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What is TheArticle?

TheArticle is a publishing platform with social networking functionality, which aims to help you make sense of the news through free access to exchanges of ideas, rather than echo chambers of prejudice.

We have no ideological agenda and we promise never to tell you what to think. Our aim is simply to preserve the integrity of the free press in this country by embracing nuance and complexity - and showing the world in all its shades of grey.

By registering an account on TheArticle, you can follow other users on the site to see how they view the world, and you can follow the Exchanges that interest you to receive a personalised news feed of articles offering arguments from all sides of the debate. You will also be able to offer your own views on the topics that matter by sharing or rating articles, both those published on TheArticle and those published on other sites.

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What are our business principles?

TheArticle is built on trust, truth, and transparency. We are funded through advertising, so will never hide our journalism behind a paywall, nor be dictated to by an unaccountable media monopoly. We check our facts and expect our journalists to do the same.

Everything we publish is professionally edited by human beings, not robots, so advertisers can be certain that their products will be presented in a responsible context. We reward our contributors fairly, never misuse our readers data, and answer to independent trustees.

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What is an Exchange?

An Exchange is where our editor challenges contributors to debate a specific subject. Follow the topics that interest you to receive relevant articles, from every angle, delivered to your personalised news feed.

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Can I write for TheArticle?

Were always interested in pitches from our readers.

If youd like to write for us, please click here for more information and contact details.

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How do I get the most out of TheArticle?

Here are some top tips for getting the most out of the site:

• Head to our Exchanges page and make sure you are following any of the topics that interest you – an Exchange is an area where our contributors debate a specific subject, through which we aim to offer plurality of voice and breakdown echo chambers. Following an Exchange means that every time a new article is added to that Exchange, it will be posted in your Home feed for easy access as soon as you sign in to the site.
• Search for people you know, or for people whose opinions you are interested in, and make sure you are following them – following someone means that their posts will appear in your Home feed when you are signed in to the site.
• Tell people what you think by sharing or rating articles alongside any thoughts that you have on the issues discussed – you can share or rate one of our own articles directly via the article page, or you can comment on something you are reading on another site by posting the link in the ‘What are you reading?’ box at the top of your Home feed.
• Keep it classy – remember, everything you post on TheArticle is out there for the world to see, so you must take responsibility for what you say. We aim to facilitate lively debate on a wide range of issues but we will not tolerate trolling.

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How do I register an account?

How to register an account

Registering an account on TheArticle is simple - just look out for the 'register' option anywhere on the site, or click on the sign-in icon at the top of any page and then select 'Register here'.

We will ask you for your name, email address and password in order to register, and you will also need to confirm that you are over 16 years of age and have agreed to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. We will also ask for your gender and age (this is to help us serve articles and adverts that we think you will find interesting) but this is optional.

Verifying your email address

On registration, you will be sent a welcome email containing a link, which we ask you to click on to verify that you have entered the correct email address.

If you dont receive the email, the chances are that it’s got stuck in your spam folder, so take a look in there. Alternatively, you might have entered an incorrect email address - no problem, just log in using your username and password and you can change your email address in your Account Settings.

Choosing a Display Name and @username

On registration, you will also be asked to choose a Display Name and @username to be displayed on your public profile.

For your Display Name, we recommend using your real name, as this will help people find you on the site. It must only contain letters, and no numbers or symbols.

Your @username must be unique, and it must also be at least 6 characters long and only contain letters, numbers or an underscore [ _ ].

Following Exchanges

The aim of TheArticle is to offer you a range of views on various topics, and to allow contributors and readers to exchange views on those topics. To get started, we ask you to follow a minimum of three of our Exchanges – this will help us understand what interests you, and will also mean that you will receive any articles that are added to those Exchanges in your Home feed. Read more about Exchanges here.

Adding your location

Adding your location is an optional step in the registration process and, if you choose to add one, it will be displayed in your public profile. However, if you change your mind, it is something you can edit or remove at a later date via your profile.

