# Who uses Conduit Conduit is a social blogging site for people who publish articles, read and discuss them, follow other users, and save articles as favorites. A profile is a user's page with their basic information and article lists. A favorite is an article a user has chosen to save. ## Who uses Conduit Choose the activity that matches what you need to do: | If you need to… | Go to | |---|---| | Sign in or create an account | [Authentication overview](doc:authentication-overview), [Sign in](doc:sign-in), or [Sign up](doc:sign-up) | | Find your way around the application | [Navigation basics](doc:navigation-basics) | | Read or find articles | [Articles overview](doc:articles-overview) or [Find articles](doc:find-articles) | | Follow a profile or browse its articles | [Profiles overview](doc:profiles-overview), [View a profile](doc:view-a-profile), or [Follow other users](doc:follow-other-users) | | Browse articles someone has favorited | [View favorited articles](doc:view-favorited-articles) | | Write or update an article | [Create and edit articles](doc:create-and-edit-articles) | | Manage an article you authored | [Read and manage an article](doc:read-and-manage-an-article) | | Post or remove a comment you authored | [Comment on articles](doc:comment-on-articles) | | Change your profile | [Manage your settings](doc:manage-your-settings) | | Resolve an error or common problem | [General error messages](doc:general-error-messages) or [Common issues and solutions](doc:common-issues-and-solutions) | ## Before you start You need an account to use signed-in activities such as your feed, publishing, commenting, following, and favoriting. Have your **Email**, **Password**, and, when you create an account, **Username** in front of you. **Prerequisites** - To sign in, have your **Email** and **Password** ready. - To create an account, have a **Username**, **Email**, and **Password** ready. - To use signed-in controls, sign in first. Conduit authenticates users with JWT. > **Note:** **Your Feed**, article authoring, commenting, following, and favoriting are signed-in > activities. ## Find the activity you need The header changes according to whether you are signed in. Use the route that matches the activity you want to perform. **Prerequisites** - Know whether you are signing in, creating an account, reading, writing, or changing your profile. **Steps** 1. Choose the activity you need from this table. | If you want to… | Select | |---|---| | Return to the article lists | **Home** | | Enter an existing account | **Sign in** | | Create an account | **Sign up** | | Start a new article | **New Post** | | Change your profile details | **Settings** | | End your session | **Or click here to logout.** | | Open an article from a list | **Read more...** | **Result:** The selected activity opens. ## Read, follow, and favorite articles Readers use feeds and profiles to find articles. A profile contains the author's articles and a separate list of articles that profile has favorited. Following changes whether the profile is followed; favoriting changes whether an article is marked as a favorite. | Where you are | What you can find there | |---|---| | Home page | Tags, article lists from **Your Feed**, **Global Feed**, or a tag, and article-list pagination | | Article page | The article rendered from markdown and its comments section | | Profile page | Basic user information and articles created or favorited by that profile | **Prerequisites** - To use **Your Feed**, sign in. - To follow another profile, open that profile rather than your own profile. - To browse a profile's saved articles, open its **Favorited Articles** tab. **Steps** 1. Choose the activity you need from this table. | If you want to… | Action | |---|---| | Read articles selected for your account | Select **Your Feed**. | | Read the global article list | Select **Global Feed**. | | Open an article | Select **Read more...** on its preview. | | View another user's profile | Open that user's profile. | | Follow another user | Select **Follow** followed by the profile name. | | Favorite an article | Select the button in the article preview that displays the article’s numeric favorite count beside a heart. | | Unfavorite an article | Select the button in the article preview that displays the article’s numeric favorite count beside a heart again. | | View authored articles | Select **My Articles**. | | View favorited articles | Select **Favorited Articles**. | **Result:** The selected feed, article, profile tab, following state, or favorite state appears on screen. ## Write articles and discuss them Authors use the editor to create or update articles. Commenters use the comment form to add a comment to an article; an article or comment author can manage their own content. **Prerequisites** - Sign in before opening the editor or comment form. - For a new article, prepare its title, description, body, and tags. - For a comment, prepare the text you want to post. **Steps** 1. Select **New Post** to open the editor. 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. Select **Publish Article** to create the article. 7. Open an article you authored and select **Edit Article** to return to the editor. 8. Select **Publish Article** to update the article. 9. Enter your text in **Write a comment...**. 10. Select **Post Comment** to submit the comment. 11. Select the delete icon beside a comment you authored to remove it. 12. Select **Delete Article** on an article you authored to remove it. **Result:** The article editor, published article, submitted comment, or owned-content action is shown according to the control you selected. ## Handle role-based differences The controls you see depend on whether you are signed in and whether you own the profile, article, or comment you are viewing. | What you are viewing | Controls you use | |---|---| | Your own profile | **Edit Profile Settings**, **My Articles**, and **Favorited Articles** | | Another user's profile | **Follow** or **Unfollow**, **My Articles**, and **Favorited Articles** | | An article you authored | **Edit Article** and **Delete Article** | | An article with a comment you authored | The delete icon beside that comment | | An article while signed out | **Sign in** or **Sign up** to add comments | | Home while signed in | **Your Feed** and **Global Feed** | **Prerequisites** - Compare the profile name with your signed-in profile to determine whether it is your own profile. - Compare the article author with your signed-in profile before using author actions. - Compare the comment author with your signed-in profile before selecting the delete icon beside that comment. **Steps** 1. Open the profile, article, or comment you want to work with. 2. Select the control shown for your role in the table. **Result:** The page presents the controls available for the profile, article, comment, or sign-in state you are using. ## When an action does not complete When an action is unavailable, first check the role and sign-in conditions for that action, then use the matching next step below. | What you see | What to check | Next step | |---|---|---| | **Your Feed** is unavailable | You are signed out | Select **Sign in**, then return to **Home**. | | The comment form is unavailable | You are signed out | Select **Sign in** or **Sign up**. | | Follow controls are unavailable | You opened your own profile | Open another user's profile. | | Profile editing is unavailable | You opened another user's profile | Open your own profile and select **Edit Profile Settings**. | | Article editing or deletion is unavailable | You are not the article author | Open an article you authored. | | Comment deletion is unavailable | You are not the comment author | Use the comment author's profile or leave the comment unchanged. | For broader recovery guidance, open [General error messages](doc:general-error-messages) or [Common issues and solutions](doc:common-issues-and-solutions).