Manage characters: edit, archive and delete

This page covers everything after you create a character. For the section overview, see Characters and Voices; to make one, see Creating a character.

The Characters page

Click Characters and Voices in the sidebar, then the My Characters tab. Each row shows the avatar and name, a backstory preview, a voice play button, the creation date and an actions menu. Click a row to open the character's detail page.

The voice column shows one of these:

• Voice Clone: the voice was cloned from audio samples. See Voice cloning.
• Guest Clone: a cloned-voice character flagged as a guest. It becomes a regular Voice Clone when you promote an episode's hosts to the podcast's regulars. Clones recorded through a guest invite show Voice Clone.
• The voice description, for Voice Library and designed voices.
• Voice unavailable: the provider has withdrawn the voice (see When a voice becomes unavailable).

Search and filter

The search bar matches a character's name, backstory or voice (for example "British", "Female" or a word from a voice description). Search stays within the selected status but ignores the voice filters, so a standing filter never hides the character you are looking for. Click the x to clear the search.

The Filters button holds Status and Gender. Status defaults to Active; choose Archived or All to include archived characters, which carry an Archived badge. Gender appears once your characters have more than one.

Below the search bar, Language and Accent dropdowns and the voice-kind chips (Voice clones, Designed, Library) narrow by voice. Each appears only when it has something to choose between. They work like the filters in Browsing the Voice Library.

Character details

The Character Details page shows the avatar, name, title and backstory, plus these cards:

• Voice: a play button to preview the voice.
• Active Podcasts: the podcasts that use the character, when there are any.
• Personality Profile: shown once a personality exists, whether you wrote it or Jellypod built it from reference materials.

Edit a character

Open the actions menu (three dots) on the detail page or in the table, then select Edit Character. The editor opens pre-filled and walks through name, backstory, voice type, voice, photo, reference materials and settings (title and personality). Archived characters cannot be edited: unarchive first.

The backstory takes 10 to 3,000 characters in a rich text editor (bold, italic, lists). Write a few sentences, then click Enhance Backstory in the toolbar to have AI expand them.

The editor is the only place to change a character's voice type:

• Voice Clone: clone your own voice or a guest's from audio samples. Recording a brand-new clone adds a Voice Style step where you choose More Consistent or More Expressive delivery.
• Voice Library: pick from the professional voice library.

The quick create form offers only Voice Library voices, so edit the character afterward to clone a voice or attach reference materials.

Reference materials

The optional Reference Materials (Optional) step teaches Jellypod how a character writes or speaks. Add blog posts or essays, podcast recordings, video interviews or talks, and social posts or newsletters that show their style. A mix of written and audio or video material gives a fuller picture.

• Upload files, or add a website, pasted text or a YouTube video. Formats and size limits are in Supported source types.
• Each character holds up to 10 reference materials. The step shows a running count, and adding is disabled at 10.
• Jellypod analyzes the materials into the character's Personality Profile. The profile feeds script writing for the podcast episodes, videos and voiceovers the character narrates, so you do not re-add materials per episode.

Archiving or deleting a character

1. Open the actions menu on the detail page or in the table.
2. Select Archive Character or Delete Character.
3. Confirm with Confirm Archive or Confirm Deletion, or select Cancel to keep the character.

The menu shows Delete Character for an unused character and Archive Character for one used in existing content. A character used in existing content can only be archived, not deleted. Archiving hides the character from the default Active view and from new character pickers, and keeps its scripts, media, podcast assignments and voice. Deleting an unused character is permanent and cannot be undone.

To restore an archived character, set Status to Archived or All, then select Unarchive Character (also available on its detail page). It returns to Active and can be picked again.

Unarchiving needs a free character slot on your plan and a voice that still exists. Archived characters do not use a slot. If you are at your plan's limit, archive or delete another character first, or see plan limits. If the voice is gone, the unarchive fails with a message saying so.

When a voice becomes unavailable

Voice Library voices are occasionally withdrawn by their provider. Jellypod marks the voice unavailable when the provider reports it removed or when audio generation with it fails, so you never need to report it.

Once marked unavailable:

• The character shows a Voice unavailable badge on the Characters page, and its detail page shows a Voice unavailable alert above the voice card with a Pick a new voice link into the editor.
• Character and host pickers show the character disabled with a Voice unavailable badge, so it cannot be added to new content. A podcast that already has the character keeps it, and you can still remove it from that podcast.
• Starting generation with that character is blocked up front with a message asking you to pick a new voice, instead of failing partway.

To fix it, click Pick a new voice, or edit the character and choose a new Voice Library voice or a fresh voice clone.