Readers trust an article when they know who is responsible for it. This guide helps you answer two questions for each space: who is responsible for an article, and who must read it before it is published.

One owner for each article

Each article has a single owner. Elium shows the owner at the top of the article and notifies them first when something must be done. Other people can edit the article: they appear as contributors, and the owner stays responsible.

Choose the owner with care:

The owner knows the subject. The person who creates the article is the owner by default. If a colleague wrote it for an expert, ask a space coordinator to change the owner to the expert.
The owner is one person, not a team. When a whole team is responsible for a subject, name one person in the team. When the owner is away for a long time, a space coordinator changes the owner.
The owner still works on the subject. When someone changes team, give their articles to a colleague. To change the owner of several articles, tick them in the space and use "Change owner" in the bulk actions.

Roles in each space

The role of a person in a space decides what they can do there. See User roles and rights for the full list.

Space role	What they do for the knowledge of the space
Guest	Reads and comments.
Contributor	Writes articles and keeps their own articles correct.
Coordinator	Manages all the content of the space. Approves articles and handles article requests.
Administrator	Does the same as a coordinator. Also manages the settings, the tabs and the members.

Name at least two coordinators or administrators in each space. If only one person can approve content, nothing is published while that person is away.

Choose the approval rule of each space

Approval puts a second reader between the author and the publication. It also slows publication down, so use it where an error has a cost.

Kind of space	Approval	What happens
Procedures, policies, answers given to customers	Mandatory	Every new article and every update from a contributor waits for a coordinator or an administrator of the space.
Team knowledge, how-to guides	On request	Contributors publish directly. They ask for a review when they want one.
News, communities, projects	None	Speed matters more than a second reading.

Mandatory approval

The approvers are the coordinators and the administrators of the space. A new request goes to all of them, and one of them takes it. Choose these people for what they know about the subject, because they decide what is published.

Platform administrators see all the spaces with mandatory approval in "Settings" > "Content management" > "Approval". The page lists the approvers of each space, so you can find a space where nobody can approve.

Approval on request

A contributor chooses one or more approvers. If there are several, they approve one after the other, in the order of the list. Two cases are common:

Someone corrects an article that they do not own, and sends the correction to the owner.
An article needs an expert first, then a manager.

Set the review rule of each space

Decide which verification period new articles get by default. A space of procedures can use six months, a space of news needs none. See Set up a review routine.

Decide who can read and who can write

The type of a space defines who can read its articles: everyone, or its members only. See Types of spaces.

Inside the space, the roles define who can write. In a space of official procedures, most members are guests and a few experts are contributors. In a community, every member is a contributor.

For an article that people must not copy or download, use a protected article.

Record the rules

Put the rules of the space in one short article and pin it at the top of the space. It answers the questions that a new contributor has:

What belongs in this space, and what does not.
Which template to use for each kind of article.
Who approves, and how long it usually takes.
When articles must be checked again.
Who to contact with a question.

The Knowledge base style guide template gives you a structure for the writing rules.

Next step

Capture knowledge from experts: get the first articles written.
Review your platform every quarter: check that the rules still work.