How to Create a Flipboard Magazine

Here's how to create a Flipboard magazine that collects stories around one topic. You'll need a signed-in Flipboard account, a title and a first article to add. Start with one collection; you can make it public for followers or private for yourself and invited contributors.

How to create a Flipboard magazine without hiding it accidentally

Flipboard has two privacy settings to think about: the profile and each magazine. Making your profile private also makes your magazines private. Making that profile public again doesn't restore their public visibility. You must change each magazine separately, according to Flipboard's visibility help.

That is the first setting to check if a collection looks fine to you but a friend can't see it. A public profile with a private magazine is a valid setup; it isn't a broken share link.

The Flipboard project page is a starting point for the service. If the goal is a private stream of subscriptions instead of a collection people can follow, NetNewsWire or Capy Reader may be the better job match.

1. Open your profile and start the collection

Go to Profile and choose Create a New Magazine, the wording in Flipboard's creation help. Its other official guides also use New Magazine for the app control.

You should reach the form for the magazine's title, description and visibility. These steps follow the current published help; the button wording can differ between the browser and app.

Choose a topic small enough that the first few articles belong together. “Urban gardening in small apartments” gives a reader a clearer idea than “Interesting things.” A working collection needs a subject, not a slogan.

2. Name the magazine and explain what belongs

Add the title and description. The title should identify the topic; the description can explain the angle and who will enjoy the stories.

For example, a collection called “Weekend Rail Trips” could have this description: “Routes, station guides and first-person trip reports for short train journeys.”

Don't make the description a list of every topic you might add later. If the magazine is about train travel, a general technology story needs a reason to belong. A narrow description makes that editorial choice easier.

When this step works, the magazine has an identifiable name and a description someone can understand without opening all the stories.

3. Choose public or private before adding stories

A public magazine is visible to other readers. A private one is for you and the contributors you invite. Flipboard asks you to choose during creation.

Use public visibility for a collection you want people to follow. Use private visibility for a working reading list or a small group that doesn't need an audience. Sharing a link and inviting a contributor serve different purposes: a reader doesn't need editing access to enjoy a public collection.

After creation, the magazine should appear on your profile. Check its own privacy setting before sending the link to anyone outside your contributor group.

4. Add the first story with the plus control

Open a story you want to collect and use the + or +Flip control documented in Flipboard's magazine guides. Choose the magazine you just created.

The story should now appear inside that magazine. Add a caption if you have a reason to explain the selection. “This route starts at a station reachable without a car” tells a reader more than “Great article.”

A magazine can contain more than article links: the creation help also describes videos, Notes, photos and URLs. Choose the format that supports the topic. A photo can add context, while a link is a better way to point readers to a full report at its original publisher.

5. Invite contributors only when you want shared editing

Flipboard's group-magazine guide places the invite control on the cover near your profile picture. Its contributor help says invitations expire seven days after creation.

Send an invitation when someone should add stories, not simply when they should read them. An expired invitation needs a new link. A public magazine can have invited contributors, and a private magazine can have them too.

The creator keeps the magazine's administrative controls. Agree on what belongs in the collection before inviting a large group; a shared recipe collection shouldn't silently become a general news feed because everyone has a different idea of the topic.

6. Share the collection and check the reader view

Share the magazine link through Flipboard's sharing options. Open that link in a signed-out browser view if the magazine is meant to be public. The result to look for is the collection and its stories, rather than an editing screen available only to you.

For a private group, ask an invited contributor to open the collection from their own account. That checks the invitation path instead of public visibility.

Adding a publisher's story doesn't change its access rules. If the original article needs a subscription, a magazine link doesn't turn it into a free article. A useful caption can explain why the link belongs without copying the publisher's text.

Known problems and their fixes

Flipboard's support pages describe three concrete failures worth checking:

These checks don't require rebuilding the collection. If one story's destination fails while the magazine opens, inspect that publisher link separately; the magazine's visibility isn't the cause of every article problem.

Two ways to use the same setup

Keep a private research collection

Use a private magazine for links you're still sorting. Add captions that explain the question each story answers. If other people are contributing, use a description that names the topic and leaves little room for unrelated links.

Publish a collection readers can follow

Use a public magazine for a topic with enough material to sustain it. The first stories should demonstrate the promise in the description. A magazine about local walking routes should open with routes and practical reports, not several general lifestyle articles.

For source monitoring rather than curation, Feedreader, KrISS feed and Makagiga offer different RSS workflows. More options sit in the News Search category.

Completion checklist

• The title identifies one topic.
• The description explains what belongs in the collection.
• The profile and magazine visibility allow the intended audience.
• At least one added story opens from inside the magazine.
• Contributor invitations are current and go to people who should add content.
• The shared link opens in the appropriate reader account or signed-out view.

Next steps

Add the next story because it improves the collection, not because an empty slot needs filling. If you find a second topic taking over, give that topic its own magazine. Flipboard's creation help sets a limit of 249 magazines, so you have room to separate subjects without putting everything into one feed.

FAQ

Can I make a Flipboard magazine private?

Yes. You can choose private visibility when creating the magazine and change the magazine's privacy later. A private magazine can be read by you and invited contributors. Profile privacy is a separate control: turning a private profile public again leaves its magazines private until you change each magazine's setting.

Can other people add articles to my magazine?

Yes, after you invite them as contributors. Flipboard puts the invite option on the magazine cover, and its help says generated invitations remain valid for seven days. Invite people who should add material; someone who only wants to read a public collection doesn't need contributor access to do that.

Does Flipboard charge for creating a magazine?

Flipboard's published creation instructions don't require a paid magazine subscription. The help page says an account can create up to 249 magazines. Articles inside a magazine can still lead to publishers with their own subscriptions, so free collection creation doesn't promise free access to every linked newspaper or magazine story.

Sources

Flipboard's creation, visibility, contributor-invitation and group-magazine help pages, checked October 9, 2026. The two linked help pages cover the main setup and the privacy behavior.