Creating content

Find sources

See the real pages an article would be written from before you spend one - the Source Desk's own search, run on its own, free of your article allowance.

Every researched article is only as good as the pages it was written from. Find sources lets you see those pages first. Type a few words and get back the real sources the desks would use - without spending an article.

You will find it in the left rail.

On this page

What it is

Before the desks write anything, the Source Desk plans a search, reads the pages it finds, and judges each one. Find sources is that same step, run on its own for you to read. It is not a preview or a simulation: it is the same work the desks do, stopped before the writing starts.

Use it when:

you are not sure a topic has enough good coverage to write about
you want to know which outlets an article would lean on
you want to choose the sources yourself

How to use it

Open Find sources from the left rail.
Type a few words - the subject, the way a reader would put it.
Read the results: real pages, each with its outlet and title, linked so you can open them.

The run also says what it understood your words to be about. That is the fastest way to catch a misunderstanding - when you and the desk meant different things by the same three words - before an article is written on the wrong subject.

When nothing comes back

A search that finds nothing usable says so plainly, and names the reason it recorded. It does not fill the list with something nearby just to show you a result. An empty answer you can act on is worth more than a thin source that makes the list look full.

When the answer is thin, try different words - the ones the pages on that subject would use - or a narrower subject.

Write from the sources you picked

Tick the pages you want the article built on and press Write from these. The pages you ticked go to the desks as the article's priority sources:

They are used as you picked them. The desks do not re-judge your choices or drop them for being outside a date window.
The number you ticked is the number of sources the article is built on.

From there it is a normal article request, through all ten editorial desks.

Find sources, Research and Ideas

Three tools sound alike and answer different questions:

Find sources - "What would an article on this subject be written from?" You already have the subject.
Ideas - "What is happening in my field today?" You do not have a subject yet.
Research - "Where does my site stand, and what should it cover next?" A report on your own site.