery, a set of screenshots, before-and-afters.

To convert readers

• Call-to-action (CTA) - a button (or inline form) that ties into your analytics and CRM, so you can see what's working. Use it to point readers to a signup, a demo, or a download.
• Contact form - an inline form that drops submissions straight into your CRM. Use it to capture leads right inside the post, without sending readers off to another page.

Interactive widgets

• Widget - a small, self-contained interactive element generated just for your post: a calculator, a comparison toggle, a custom interactive chart. You describe what you want and Steeren builds it. See Widgets below for what they can and can't do.

Images: covers and inline pictures

A post has two kinds of image: the cover (the big hero image at the top) and inline images in the body. Both work the same way - you can:

• Pick one from your asset library,
• Upload your own, or
• Generate one by describing what you want.

When you generate an image, Steeren uses your brand colours and image style to keep it on-brand, and shapes the result to fit where it's going - a wide hero, a square inline picture, an illustration, or a diagram. You can also choose the shape (for example 16:9 widescreen, 4:3, square, or 3:2).

Watching an image generate

Generated images don't appear instantly - they take a short while to render. You'll see this happen right in the post:

• While it's working, the spot shows a "Generating image..." placeholder.
• When it's done, the finished image appears in place, with its caption and credit.
• If generation fails, the image simply doesn't show - and you'll see that it failed, so nothing broken or blank gets shipped to readers without your knowing.

An image you picked or uploaded yourself is ready immediately - there's no generating step.

Captions and credit

Inline images can carry a caption and a credit line ("Photo: Jane Doe / Unsplash"), and the credit links back to the source when there's one. If Steeren sources a photo for you instead of generating one, it fills in the photographer and link automatically, so attribution is handled for you.

[!TIP] Swapped out a cover image? The new one shows up on your live site shortly after - usually within about a minute. If you don't see it right away, give it a moment and refresh.

Widgets: interactive elements, generated for you

A widget is a small interactive thing built specifically for your post - a calculator, a comparison toggle, a custom chart readers can poke at. You don't build it. You describe what you want (and you can hand it a CSV of data to work with), and Steeren generates it for you.

Watching a widget generate

Like images, widgets take a moment to build, and you'll see the state in the post:

• "Widget queued for generation..." - it's lined up.
• "Widget generating..." - it's being built.
• The finished widget - ready and interactive.
• "Widget generation failed" - something went wrong; the failure is visible to you rather than silently shipped.

If the widget is on a post that's already published, the finished result (or the failure message) updates on your live site on its own - you don't have to publish again.

Tweaking a widget

Not quite right? Give it feedback - "make the button blue," "add a third input," "round to two decimals" - and Steeren revises it. Successive tweaks build on each other, so you can refine it a step at a time until it's right.

What a widget can and can't do

Widgets are self-contained and run entirely in the reader's browser, which shapes what they're good for:

• They're great for anything that computes or toggles on the spot - calculators, interactive comparisons, sliders, custom charts. They follow your brand colours and font, and short labels translate along with the rest of a translated post.
• They can't reach your systems. A widget can't save what a visitor types, fetch live prices, or log anyone in - it has no connection to your backend.

[!WARNING] If you need something that has to reach your systems - saving an entry, looking up live data, signing someone up - use a contact form or a CTA instead. A widget can't do those.

Your asset library

Every image you generate or upload lands in your asset library, where you can browse, reuse, re-caption, or delete them. Anything in the library can be reused across as many posts as you like - generate or upload once, use it everywhere.

You can also generate a standalone image that isn't tied to any post - useful when you just need a picture to use somewhere else.

A few practical limits worth knowing:

• Uploads can be up to 20 MB each.
• Supported formats: PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF, SVG, and PDF.
• PDFs can live in your library to be linked (say, a download you offer readers) - they aren't embedded inline in a post.

FAQ

Do I have to write any code or HTML? No. You describe what you want - to the AI writer or in the editor - and Steeren produces the finished element. Even widgets, which are fully interactive, are generated from your description; you never write them by hand.

Why doesn't my new element show up for visitors? The most common reason: you added or edited it but haven't published yet. Visitors see your published version, not your in-progress draft - publish to push the change live. It's also worth checking whether a generated image or widget failed (you'll see the failure state), or whether a CTA is pointing at something that's been removed.

Why did my CTA disappear after publishing? A CTA points at an entry in your CTA list. If that entry has been archived or deleted, the button has nothing to link to and quietly drops off the post. Point the CTA at a live entry and it'll come back.

Can a widget save what someone types, or pull in live data? No. A widget runs entirely in the reader's browser and has no link to your systems - it can't store input or fetch live data. For anything that needs to reach your backend, use a contact form or a CTA.

How do I make an image without attaching it to a post? Generate a standalone image from your asset library. You describe it, Steeren creates it, and it's ready to use wherever you need it.