## Understanding how audiences control targeted documentation
In Atloria, an **audience** is a reader group you define so your team can organize documentation for the right people. You might use audiences for internal staff, customers, partners, or different user roles inside the same project. Once an audience exists, documentation teams can use it when planning content, organizing pages, and deciding which material belongs to which reader group.

The audience setup centers on four properties that appear in the audience configuration form:

| Field | What it is used for |
|---|---|
| **Name** | The label people on your team see when choosing or reviewing an audience |
| **Slug** | A short, URL-friendly identifier used to keep the audience distinct and consistent |
| **Color** | A visual marker that helps the audience stand out in lists, badges, and targeting controls |
| **Icon** | A symbol that gives the audience a quick visual identity |

The **Name** is meant for people. It should be easy for writers, reviewers, and project administrators to recognize at a glance. The **Slug** is the stable identifier. It is usually shorter and more standardized than the Name. For example, a Name may be written in a natural style for your team, while the Slug stays compact and consistent for long-term use.

Documentation Managers and Project Administrators typically reach audience settings from the authenticated workspace after signing in to Atloria. From there, they work inside the project or documentation configuration area where audience options are maintained alongside other documentation settings.

[SCREENSHOT: Audience settings screen showing a list of audiences with Name, Slug, Color, and Icon]

If you are still getting familiar with signing in and moving around Atloria, see [Accessing and Registering Your Atloria Account](doc:accessing-and-registering-your-atloria-account) and [Understanding Account Entry Points and Session Navigation](doc:understanding-account-entry-points-and-session-navigation).

## Creating a new audience
When you are ready to add a reader group, open the audience management area in Atloria from your signed-in workspace, then start a new audience using the available **Create** or **Add** action on that screen. The exact button style may vary by workspace, but the action opens a form where you enter the audience details your team will use later in documentation targeting.

1. In the **Name** field, enter the audience label your writers and administrators will immediately understand. Keep it specific enough that nobody has to guess who the audience is for. A clear Name helps when several audiences appear together in the same project.
2. In the **Slug** field, enter a short, stable identifier. Use a simple format that stays readable over time. Because the Slug acts as the audience’s identifier, avoid casual wording that may need to change often.
3. Choose a **Color** that makes the audience easy to spot in lists, badges, or selection controls. If your team already uses several audiences, pick a color that is clearly different from the others.
4. Select an **Icon** that gives the audience a distinct visual marker. This is especially helpful when authors are scanning quickly through targeting options.
5. Review all four fields, then save the audience.

[SCREENSHOT: New audience form with Name, Slug, Color, and Icon fields]

A strong first setup saves cleanup later. Before you save, check that the **Name** is clear to people, the **Slug** is consistent with your team’s pattern, and the **Color** and **Icon** do not look too similar to another audience already in use.

If your team is preparing project-level audience work next, continue with [Managing Project Audiences for Targeted Documentation](doc:managing-project-audiences-for-targeted-documentation).

## Editing names, slugs, colors, and icons
Audience details can change over time, especially when a project grows or your documentation team starts serving new reader groups. In Atloria, you can return to the audience management screen, open an existing audience, and update the fields that define how it appears across your documentation workspace.

1. Update the **Name** when the audience label needs to be clearer for authors, reviewers, or project administrators. This is the safest kind of change when the audience itself is still the same group but the wording no longer fits.
2. Edit the **Slug** only after checking how widely that audience is already used. Because the Slug is the audience’s identifier, changing it can affect consistency in targeted documentation work. If the audience is already established, treat slug changes as a deliberate cleanup task rather than a quick rename.
3. Change the **Color** when badges or audience markers are too similar in lists or targeting controls. This is useful when your team adds more audiences and the original color choices no longer stand out.
4. Replace the **Icon** if the current symbol no longer matches the audience’s role or looks too close to another audience icon in the same workspace.
5. Save the updated audience and review how it appears in the audience list.

[SCREENSHOT: Edit audience screen with updated Name, Slug, Color, and Icon values]

A good rule is to change the **Name** freely when the label needs improvement, but change the **Slug** carefully and less often. If the audience still represents the same reader group, a name refresh is usually enough. If the audience has truly changed meaning, review whether you should update it or create a separate audience instead.

For guidance on how audience choices affect page structure and content planning, see [Applying Audiences to Documentation Structure and Content Decisions](doc:applying-audiences-to-documentation-structure-and-content-decisions).

## Organizing audiences for documentation teams and projects
Audience setup works best when your team uses a shared pattern. In Atloria, the audience list becomes much easier to manage when every **Name**, **Slug**, **Color**, and **Icon** follows a clear convention. That matters even more when multiple projects, teams, or documentation managers are working in the same workspace.

Use **Name** values that are easy to scan in a list. Good audience names usually describe a real reader group, such as an internal team, a customer role, or a partner group. Keep the wording direct and avoid names that are so broad they could apply to several groups at once. If two audience names feel interchangeable, authors may target the wrong one.

For **Slug** values, stay consistent across projects. If your team prefers short lowercase identifiers, keep using that style. If you separate words in one way, use the same pattern everywhere. Predictable slugs reduce confusion and help your team recognize whether an audience already exists before creating another one.

Color and icon choices should also work as a set, not one by one. When several audiences appear together, similar colors or nearly identical icons slow people down. Choose combinations that remain easy to tell apart in badges, labels, and selection controls.

