Knowledge base article administration

Knowledge base article administration

Creating a new Knowledge Base article

Knowledge Base screens can be accessed from the Knowledge toolbar menu in the HelpMaster Desktop. Staff users can also create and edit Knowledge Base articles from the web portal.

Each Knowledge Base article has the following required fields:

  • Article ID
  • A title for the article
  • Category
  • The author - who initially wrote the article is automatically filled
  • The dates the article was created and last modified is automatically filled

Use

  1. Open the Knowledge base articles screen
  2. Click on the New button.  This will open the Knowledge base article screen
  3. Enter an Article ID
  4. Enter the Title
  5. Select a Category for the article
  6. Enter keywords for the article, select an issue the article applies to (Optional)
  7. Enter the details of the article
  8. Click on OK

Linking an Existing Article to an Article

An existing Knowledge base article can be linked to another article.  This allows the user ready access to further information through the See Also option on the Knowledge base article screen.

Use

  1. Open the Knowledge base articles screen
  2. Use the search facilities to locate the article you wish to link from
  3. Double click on the desired article
  4. Click on the Add button. This will open the Knowledge base articles search screen
  5. Use the search facilities to locate the required article
  6. Click on Select

The linked article now appears in the “See Also” drop down list.

Updating a knowledge base articles

Knowledge base articles can change because of an improved method of acquiring a solution, extra details pertaining to the subject matter having been discovered, or a reference being added.  

Use

  1. Open the Knowledge base articles screen
  2. Use the search facilities to locate the article
  3. Select the article
  4. Click on Update.  This will open the Knowledge base article screen
  5. Modify the article as required
  6. Ensure that all required fields are valid
  7. Click on OK

The article has been successfully modified.

Knowledge base article visibility

Desktop

For Staff users via the Desktop application, knowledge base article access is administered from Application Security Roles > Screen Access tab via the Administration toolbar menu. From there Staff may be granted Read only, Full access, or No access to articles.

Web Portal

Visibility of articles via the Web Portal is administered for each article from it’s Web tab where the following options are available:

  1. Staff members only
  2. Logged in users (Clients and Staff members)
  3. Public (anyone can view this article)

These visibility options can be set from both the Desktop and Web Portal by Staff with Application Security Role Full access granted.

KB Article Visibility Web KB Article Visibility Desktop

Deleting a knowledge base article

A Knowledge Base article which is no longer of use can be deleted from the HelpMaster environment.  This is accomplished from the Knowledge Base Article screen.

For single Knowledge Base article deletion this can be easily accomplished from the article’s Properties tab by just clicking the Delete button.

For multiple Knowledge Base article deletion proceed as follows

  1. Open the Knowledge base articles screen
  2. Use the search facilities to locate the article for deletion
  3. Select the article
  4. Click on Delete
  5. Click on Yes in the Message box which will appear

See Also

Knowledge Base Overview

Viewing a Knowledge Base Article

Web Portal Knowledge Base Articles