Adding a location will help other users locate your profile and ascertain whether they are trying to connect with the correct person, and it will also help us serve you articles and adverts that we think you might find interesting.

Connecting with other users

To get the full experience on TheArticle, you need to connect with other users to be able to see what interests them and what their views are on the content they are reading. To connect with another user, you need to follow them and this means their posts will appear in your Home feed. Read more about how you can connect with other users.

On registration, we invite you to follow other users, either by searching for people you think might already be registered on the site, or by following some of the people we suggest for you. If you follow anyone at this point, their profile activity will be displayed in your Home feed once you have completed the registration process.

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How do I sign into my account?

To sign in to TheArticle, you will need to look for the sign-in icon at the top of any page on the site, or a sign-in link in any of the navigation menus. Clicking on the sign-in icon or link, will take you to a sign-in form where you will be asked to enter, either your registered email address, or your unique @username, followed by your password.

Forgotten your details?

If you have forgotten your password, you will need to click on the 'Forgot your password?' link in the sign-in form. You will then be asked to enter your registered email address and click on the 'Send link' button; if the email address you have entered is registered on our system, we will send you an email with a link to reset your password. Please note, this link will only be valid for 24 hours. If you dont receive the email, the chances are that it’s got stuck in your spam folder, so take a look in there. If you have forgotten your email address, you can log in using your username and password and you can check or change your email address in your Account Settings.

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How do I sign out of my account?

To sign out to TheArticle, you will need to click on the sign-out link in the navigation menu.

Why sign out of TheArticle?

It is important to sign out of the site to help keep your account safe. This is particularly important if signing in to the site on a shared device.

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What is my profile?

Your public profile is the page on the site where your information is displayed, and by which other users can find and follow you. You need a profile in order to follow other users, rate or share articles and interact with other users posts. You will be asked to create a basic profile as part of the registration process and, after registration, you are able to add more information and photos to your profile to help people find you. Please be aware that all information added to your profile is public, including any comments you make when sharing or rating an article, or when commenting on other users posts. If you want to register on the site but do not wish to have a public profile, you can deactivate your profile, but this will limit the functionality available to you on the site.

Your basic profile

On registration, you are asked to choose a display name and a unique @username, and this information forms your basic profile. You are not required to give any more information about yourself when registering, but you may if you wish add a location to your profile as part of the registration process. After registration, you will also be invited to add more information about yourself, along with some photos, but this too is optional.

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How do I update my account details?

Coming soon

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How do I delete my account?

If you wish to delete your account, you need to visit your Account Settings and then select 'Account', followed by the 'Delete your account' option. You will be asked to enter your password to confirm the action. If you have forgotten your password, you can reset it using the link on the sign-in page.

Once you have confirmed you wish to delete your account, it and your data will be removed from our system as per our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. Deleting your account means that:

• you will no longer be able to sign in to TheArticle
• you will no longer have a public profile
• your posts and comments will be deleted
• you will no longer be able to read comments on other people’s profiles
• you will no longer be able to follow an exchange
• we will no longer contact you with newsletters, emails etc.

If you delete your account, it cannot be reinstated at a later date, so you may wish to consider deactivating your profile instead.

Deactivating your profile

If you no longer wish to have a public profile on the site, you are able to deactivate your profile but remain a member. This can be done by visiting your Account Settings and then selecting 'Manage profile', followed by 'Deactivate your profile'. You will be asked to enter your password to confirm the action. If you have forgotten your password, you can reset it using the link on the sign-in page.

Deactivating your profile means that:

• your public profile will be removed from the site
• your posts and comments will be permanently deleted
• you will no longer be able to share or rate articles
• you will no longer be able to follow people or be followed

However, you would still be able to:

• sign in to TheArticle
• follow exchanges and receive your personalised news feed
• read comments on other people’s profiles
• receive our newsletters, emails etc. (and manage how and when we contact you)

After deactivating your profile, you may reactivate it if you wish. However, previous posts and comments will not be restored, and you will need to follow anyone you were following before again.