# Discover articles ## Discover articles Article discovery is the work of finding something to read in the site's shared article collection, in the articles from people you follow, or under a particular tag. **Your Feed** is the following feed, **Global Feed** is the global feed, and a tag route supplies a tag-filtered list. Use the Home screen to choose a feed, review article summaries, and open an article when its subject interests you. The Home screen leads to the article page; an author's name leads to that author's profile. | If you need to… | Go to | |---|---| | Reach the right feed or tag route | [Find a feed](#find-a-feed) | | Understand the areas on the Home screen | [Understand the discovery screen](#understand-the-discovery-screen) | | Choose or filter the articles | [Choose and filter results](#choose-and-filter-results) | | Move through more than one page of results | [Work through the results](#work-through-the-results) | | Read the article you found | [Read an article](doc:read-an-article) | | View or follow its author | [View a profile](doc:view-a-profile) or [Follow an author](doc:follow-an-author) | | Find articles you have favorited | [View favorited articles](doc:view-favorited-articles) | | Learn the wider route layout | [Navigation basics](doc:navigation-basics) | ## Before you start You choose between the available feeds from the Home screen. Sign in before using the personal feed. A tag-filtered feed starts from a tag route, while the global feed is the default Home view. Prerequisites - Know whether you need articles from the people you follow or from the whole collection. - Sign in if you need **Your Feed**. - Have the tag you want to use if you are opening a tag-filtered feed. When you are signed out, the Home screen includes the **conduit** banner and the text “A place to share your knowledge.” ## Find a feed Use this procedure when you need to reach a following, global, or tag-filtered list of articles. Prerequisites - You are on the Home screen. - You are signed in before selecting **Your Feed**. Steps 1. Choose the list that matches what you want to read. | If you need to… | Select | |---|---| | Read articles from people you follow | **Your Feed** | | Read the complete article collection | **Global Feed** | | Read articles grouped under a tag | Open the tag route for the tag you want to review. | **Result:** The selected feed or tag-filtered article list is on screen. ## Understand the discovery screen The discovery screen is a feed view: feed choices are at the top, **Popular Tags** is in the sidebar, and article previews fill the main area. An article preview is a short version of an article; it contains the article title, description, author information, date, and tags. A page-number control appears when the results span more than one page. | Area | What you use it for | |---|---| | **Your Feed** and **Global Feed** | Change the article collection you are reviewing. | | Tag tab | Keep the selected tag as the article filter. | | **Popular Tags** | See the tag area beside the article list. | | Article preview | Review the title, description, author, date, and tags before opening the article. | | Page number | Move to another results page when more than one page is available. | | Article list while loading | Wait for the article area to finish loading. | | Empty article list | Read `No articles are here... yet.` when the loaded list has no articles. | | Empty personal feed | Read `Your feed is empty. Go to the Global Feed to discover articles.` when the following feed has no articles. | The personal-feed message includes a link to **Global Feed**, which takes you to the global list. ## Choose and filter results Choose a feed when you want to change the collection being reviewed. Use a tag route when a specific subject is more useful than a broad feed. Prerequisites - You are on the Home screen. - You are signed in if you are choosing **Your Feed**. Steps 1. Select the route that matches your reading goal. | Reading goal | Route or control | |---|---| | Read from people you follow | Select **Your Feed**. | | Read the global collection | Select **Global Feed**. | | Read one subject's articles | Open the tag route for that subject. | 2. Confirm that the selected feed is active at the top of the Home screen. **Result:** The Home screen shows the articles for the selected following feed, global feed, or tag filter. ## Work through the results The results list uses page 1 when no positive page number is in the route. When the article count is greater than 10, the list creates page numbers from the total count; selecting another page changes the results page. Prerequisites - You have opened a feed or tag-filtered list. Steps 1. Review the current article previews. 2. Choose what to do with the results. | If… | Then | |---|---| | More than one page is available | Select the page number you want to open. | | The loaded list has no articles | Read `No articles are here... yet.`. | | **Your Feed** has no followed articles | Read `Your feed is empty. Go to the Global Feed to discover articles.`. | **Result:** The selected results page is on screen, or the appropriate empty-list message tells you that there are no articles to review in that list. If the results do not reach this state, continue with [When results do not load](#when-results-do-not-load). ## When results do not load While articles are loading, the article area shows a loading placeholder. Article and tag request failures do not provide a user-facing error message in this flow. Prerequisites - You have opened a feed or tag-filtered list. Steps 1. Check the article area until the loading placeholder is replaced by results or an empty-list message. 2. If the results do not reach their result state, use the applicable guidance. | If… | Do this | |---|---| | The article request does not reach a result state | Use [General error messages](doc:general-error-messages) for shared error guidance. | | The tag area does not populate after opening a tag route | Use [General error messages](doc:general-error-messages) for shared error guidance. | **Result:** The article area either reaches its result state or remains covered by the shared error guidance. Continue with [Open an article](#open-an-article) when results are available. ## Open an article Use an article preview when its title or description tells you that the article is relevant; use the author's profile when you want author information. Prerequisites - You have an article preview on screen. Steps 1. Choose the destination that matches what you want to do. | If you want to… | Select or open | |---|---| | Read the article | **Read more...** or the article title in the preview | | View the author | The author's name | | Continue to sign in from a favorite action | The favorite button beside the article metadata | **Result:** The article route or the author's profile is on screen. Continue with [Read an article](doc:read-an-article) or [View a profile](doc:view-a-profile).