# What can you do with Conduit

## What you can do with Conduit

Conduit is a social blogging site where you can create, read, and manage articles;
write and remove comments; favorite articles; and follow other users.
Profiles show basic user information and lists of articles created by or favorited by
the profile owner.
A feed is a list of articles gathered from the global list, the people you follow, or a
tag. Comments add discussion to an article, favoriting selects an article for your
favorited list, and following lets you use the following feed.

| If you need to… | Go to |
| --- | --- |
| Choose a feed or browse tags | [Find feeds, articles, and profiles](#find-feeds-articles-and-profiles) |
| Enter, publish, edit, or remove an article | [Create, edit, and remove articles](#create-edit-and-remove-articles) |
| Choose the right article or profile path | [Use the available article and profile paths](#use-the-available-article-and-profile-paths) |
| Understand the fields and areas on the main surfaces | [Understand the main surfaces](#understand-the-main-surfaces) |
| Read an article | [Read an article](doc:read-an-article) |
| Add a comment | [Comment on an article](doc:comment-on-an-article) |
| Favorite an article | [Favorite articles](doc:favorite-articles) |
| Follow another user | [Follow a user](doc:follow-a-user) |
| View a profile's article lists | [View My Posts and Favorited Posts](doc:view-my-posts-and-favorited-posts) |

## Before you start

Authentication determines which paths and controls are available. The following-feed
path requires authentication, and the article-writing route is protected. Article owner actions
appear only when the article belongs to the current user. Profile actions also change
according to whether the profile belongs to the current user.

**Prerequisites**

- Know whether you need your following feed or the global feed.
- Sign in before using **Your Feed**, the Editor, or the signed-in comment form.
- To edit or delete an article, open an article that belongs to you.
- To edit your profile, open your own profile.

## Find feeds, articles, and profiles

The Home surface is the starting point for article discovery. It offers **Global Feed**,
the authenticated **Your Feed**, and **Popular Tags**.

**Prerequisites**

- Open Home at `/`.

**Steps**

1. Choose the feed or discovery route that matches your goal.

   | If you need to… | Select or use… |
   | --- | --- |
   | Read the global article list | **Global Feed** |
   | Read articles from people you follow | **Your Feed** |
   | Filter the article list by a displayed tag | a tag under **Popular Tags** |

2. Use the article list and its pagination to continue through the available articles.

**Result:** The Home surface shows the feed or tag-filtered article list you selected.

## Understand the main surfaces

Conduit separates discovery, article writing, article reading, and profile work across
four main surfaces. Home is the article-discovery surface. Editor is where you enter
article content and tags. Article is where you read an article and use its owner or
visitor actions. Profile contains user information, profile actions, and the **My Posts** and
**Favorited Posts** tabs.

| Surface | Use it for | Reader-facing fields or controls |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Home | Find articles | **Your Feed**, **Global Feed**, **Popular Tags** |
| Editor | Create or edit an article | **Article Title**, **What's this article about?**, **Write your article (in markdown)**, **Enter tags**, **Publish Article** |
| Article | Read an article and manage its available actions | **Edit Article**, **Delete Article**, **Write a comment...**, **Post Comment** |
| Profile | View profile information and article lists | **Edit Profile Settings**, **My Posts**, **Favorited Posts** |

The Article and Profile surfaces also contain controls whose availability depends on
ownership or authentication. The Home surface includes the article list as an embedded
area rather than as a separate grid.

## Create, edit, and remove articles

An article is the content you publish for other people to read. Use the Editor to enter
its title, description, body, and tags; use the Article surface to edit or remove an
article you own.

### Publish or update an article

**Prerequisites**

- Sign in.
- For an update, open an article that belongs to you.

**Steps**

1. Choose the article task.

   | If you need to… | Select or open… |
   | --- | --- |
   | Create an article | the Editor at `/editor` |
   | Update an article | **Edit Article** on an article you own |

2. Enter the article title in **Article Title**.

3. Enter the article description in **What's this article about?**.

4. Enter the article body in **Write your article (in markdown)**.

5. Enter a tag in **Enter tags**.

6. Press Enter to add the tag.

7. Select **Publish Article**.

**Result:** The article is created or updated, and the app navigates to its Article
surface.

### Remove an article

**Prerequisites**

- Open an article that belongs to you.

**Steps**

1. Select **Delete Article**.

**Result:** The article is deleted and the app navigates to Home.

## Use the available article and profile paths

The Article surface changes according to who owns the article and whether you are signed
in. The Profile surface changes according to whether you are viewing your own profile or
another user's profile.

### Add a comment or reach the sign-in path

**Prerequisites**

- Open an Article surface.

**Steps**

1. Choose the path that matches your access.

   | If you are… | Use this path |
   | --- | --- |
   | Signed in and adding a comment | Enter text in **Write a comment...**, then select **Post Comment** |
   | Signed out and want to comment | Select **Sign in** or **sign up** |
   | The article owner | Use **Edit Article** or **Delete Article** |
   | Viewing another user's article | Continue with [Follow a user](doc:follow-a-user) or [Favorite articles](doc:favorite-articles) |

**Result:** The Article surface either provides the comment form, takes you to an
authentication path, or provides the owner or visitor actions that apply to the article.

### Open a profile list

**Prerequisites**

- Open a Profile surface.

**Steps**

1. Choose the action that matches your goal.

   | If you need to… | Select… |
   | --- | --- |
   | View the profile's created-article list | **My Posts** |
   | View the profile's favorited-article list | **Favorited Posts** |
   | Open Settings for your own profile | **Edit Profile Settings** |

**Result:** The selected profile list opens, or Settings opens for your own profile.

## When loading or submission fails

The Article and Profile surfaces have an error area for messages returned while loading
or submitting. The app provides these literal load fallbacks:

| What you see | Meaning | Next step |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `Failed to load article` | The Article load path returned an error without another message. | Return to the article path from the relevant focused article page. |
| `Failed to load profile` | The Profile load path returned an error without another message. | Return to the profile path from the relevant focused profile page. |

Errors returned by the Article comment form are displayed in the same error area. The
Editor also displays its returned errors above the form. Continue with [General error
messages](doc:general-error-messages) when you need the application's broader error
reference.

## Continue with a focused task

Use the focused page that matches the next job:

| Next job | Page |
| --- | --- |
| Sign in or create an account | [Sign in](doc:sign-in) or [Create an account](doc:create-an-account) |
| Understand authentication and loading messages | [Authentication and loading messages](doc:authentication-and-loading-messages) |
| Find articles in a feed | [Find articles in Your Feed and Global Feed](doc:find-articles-in-feeds) |
| Browse by tag | [Browse articles by tag](doc:browse-articles-by-tag) |
| Read or orient yourself on an article | [Read an article](doc:read-an-article) or [Article workspace](doc:article-workspace) |
| Create or edit an article | [Create and edit an article](doc:create-and-edit-an-article) |
| Comment, favorite, or use article actions | [Comment on an article](doc:comment-on-an-article), [Favorite articles](doc:favorite-articles), or [Article actions reference](doc:article-actions-reference) |
| View or manage 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) |
| Update profile settings | [Update settings](doc:update-settings) |
| Handle loading or general errors | [Loading and unavailable states](doc:loading-and-unavailable-states), [General error messages](doc:general-error-messages), or [Common issues and solutions](doc:common-issues-and-solutions) |