Previewing
Preview lets you play your own story right inside the editor — before you publish, and without anyone else being able to see it. It’s the fastest way to check that your branches, variables, and endings actually work the way you intended.
Opening the preview
Click the eye icon in the left toolbar (its tooltip reads Preview story). A play window opens on top of the editor, starting from your starting block — exactly what a reader would see.
If you have unsaved changes, Skaz saves your story first, then starts the preview. That means preview always plays your latest work — you never have to publish to test something.
Playing through
The preview behaves just like the real player:
- Text and images appear as a reader would see them, with any
{{variable}}placeholders filled in from the current values. - Choices show up as buttons; click one to follow that branch.
- User Input blocks give you a text field — type an answer and continue, and it’s saved into the variable just like in a real play.
- A step counter at the top shows how far into the story you are.
Because it’s a real play session, all your variables, Variable Routers, and conditions run for real — so this is where you’ll catch a router with no matching branch, a counter that never changes, or an ending you can’t actually reach.
Restarting and closing
- Restart (the circular arrow) begins a fresh play from the start — handy for trying a different set of choices, or re-testing after you spot a problem.
- Close (the ✕) returns you to the editor. Fix whatever you found, then open preview again to check it.
Preview runs a genuine play session, so it can also show up in your story’s own play tracking alongside real readers’ sessions. That’s expected.