# Navigation basics

Use the home feed to choose a feed or tag, open an article, and reach a person's article
lists. From those destinations, continue to article and profile tasks.

## Navigation basics

Navigation connects the home page to **Your Feed**, **Global Feed**, tag links, article pages,
and profile pages. The home route and the tag route open the home page; an article route opens
the article page; and profile child routes display article lists.

| If you need to… | Go to |
|---|---|
| Read articles from the feeds | [Choose a feed or browse by tag](#choose-a-feed-or-browse-by-tag) |
| Filter the article list by a tag | [Choose a feed or browse by tag](#choose-a-feed-or-browse-by-tag) or [Browse articles by tag](doc:browse-articles-by-tag) |
| Read an article | [Open an article and choose an article task](#open-an-article-and-choose-an-article-task) or [Read an article](doc:read-an-article) |
| View a profile | [Open a profile and switch profile lists](#open-a-profile-and-switch-profile-lists) or [View a profile](doc:view-a-profile) |
| Work with a profile's posts or favorites | [View My Posts and Favorited Posts](doc:view-my-posts-and-favorited-posts) |

## Before you start

Prerequisites

- Know whether you are signed in. **Your Feed** appears for authenticated users.
- Have the tag, article, or profile destination you want to open. These destinations carry a
  tag, article slug, or username in their route.
- To add a comment from an article, use the authenticated comment form. When you are signed
  out, the article offers **Sign in** or **sign up** instead.

Steps

1. Open the home feed.
2. Decide whether you need a feed, tag, article, or profile destination.

**Result:** You are on the home feed and know whether to choose a feed, tag, article, or profile
destination.

## Choose a feed or browse by tag

A feed is an article list selected by the feed tab; a tag is a link that takes you to an
article list filtered by that tag.

Prerequisites

- Start on the home feed.
- To use **Your Feed**, be signed in.

Steps

1. Select one of these options:

   | If you need to… | Select |
   |---|---|
   | Read articles from users you follow | **Your Feed** |
   | Read the global article list | **Global Feed** |
   | Read articles grouped under a topic | A tag under **Popular Tags** |

2. Confirm that the article list has loaded.
3. If you selected a tag, confirm that the tag appears as the active tab.

The home feed can show `Loading tags...` while tags load and `No tags are here... yet.` when
the loaded tag list is empty. The article list can show `Loading articles...` while articles
load. An empty following list shows `Your feed is empty. Follow some users to see their
articles here, or check out the Global Feed!`; an empty article list shows `No articles are
here... yet.`

**Result:** The selected feed or tag article list is on screen and ready for the next destination.

## Open an article and choose an article task

An article destination is the page for reading an article and continuing to article tasks.
It contains the article title, body, tags, comments, and article actions.

Prerequisites

- Start from an article list or another article link.
- To comment, be signed in; the signed-out article offers **Sign in** and **sign up**.

Steps

1. Select an article from the article list.
2. Choose the article task you need:

   | If you need to… | Select |
   |---|---|
   | Edit the article | **Edit Article** |
   | Delete the article | **Delete Article** |
   | Save or remove the article from your favorites | **Favorite Article** or **Unfavorite Article** |
   | Write a comment | **Write a comment...** |
   | Add the comment | **Post Comment** |

3. If the article cannot load, look for `Failed to load article`.

**Result:** The article destination is on screen, or the selected article task has been opened.

## Open a profile and switch profile lists

A profile destination displays a person's profile information and the article list associated
with that profile.

Prerequisites

- Start from a profile link or a profile route.
- Have the username for the profile destination.

Steps

1. Open the profile destination.
2. Select one of these tabs:

   | If you need to… | Select |
   |---|---|
   | Read the profile's posts | **My Posts** |
   | Read the profile's favorited posts | **Favorited Posts** |

3. Confirm that the selected article list is displayed.

**Result:** The selected profile article list is on screen for the next navigation choice.

## Choose the available navigation branch

Authentication and ownership determine which navigation controls appear on the home, article,
and profile surfaces.

Prerequisites

- Know whether you are signed in.
- On an article or profile, know whether the displayed record belongs to you.

Steps

1. Select the control shown for your situation:

   | If you are… | Select |
   |---|---|
   | Signed in on the home feed | **Your Feed** |
   | The article owner | **Edit Article** or **Delete Article** |
   | Reading another person's article | **Follow** or **Unfollow**; **Favorite Article** or **Unfavorite Article** |
   | Signed in on an article | **Write a comment...** and **Post Comment** |
   | Signed out on an article | **Sign in** or **sign up** |
   | Viewing your own profile | **Edit Profile Settings** |
   | Viewing another person's profile | **Follow** or **Unfollow** |

**Result:** The controls for your authentication and ownership situation are on screen, and
you can continue with the task that matches your situation.

## When navigation content is missing or loading

Loading and empty messages tell you whether a list is still loading or has no items. An
article-load message identifies an article that did not load.

| Message | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `Loading tags...` | Tags are loading. |
| `No tags are here... yet.` | The loaded tag list is empty. |
| `Loading articles...` | Articles are loading. |
| `Your feed is empty. Follow some users to see their articles here, or check out the Global Feed!` | The following feed has no articles. |
| `No articles are here... yet.` | The article list has no articles. |
| `Failed to load article` | The article did not load. |

## Continue from the destination

Use the destination as the hand-off point to the task you want to complete.

| After you reach… | Continue with… |
|---|---|
| A feed | [Find articles in Your Feed and Global Feed](doc:find-articles-in-feeds) |
| A tag list | [Browse articles by tag](doc:browse-articles-by-tag) |
| An article | [Read an article](doc:read-an-article), [Comment on an article](doc:comment-on-an-article), or [Favorite articles](doc:favorite-articles) |
| Article actions | [Article actions reference](doc:article-actions-reference) |
| An article workspace | [Article workspace](doc:article-workspace) |
| A profile | [View a profile](doc:view-a-profile), [View My Posts and Favorited Posts](doc:view-my-posts-and-favorited-posts), or [Follow a user](doc:follow-a-user) |
| A sign-in prompt | [Sign in](doc:sign-in) |
| A loading or unavailable message | [Loading and unavailable states](doc:loading-and-unavailable-states) |