Getting Started with Ask the News

Who Should Use This Guide

This guide is designed for editors, content managers, and site administrators who configure and manage Ask the News for their organization.

For in-depth developer documentation, see Ask the News on dev.arcxp.com.

Initial Setup

Prerequisites

Ask the News is an add-on feature available with an additional license. To activate Ask the News in your Arc XP environment, contact your Technical Account Manager.

After Ask the News is enabled in your environment and before you use it, you must have the Ask the News User permission.

Permissions

Open the Arc Admin and go to the Permissions app.

You can create a new Role for the Ask the News permissions or add to an existing Role.

There are several granular Permissions options:

Ask the News User - Access Ask the News user interface
Ask the News Admin - Access the Admin UI
Ask the News Settings Editor - Edit general site settings
Ask the News Questions Editor - Manage questions for a site
Ask the News History Viewer - View the answer history
Ask the News Settings Viewer - View a site’s settings, ingested articles
Ask the News Moderation Viewer - View org-wide query blocking rules and hidden articles
Ask the News Moderation Editor - Manage org-wide query blocking rules and hidden articles
Ask the News Site Provisioner - Provision new sites for the organization

Once users are permissioned, they will see the new Ask the News app tile in your environment.

See Managing Roles for more about permission management.

Accessing Ask the News

Ask the News is accessed through the Arc XP platform. Once logged in with the Ask the News permissions, you’ll find it in your available applications as a new tile.

Site Selection

When you first open Ask the News, you’ll see a list of all sites (news properties) available to your organization.

Each site card displays:

Site ID: The unique identifier for the site
Product Name: The display name shown to readers

From here, you can:

Click Query to test the reader experience
Click the settings icon to configure the site

Asking Questions

The query page is the heart of Ask the News — this is what your readers experience when they interact with the tool.

The Query Interface

When readers arrive, they see:

A time-based greeting (Good morning, Good afternoon, or Good evening)
A set of suggested questions (which you configure in settings)
A text input field to type their own question

Asking a Question

Readers can either:

Click a suggested question to submit it instantly
Type their own question in the input field and press Enter or click the submit button

Question Requirements:

Minimum 5 characters
Maximum 200 characters

Understanding the Response

After submitting a question, readers receive:

AI-Generated Answer: A concise response (typically 4-6 sentences) written in a neutral, newsroom tone. The answer is based solely on your published articles.
Source Articles: A horizontal row of cards showing the articles used to generate the answer. Each card displays an article headline, publication date, and link to the full article.
Feedback Buttons: Thumbs up and thumbs down icons let readers rate the quality of answers.
Copy Button: Readers can copy the answer text for reference.

What Readers Cannot Do

The AI is designed with strict guardrails:

It will not answer questions outside your published content
It will not generate code, creative writing, or perform tasks beyond Q&A
It will not reveal how it works internally
It maintains an objective, journalistic tone regardless of how questions are phrased

Continuing the Conversation

After receiving an answer, readers can click ‘Ask a follow up’ and select a generated suggested question or submit their own.

Site Settings

Site settings let you customize the reader experience for each news property. Access settings by clicking the gear icon on any site card, or through the Settings menu.

Navigating to Site Settings

Click Settings in the main navigation
Select Sites in the sub-navigation or Site Configuration on the Settings page
Choose the site you want to configure

Curated Questions Tab

The Curated Questions tab manages the suggested questions that appear on the query page.

Viewing Questions

The questions list shows:

Question text
Status (Active or Inactive)
Edit and Delete buttons

Questions are paginated with 10 per page.

Creating a New Question

Click Create New Question
Enter the question text
Set the status:
- Active: Question appears as a suggestion on the query page
- Inactive: Question is saved but not shown to readers
Optionally, click Check Sample Response to preview how the AI would answer
Click Create

Tips for Good Questions:

Write questions readers would naturally ask
Focus on topics covered by your articles
Use clear, conversational language
Example: “What are today’s top stories in technology?”

Editing a Question

Click the Edit button next to any question
Modify the text or status
Click Update

Deleting a Question

Click the Delete button next to the question
Confirm the deletion

Bulk Status Updates

To update multiple questions at once:

Select questions using the checkboxes
Click Mark as Active or Mark as Inactive
All selected questions will be updated

Customization Tab

The Customization tab controls display settings.

General

Product Name

The Product Name is displayed to readers throughout the interface. This is typically your publication name or a branded name for the Q&A feature.

Steering Instructions

Add up to 100 characters of instructions to add to the system prompt. Use for refinements like spelling/dialect or answer length. Steering instructions cannot be used to override the base tone or guardrails.

Sections Tab

Choose which sections appear as filter options on the query page and are returned as available_sections on the Settings API response. When no filter is selected, queries search all articles, including sections not in the list. Up to 5 sections can be specified in a single query.

Content Moderation

Content moderation rules help you control what types of questions the system will answer. This protects against inappropriate queries and ensures the tool stays focused on your content.

Accessing Moderation Settings

Click Settings in the main navigation
Select Organization

Understanding Blocking Rules

Blocking rules prevent certain queries from being processed. When a question matches a rule, the reader sees your “Rejected Question” response instead of an AI-generated answer.

Each rule has:

Rule ID: A unique identifier (e.g., “block-ssn”)
Type: How the rule matches text
Pattern: What text to look for
Category: Why the rule exists
Status: Whether the rule is active

Rule Types

Exact Match

Blocks queries containing an exact phrase
Case-sensitive by default
Example: Blocking “social security number” would not block “SSN”

Regex (Regular Expression)

Blocks queries matching a pattern
More flexible than exact match
Example: A pattern for phone numbers could block various formats

Rule Categories

Categories help organize your rules by purpose:

Category	Purpose	Example
PII	Block requests for personal information	Social Security numbers, home addresses
Inappropriate	Block offensive or harmful content	Profanity, violent content
Off-topic	Keep focus on your content	Sports questions on a finance site
Compliance	Meet legal or regulatory requirements	Medical or legal advice requests
Test	Rules used for testing	Temporary rules during setup

Create a Blocking Rule

Click Create Rule
Fill in the form

Rule ID: A short, descriptive identifier (e.g., “block-phone-numbers”)
Type: Select Exact or Regex
Pattern: Enter the text or pattern to block
Flags (Regex only): Optional modifiers

i = case-insensitive (recommended for most rules)

m = multiline matching

s = dot matches newlines
Category: Select the appropriate category
Description: Explain what this rule blocks and why
Enabled: Toggle on to activate the rule

Click Create

Testing Rules

Before enabling a rule, test it using the Test Query panel:

Enter a sample query in the test field
Click Test
The result shows whether the query would be blocked and which rule matched

Managing Existing Rules

From the rules list, you can:

Edit: Modify the pattern, category, or description
Enable/Disable: Toggle rules on or off without deleting them
Delete: Permanently remove a rule

Provisioning New Sites

When you’re ready to enable Ask the News for a new site, you’ll need to provision it.

Adding a New Site

Navigate to Settings > Sites
Click Provision New Site
Select the site from the dropdown (shows sites from your Arc organization)
Configure initial settings:
- Product Name: The name readers will see
- Steering Instructions: 100 characters of additional system prompt instructions for refinements like spellings or answer length (e.g., “Always use British English”)
Click Provision Site

The site is now ready to configure with suggested questions and receive articles.

If a Site Is Already Provisioned

If you select a site that’s already been set up, you’ll see a message indicating it’s already provisioned. In this case, navigate to the existing site in Settings to modify its configuration.