Create a new audience when the reader group is genuinely different and needs its own identity. Update an existing audience when the group is still the same but the label or visual style needs improvement. Creating too many near-duplicate audiences can fragment your documentation and make targeting harder to manage.

If you also manage audiences beyond a single project, see [Using Audience Settings Across the Organization](doc:using-audience-settings-across-the-organization).

## Reviewing and maintaining existing audiences
As your documentation workspace grows, it helps to review the audience list regularly. In Atloria, the audience list or audience detail view centers on the same core fields used during setup: **Name**, **Slug**, **Color**, and **Icon**. These four values tell you whether each audience is still clear, distinct, and useful for current documentation work.

When reviewing existing audiences, look for patterns that create confusion:

- Two audiences with nearly the same **Name**
- **Slug** values that follow different formatting styles
- Colors that look too similar when shown together
- Icons that do not clearly distinguish one audience from another
- Older audience labels that no longer match the reader group your team serves

If an audience still represents an active reader group, you may only need to rename it or refresh its visual styling. If the audience is outdated and no longer belongs in current documentation targeting, it may be time to retire it from active use. Before making that decision, confirm how your team is using it in project documentation so you do not create gaps in audience planning.

Ownership matters here. Documentation Managers and Project Administrators should agree on who can create new audiences, who approves naming changes, and who keeps the list clean over time. Without that shared ownership, teams often end up with duplicate reader groups that differ only by spelling, slug style, or color choice.

[SCREENSHOT: Audience list view highlighting Name, Slug, Color badge, and Icon columns]

If your team also works with broader workspace controls, [Using the Admin Workspace](doc:using-the-admin-workspace) and [Managing Organization and Admin Settings](doc:managing-organization-and-admin-settings) can help you align audience maintenance with other governance tasks.

## Common issues when managing audiences and how to fix them
Most audience problems in Atloria come from naming conflicts, unclear visual choices, or labels that no longer match the reader group. These issues are usually easy to fix once you review the audience form and compare it with the rest of your audience list.

A common problem is a **Slug** that is rejected or conflicts with an existing audience. When that happens, first compare the new slug with the slugs already in your audience list. If another audience already uses the same identifier, adjust the new slug so it is unique. If the slug format looks inconsistent, simplify it and follow the same style your team uses for other audiences.

Another issue is an audience that is hard to distinguish in the interface. If authors cannot quickly tell one audience from another in badges or targeting controls, open the audience and change the **Color**, **Icon**, or both. Choose a combination that stands apart from the other audiences already in use.

You may also find that the **Name** no longer matches the intended reader group. In that case, update the Name so it reflects how your team currently talks about that audience. After renaming it, check that writers and administrators still use the audience consistently in documentation planning.

Use this quick review when troubleshooting:

- **Slug problem:** Check for duplicates and simplify the format
- **Visual confusion:** Change the **Color** or **Icon**
- **Outdated label:** Revise the **Name**
- **Too many similar audiences:** Compare existing entries before creating another one

[SCREENSHOT: Audience form showing a slug validation message and editable color/icon options]

If the issue is not with the audience definition itself but with how it is applied inside a project, the next guide is [Managing Project Audiences for Targeted Documentation](doc:managing-project-audiences-for-targeted-documentation).

## Overview
Audiences in Atloria give your documentation team a practical way to define who content is for before you start organizing pages or publishing targeted material. Each audience is built from four visible settings in the audience form: **Name**, **Slug**, **Color**, and **Icon**. Together, these make the audience understandable to people and easy to recognize across the workspace.

The most important distinction is between **Name** and **Slug**. The Name is the reader-friendly label your team sees in lists and targeting choices. The Slug is the stable identifier that should remain short, readable, and consistent. **Color** and **Icon** do not change the meaning of the audience, but they make it much easier to scan and select the right one when several reader groups appear together.

As you work with audiences, focus on consistency. Clear names reduce mistakes for writers and reviewers. Predictable slugs help avoid duplicates. Distinct colors and icons make the audience list easier to manage. When a reader group changes slightly, update the existing audience. When the group is truly different, create a new one.

This guide focused on defining the audience itself. The next step is applying those audience definitions inside a project so documentation teams can use them in real content workflows. Continue with [Managing Project Audiences for Targeted Documentation](doc:managing-project-audiences-for-targeted-documentation).

## Prerequisites
Before defining audiences in Atloria, make sure you have the basics in place:

- You can sign in to Atloria and reach the authenticated workspace
- You have access to the project or documentation configuration area where audience settings are maintained
- You are working as a Documentation Manager, Project Administrator, or another role allowed to maintain audience settings
- Your team has agreed on the reader groups you want to represent, such as internal users, customers, or partners
- You have a simple naming approach for **Name** and **Slug** so new audiences follow the same pattern
- You are ready to choose distinct **Color** and **Icon** options that will remain easy to recognize in lists and targeting controls

If you still need help getting into Atloria or understanding workspace access, start with [Signing In to Atloria and Solving Access Problems](doc:signing-in-to-atloria-and-solving-access-problems). If your access depends on admin setup, [Managing User Access and Administrative Permissions](doc:managing-user-access-and-administrative-permissions) explains how teams control who can work in these areas.