# Basic terminology

## Basic terminology

Conduit uses **Feed**, **Article**, **Profile**, and **Settings** to name the places where
you find content, read or write it, view an author, and change profile information.
The same terms identify links, lists, fields, and actions across the application.

| If you need to… | Go to |
|---|---|
| Choose between **Your Feed** and **Global Feed** | [Find terms in feeds, articles, and profiles](#find-terms-in-feeds-articles-and-profiles) |
| Read or comment on an article | [Read an article](doc:read-an-article) |
| Enter article information | [Use the editor and settings terms](#use-the-editor-and-settings-terms) and [Create an article](doc:create-an-article) |
| View an author or their article lists | [View a profile](doc:view-a-profile) |
| Change profile information | [Update your settings](doc:update-your-settings) |
| Interpret a loading, empty, or error message | [Recognize messages and know what comes next](#recognize-messages-and-know-what-comes-next) and [General error messages](doc:general-error-messages) |

## Before you start

The terms you see depend on whether you are signed in, whose profile you are viewing, and
which profile route you open.

**Prerequisites**

- Know whether you are signed in before looking for **Your Feed**, comment controls, or
  profile actions.
- To see **Your Feed**, be signed in. **Global Feed** is available without that condition.
- To see **Edit Profile Settings**, open your own profile. Another person's profile offers
  **Follow** or **Unfollow** according to the following state.
- To see **Favorited Articles**, open the profile's favorites route. The other profile route
  uses **My Articles**.

The Editor and Settings fields appear without a required marker.

## Find terms in feeds, articles, and profiles

Use Home to choose a feed, an Article page to work with its author actions and comments, and a
Profile page to choose an author's article list.

**Prerequisites**

- Be signed in when you need **Your Feed**, comments, or a profile action that requires
  authentication.
- Know whether you want the global list, the following list, an article, or an author's
  profile.

**Steps**

1. Choose the feed that matches what you need:

   | If you need to… | Select |
   |---|---|
   | Read articles from the people you follow | **Your Feed** |
   | Read the global article list | **Global Feed** |
2. On an Article page, use the available article action for the task you need:

   | If you need to… | Select |
   |---|---|
   | Change an article you can modify | **Edit Article** |
   | Remove an article you can modify | **Delete Article** |
   | Change whether you follow the author | **Follow** or **Unfollow** |
   | Change whether the article is in your favorites | **Favorite Article** or **Unfavorite Article** |
   | Add a comment while signed in | **Post Comment** |

3. Choose the profile list that matches what you need:

   | If you need to… | Select |
   |---|---|
   | Read the author's articles | **My Articles** |
   | Read the profile's favorited articles | **Favorited Articles** |

**Result:** The selected feed, article action, comment action, or profile article list is on
screen.

## Use the editor and settings terms

Use the Editor to enter an article's title, description, body, and tags.

**Prerequisites**

- Open the Editor when you are creating or changing an article.
- Open Settings when you are changing your profile information.

**Steps**

1. In the Editor, enter the article information in the fields below.

   | Information you need to enter | Field term |
   |---|---|
   | Article name | **Article Title** |
   | Short description | **What's this article about?** |
   | Article body | **Write your article (in markdown)** |
   | Article tags | **Enter tags** |

2. Select **Publish Article** to publish a new article or finish an edit.
3. In Settings, enter profile information in the fields below.

   | Information you need to change | Field term |
   |---|---|
   | Profile picture address | **URL of profile picture** |
   | Profile name | **Your username** |
   | Profile biography | **Short bio about you** |
   | Account email | **Email** |
   | Account password | **Password** |

4. Select **Update Settings** to save the profile fields.
5. Select **Or click here to logout.** to log out and return to Home.

**Result:** The Editor takes you to the article after publishing or editing. Settings takes
you to the profile after a successful update, or Home after logout.

## Recognize messages and know what comes next

These messages tell you whether an article list is loading, empty, or ready, whether a profile
is loading or unavailable, and whether comments require sign-in.

| What you see | What it means | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| `Your feed is empty. Go to the Global Feed to discover articles.` | The following feed has no articles. | Select **Go to the Global Feed**. |
| `Loading articles...` | The article list is loading. | Wait for the list to finish loading. |
| `No articles are here... yet.` | The current article list has no articles. | Choose another feed, profile list, or tag. |
| `Read more...` | An article preview offers a link to the full article. | Select **Read more...**. |
| `Loading profile...` | The profile information is loading. | Wait for the profile to load. |
| `This profile could not be loaded. Please try again later.` | The profile information is unavailable right now. | Try opening the profile again later. |
| `Sign in or sign up to add comments on this article.` | The comment editor is not available until you sign in or register. | Select **Sign in** or **sign up**. |

After a successful article publish or edit, the Article page opens. After a successful settings
update, the Profile page opens. Logging out returns you to Home.

**Result:** You can match the message on screen to the next available action.