Creating & Managing Skills

This guide covers how to create new Skills, edit existing ones, and write effective Skill content. For an overview of what Skills are, see What Are Skills.

Creating Custom Skills

You can create new Skills in the Knowledge and Instructions categories.

1. Go to Skills in the sidebar
2. Select the Knowledge or Instructions tab
3. Click Create Skill (top right)
4. Fill in the Skill details
5. Click Save

Note

Audience and Writing Skills are generated during onboarding. You can edit them but cannot create additional ones.

Skill Editor Fields

Name

A short, descriptive name for the Skill.

Good names:

• “Financial Terminology”
• “Quote Attribution Rules”
• “UK Market Context”

Avoid:

• Generic names like “Rules” or “Info”
• Very long names

Description

A brief explanation of what the Skill covers. This helps you remember the Skill’s purpose.

Example: “Key terminology and acronyms used in UK financial services journalism.”

Applies To

Choose when this Skill should be used:

• Research - Applied during the research phase
• Writing - Applied during the writing phase
• Both - Applied throughout the entire process

Applies To	Best For
Research	Background context, key facts to find
Writing	Style rules, formatting, tone guidelines
Both	Fundamental knowledge that affects all stages

Content

The main body of the Skill. Write in clear, direct language and be specific about what you want.

Editing Skills

Audience and Writing Skills

1. Go to Skills
2. Select the Audience or Writing tab
3. Click the Skill you want to edit (Audience Profile, Engagement Profile, Writing Voice, or House Style)
4. Refine the content
5. Click Save

Knowledge and Instructions Skills

1. Go to Skills
2. Select the appropriate tab
3. Click the Skill you want to edit
4. Make your changes
5. Click Save

Version History

Velora keeps a history of Skill versions. When you save changes:

• The previous version is preserved
• You can view past versions
• Changes are tracked over time

To view version history, open a Skill and look for the version history option.

Regenerating Writing Skills

If you want to regenerate your Writing Voice or House Style from scratch:

1. Go to Skills → Writing
2. Look for the regenerate option
3. Provide article URLs or use your site’s content
4. Velora will analyse the content and generate new Skills

This is useful if:

• Your publication’s voice has changed significantly
• The initial generation didn’t capture your style well
• You want to base it on different example articles

Writing Effective Skills

Be Specific

❌ “Write professionally”

✅ “Use formal language. Avoid contractions. Write in third person except for opinion pieces. Cite sources with the publication name and date.”

Use Examples

❌ “Format quotes properly”

✅ “Format quotes as: ‘Quote here,’ said John Smith, CEO of Company X. On subsequent mentions, use just the surname: ‘Another quote,’ Smith added.”

Example Skills

Knowledge Skill: When to Use

Knowledge Skills are most useful for:

1. Recent information - AI models have training cutoffs (typically around 12 months). Add facts about recent appointments, policy changes, or events.

2. Niche domain knowledge - Very specific industry details that AI models won’t know well, like internal company structures, local market specifics, or specialist terminology unique to your field.

Example: “2025 Leadership Changes”

Recent appointments (as of March 2025):

- Jane Smith appointed CEO of TechCorp in February 2025, replacing John Doe
- The FCA's new Director of Consumer Protection is Sarah Johnson (January 2025)
- Bank of England MPC added two new members in Q1 2025: [names]

Always verify current roles before publishing - this information changes frequently.

Instructions Skill: When to Use

Site-wide rules belong in your House Style. Instructions Skills are for task-specific guidance - the agent sees all your Skills and dynamically selects the relevant ones for each article.

Create Instructions Skills for specific article types or situations:

Example: “Earnings Coverage”

When covering earnings reports:

1. Pull numbers directly from the official earnings release or investor call transcript
2. Include a comparison table: This Quarter | Last Quarter | YoY Change
3. If guidance was updated, lead with that rather than the quarterly results
4. Check for analyst consensus estimates to compare against actual results

Example: “Press Release Coverage”

When writing about press releases:

1. Verify claims by checking other sources - don't just rewrite the PR
2. Include context about why this matters to readers
3. If possible, find independent commentary or reaction
4. Note clearly when information comes solely from the company's statement

The agent will load “Earnings Coverage” when writing about quarterly results, and “Press Release Coverage” when the source is a company announcement - but not both for every article.

Deleting Skills

To delete a custom Skill:

1. Open the Skill
2. Click Delete (or the delete icon)
3. Confirm deletion

Deletion is permanent. Consider copying the Skill content before deleting if you might need it later.

You cannot delete Audience or Writing Skills.