# How to use the Journal — nTilia

> Turn on your nTilia journal, pick a username, publish publicly, and share /u/username — a step-by-step guide.

Canonical: https://ntilia.com/en/journal

The Journal is your public feed: notes and articles you choose to share. Follow it by URL or RSS — no reader account.

## Local and cloud are not the same.

Most confusion starts here. Remember:

- **/blog**: A preview on this device. Useful to check layout. Not the URL to share.
- **/u/your-username**: Your public cloud journal. This is the address to send to a reader, colleague, or donor. The RSS feed is /u/your-username/feed.xml. On Pro+, the same journal can also be served on your own subdomain.

## Four steps to be read.

1. **Sign in** — Open the app and create an account (or sign in). Without an account you write locally; a shareable journal needs the cloud.
2. **Pick a username** — Settings → Account. That becomes your URL: ntilia.com/u/your-username.
3. **Customize the Journal** — Settings → Journal: turn it on, set the title, tagline, and About section. Style also lives under appearance. On Pro+, attach a subdomain (CNAME) there to serve the journal on your own address.
4. **Publish publicly** — In the editor, publish to the journal. Drafts and private posts stay off the public feed.

## Public, private, draft.

Only public posts appear on /u/…. Private stays yours; drafts are unpublished. You can republish an updated version whenever you need.

## An RSS feed, not a network.

Every public journal exposes /u/username/feed.xml. A reader subscribes in Feedly, NetNewsWire, or Mail — new posts arrive with no likes, no push, no nTilia account. One item per article, in the journal’s language.

## Make your feed recognizable.

Journal title, tagline, name, role, organization, or humanitarian context: these fields power the home page and the About button.