From afce96c649d26f9eeeb22bd9a36ce20285954cb4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Anna Beddow <anna.beddow@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2026 15:43:24 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] Display sublinks horizontally on flex special splash if
 the card has live updates displaying

---
 .../src/components/FlexibleSpecial.tsx            | 15 +++++++++++----
 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/dotcom-rendering/src/components/FlexibleSpecial.tsx b/dotcom-rendering/src/components/FlexibleSpecial.tsx
index d1bbbde38b2..2f7ad4d37e3 100644
--- a/dotcom-rendering/src/components/FlexibleSpecial.tsx
+++ b/dotcom-rendering/src/components/FlexibleSpecial.tsx
@@ -54,7 +54,11 @@ const determineCardProperties = (
 	supportingContentLength: number,
 	mediaCard: boolean,
 	imageSuppressed: boolean,
+	hasLiveUpdates: boolean,
 ): BoostProperties => {
+	const shouldDisplaySublinksHorizontally =
+		supportingContentLength >= 3 || hasLiveUpdates;
+
 	switch (boostLevel) {
 		// The default boost level is equal to no boost. It is the same as the default card layout.
 		case 'default':
@@ -67,8 +71,9 @@ const determineCardProperties = (
 				mediaSize: 'xlarge',
 				mediaPositionOnDesktop: 'right',
 				mediaPositionOnMobile: mediaCard ? 'top' : 'bottom',
-				supportingContentAlignment:
-					supportingContentLength >= 3 ? 'horizontal' : 'vertical',
+				supportingContentAlignment: shouldDisplaySublinksHorizontally
+					? 'horizontal'
+					: 'vertical',
 				liveUpdatesAlignment: 'vertical',
 				trailTextSize: 'regular',
 				subtitleSize: 'medium',
@@ -83,8 +88,9 @@ const determineCardProperties = (
 				mediaSize: 'xlarge',
 				mediaPositionOnDesktop: 'right',
 				mediaPositionOnMobile: mediaCard ? 'top' : 'bottom',
-				supportingContentAlignment:
-					supportingContentLength >= 3 ? 'horizontal' : 'vertical',
+				supportingContentAlignment: shouldDisplaySublinksHorizontally
+					? 'horizontal'
+					: 'vertical',
 				liveUpdatesAlignment: 'vertical',
 				trailTextSize: 'regular',
 				subtitleSize: 'medium',
@@ -166,6 +172,7 @@ export const OneCardLayout = ({
 		card.supportingContent?.length ?? 0,
 		isMediaCard(card.format),
 		!card.image,
+		card.showLivePlayable,
 	);
 
 	return (

From 5c27e6c483c1705db2a9f08226a3575cf22f91bf Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Anna Beddow <anna.beddow@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2026 15:47:48 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] Add a story for splash with live updates and two sublinks

---
 .../src/components/FlexibleSpecial.stories.tsx   | 16 ++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 16 insertions(+)

diff --git a/dotcom-rendering/src/components/FlexibleSpecial.stories.tsx b/dotcom-rendering/src/components/FlexibleSpecial.stories.tsx
index f8c1edf54ee..97fca0ac9eb 100644
--- a/dotcom-rendering/src/components/FlexibleSpecial.stories.tsx
+++ b/dotcom-rendering/src/components/FlexibleSpecial.stories.tsx
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { breakpoints } from '@guardian/source/foundations';
 import type { Meta, StoryObj } from '@storybook/react-webpack5';
 import { discussionApiUrl } from '../../fixtures/manual/discussionApiUrl';
 import {
+	getSublinks,
 	opinionTrails,
 	selfHostedVideo54Card,
 	slideshowCard,
@@ -280,6 +281,21 @@ export const GigaBoostedSplashWithLiveUpdates: Story = {
 	},
 };
 
+export const SplashWithLiveUpdatesAndTwoSublinks: Story = {
+	name: 'Standard splash with live updates and two sublinks',
+	args: {
+		frontSectionTitle: 'Standard splash',
+		groupedTrails: {
+			...emptyGroupedTrails,
+			snap: [],
+			standard: [
+				{ ...liveUpdatesCard, supportingContent: getSublinks(2) },
+			],
+		},
+		collectionId: 1,
+	},
+};
+
 export const SelfHostedVideoCard: Story = {
 	name: 'Self-hosted video cards',
 	args: {