Card layouts break at a specific character count, and you find it by generating headlines either side of it. Every row here carries its own length, so you can sort a batch and see exactly where your design stops working.
What you can control
- Four desks — general, technology, business and clickbait — each with its own phrasing.
- The character count column makes it trivial to find the length at which your card overflows.
- Optional standfirst, byline and dateline turn a headline into a full article stub.
- The maximum-length control truncates hard, mirroring what a CMS field limit does.
What this is not
These are grammatically shaped headlines about invented events. Do not publish them anywhere they might be mistaken for reporting.
Questions
What is a standfirst?
The sentence under a headline that summarises the story — a subhead or deck. It is the element most card designs forget to leave room for.
Why include a character count?
Because headline layout is a length problem. Being able to sort by length and find your breaking point is faster than eyeballing it.
Are these headlines about real events?
No. Templates are filled with generated place names, companies and topics. Any resemblance to an actual story is coincidence.