What the interface contains
This page covers Home, Article, and Profile, along with the shared header that connects them.
| If you need to… | Go to |
|---|---|
| Choose an article list or browse tags | Find articles in Your Feed and Global Feed or Browse articles by tag |
| Read, comment on, or favorite an article | Read an article, Comment on an article, or Favorite articles |
| Create or change an article | Create and edit an article |
| View a person's posts or favorites | View a profile or View My Posts and Favorited Posts |
| Follow a person | Follow a user |
| Find a route or tab | Navigation basics |
| Change account or workspace details | Personalizing your workspace |
Before you start
The interface changes according to whether you are signed in and whether the Article or Profile belongs to you. On Home, signed-in readers see Your Feed as well as Global Feed. The public view has the banner and public header links instead.
On an Article, the owner sees Edit Article and Delete Article. Another reader sees the available follow and favorite actions. On a Profile, the owner sees Edit Profile Settings; another profile shows the available follow and favorite actions. These branches determine which action to choose.
The Article comment area follows the same access rule. A signed-in reader gets the comment field and Post Comment. A signed-out reader gets Sign in or sign up instead.
Prerequisites
- Know whether you are signed in.
- For an Article, know whether you are viewing your own article.
- For a Profile, know whether it is your profile or another person's profile.
- Have the Article or Profile route you want to open.
Choose a destination from the shared header
The shared header is the navigation strip at the top of each surface. Use it to move to a destination without first returning to a list.
Steps
-
Choose the destination that matches your task:
If you need to… Select Open the Home surface Home Sign in Sign in Create an account Sign up Start a new article New Article Change account settings Settings Open your profile Your username in the header
Result: The selected destination opens, and its own surface becomes available.
Recognize the Home surface
Home is the article-discovery surface. Its feed selector, article list, and tag area help you choose which articles to read.
Select Your Feed for the following feed when you are signed in. Select Global Feed for the all-articles feed. When a tag filter is active, Home adds the selected tag as an active feed item. The tag area is headed Popular Tags.
The article list can display these states:
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
Loading articles... | The article list is 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 loaded article list is empty. |
Loading tags... | The tag list is loading. |
No tags are here... yet. | No tags are available in the tag area. |
Recognize the Article surface
An Article is the surface where you read an article and work with its related actions. The page contains the article body and tags, followed by the comment area.
On an article preview, Read more... opens the full article.
Use the ownership branch at the top of the page:
| If you are viewing… | The page provides |
|---|---|
| Your own article | Edit Article and Delete Article |
| Another reader's article | the available follow and favorite actions |
When you are signed in, enter text in the comment field and select Post Comment. The comment field is a textarea and is not marked as required. When you are signed out, the comment form is replaced by Sign in or sign up.
If the article cannot load, the page can show Failed to load article.
Recognize the Profile surface
A Profile is the surface for a person's identity and article lists. It shows the profile image, username, biography, and the list selected by the profile tabs.
| If you are viewing… | The page provides |
|---|---|
| Your own profile | Edit Profile Settings |
| Another person's profile | the available follow and favorite actions plus the person's username |
| Authored articles | My Posts |
| Favorited articles | Favorited Posts |
Select My Posts to view the profile's authored articles, or select Favorited Posts
to view the profile's favorited articles. If the profile cannot load, the page can show
Failed to load profile.
Interpret a message on these surfaces
Returned error entries use the format <key> <value> and appear as list items. Use the
message text to identify which action needs attention, then follow the task page for that
surface. Article and Profile load messages identify which surface could not load.
| Message or situation | Continue with |
|---|---|
A returned error in the <key> <value> format | General error messages |
Continue to the task you need
Identify the surface, then continue with the page that owns the work:
- From Home, continue to Find articles in Your Feed and Global Feed, Browse articles by tag, or Loading and unavailable states.
- From Article, continue to Article workspace, Read an article, Create and edit an article, Comment on an article, Favorite articles, or Article actions reference.
- From Profile, continue to View a profile, View My Posts and Favorited Posts, or Follow a user.
- For account entry, continue to Sign in or Create an account.
- For account and workspace changes, continue to Personalizing your workspace.
- For authentication messages, continue to Authentication and loading messages.
- For common problems, continue to Common issues and solutions.
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