Topics and your front page
On this page
A topic is a subject the site keeps track of, such as Sports › Baseball or Real Estate › Mortgages & Rates. Every 4Search site sorts the news it collects into its own set of topics, each with its own page, its own subtopics and its own stream of articles.
#Where you meet topics
On the home page: the Topics tab, the Topics list on the left, and stories grouped by topic.
- 1The Topics tab
- 2The Topics list
- 3A group of stories for one topic
- The Topics list on the left of the home page and of most pages: every topic of the site, with arrows to open their subtopics. See The Topics list.
- The Topics tab in the row of services: a directory of all topics, and a finder that suggests the best topics for any words. See The Topics tab.
- A topic's own page: what it covers, its subtopics and its latest articles. See A topic's page.
- The front page: the home page shows today's stories in groups, one group per topic. See The front page by topic.
#What you can do with a topic
- Search inside it, so your words only bring back articles in that subject: Search within a topic.
- Follow it with the star, so it comes first on your front page and is one click away when you search: Follow topics.
- Ask AI about it in AI Mode: Ask AI about one topic.
#Every site has its own topics
The 4 Network is a family of sites, each about a subject or a place, and each one's topics are made for its subject. On 4Search they cover everything, from News (General) to Weather. On a baseball site they are things like MLB AL East, Trades & Transactions and Ballparks & Stadiums.
4Baseball, one of the sites of the 4 Network, has topics made for baseball.
- 1This site's own topics
- 2Topics made for baseball
- 3The first group of stories
So the Topics list, the Topics tab and the front page look different on each site, and a topic you follow on one site is kept for that site. See The 4 Network.
#Common questions
How many topics are there?
It depends on the site. The Topics tab says how many the site you are on has; on 4Search it is several thousand, counting all the subtopics.
Who decides the topics?
Each site's topics are set up by 4Search for that site's subject. You cannot add your own, but you can follow the ones you want and search inside any of them.
Are topics the same as the News filters?
No. A filter narrows a search by date, length or tone; a topic narrows it to a subject. You can use both at once.