Your first article, start to finish
From a few links to an approved article you can publish, in about ten minutes.
An article starts with sources, not a blank page. You give elessar a few links on one subject, say what kind of piece you want and what it should cover, and it writes an article in your brand's voice where every factual claim is cited to a passage in one of those links. You read it, approve it, and then put it on your website.
1. Tell elessar about your brand
The first time you sign in, elessar asks for your website. It reads the site and builds a brand profile: what you do, who you want to reach, and the way you speak. Check it under "Does this look like you?" and edit anything that is off. You can paste a few of your own posts to sharpen the voice. Everything here can be changed later under Settings → Brand.
If you have no website yet, choose "Describe your business instead". A name and a sentence are enough to start.
2. Add a few sources
A project is a set of sources on one subject. Open Projects, create one, and give it a name that says what it is about. Then add sources: paste links one per line, or upload a CSV or text file of links. A page on your own site, a guide, an official page and a news story all work. Three to six good pages are plenty for a first article.
elessar reads each page and shows what it found. A page it could not read is marked, and you can remove it or try another.
3. Write the article
Press "Write an article" on Home or on the project. The sheet asks two things. "What kind of piece?" offers article, guide, listicle, comparison, explainer and news roundup, with a line on each. "What should it cover?" lists the themes found in your sources, or you can describe the piece in a sentence. Press "Start writing". An article uses 50 credits.
4. Watch, or come back later
The run page shows each step as it happens: finding sources, reading them, settling the topic, gathering the evidence, checking the claims, writing each section, reviewing the draft. It takes about ten minutes. You can close the page; the article will be under Articles → Needs you when it is done, and you get an email.
5. Read it, then approve it
The article page shows the piece with its sources beside it. Open "Sources and status" to see every source and how many passages were cited from it, and click any cited sentence to see the passage it rests on. If the writing needs a change, use Rewrite with notes or Fix this section before you approve.
When it reads right, press "Approve this article". An editor or an owner can approve; a viewer cannot. Approval unlocks Download, Social posts and Publish to your site.
6. Put it on your website
The quickest way is your blog on elessar: choose an address under Settings → Integrations → Your site, then press "Publish to your site" on the article. If your site is on WordPress, Webflow, Wix, Sanity, Ghost or GitHub, connect it under Settings → Integrations and the same button sends the article there.
If it goes wrong
- A run that stops says why on its page, and nothing is charged for a run that stops on our side. Try again from Home.
- If the sources are too thin, the project says "Read, but too thin to write from yet". Add a few more pages.
- If you cannot find the Approve button, you are a viewer on this team. Ask an owner to make you an editor.