Welcome to Knol

The Knol project is a site that hosts many knols — units of knowledge — written about various subjects. The authors of the knols can take credit for their writing, provide credentials, and elicit reviews and comments. Users can provide feedback, comments, and related information. So the Knol project is a platform for sharing information, with multiple cues that help you evaluate the quality and veracity of information.

Knols are indexed by the big search engines, of course. And well-written knols become popular the same as regular web pages. The Knol site allows anyone to write and manage knols through a browser on any computer.

(Almost) anything you like. You pick the subject and write it the way you see fit. We don't edit knols nor do we try to enforce any particular viewpoint – your knol should be written as you want it to be written. Of course, knols are subject to Terms of Service  and Content Policy to ensure a good experience for all users and compliance with applicable laws.

No problem, you can still write your own article. In fact, the Knol project is a forum for encouraging individual voices and perspectives on topics. As mentioned, no one else can edit your knol (unless you permit it) or mandate how you write about a topic. If you do a search on a topic, you may very well see more than one knol in the search results. Of course, people are free to disagree with you, to write their own knols, to post comments and ratings.
 

• Ratings - Use these to provide your high-level, quantitative assessment of the knol.
• Comments - Use these to respond to specific points or raise specific questions about a knol.
• Edits - If an article allows moderated collaboration, click Edit at the top of the knol to make changes directly to the text of that knol*. Edit a knol if you feel that you can add something to the knol itself, for example a supporting argument or an additional data point that fits well with the existing content.
• Reviews - Write a review if you want to make a full length response to the knol (i.e. if you would like to write a new knol on the topic expressing your point of view relative to the author's).

Can I write knols in languages other than English?

Absolutely. Knol is now available in Arabic, French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese (Brazilian), and Spanish,  It will take us some time to localize the interface into additional languages -- but you can help us launch Knol in your language using the Google in Your Language console. For more information, visit this page on Knol in Different Languages.

How do I use Knol in another language?

Log in to knol. At the top of the page is a "My profile" link with a down-facing arrow. Click on "Settings" to go to the "Preferences" page. At the top of the "General" tab is a "Display language" pulldown menu. Select the language you want to use.

Can I search for knols on a specific subject?

How do I get started writing my own knols?

Here are some links to knols that may be helpful to you:

 Basics of Writing Knols

• Creating and publishing a new knol
• Entering text into a new or existing knol
• Using the formatting bar
  

• Things to do
• Things to avoid
• Publishing tips for authors

Where else can I discuss or get help on Knol?

Knol authors helping authors

• Having trouble formatting your documents? Get HTML Help for Knol
• Want to help translating knols? Need help translating? See the Knol Translation page.
• If this is your first time in Knol and you want to just play around with the editor and features, with no strings attached, feel free to edit this Knol-Sandbox one of our users has created for just that purpose. You may stumble upon other newcomers to Knol there.
• Knol Writing Tips have been compiled by a group of Knol authors who write them.
• Enhancing your knol using HTML gives Knol authors examples and 'copy&paste' instructions on how use HTML to better present Knols that make for a great reader experience.

Public forums for discussing Knol