With Hudu's dual knowledge base libraries, creating and maintaining a vast database of shared knowledge and quick-reference guides, internally and for clients, has never been simpler. Knowledge base articles may be quick-shared with clients, added to client portals, or linked via the related items tab to relevant assets for easy access.
Knowledge base articles can be classified into two primary types:
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Global articles
- Articles stored within your Global Knowledge Base (KB). These may act as tutorials and how-to guides for internal use or for information that pertains to multiple clients.
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Client articles
- Articles stored inside of a specific (individual) client/company space, which are useful for storing tutorials and how-to's that pertain ONLY to the space they reside within.
Global KB articles and client KB articles are nearly identical; in abilities, creation, editing, and sharing/relating, the major difference is where they are stored (globally or inside of a client space).
Guides
In this section, we'll cover how to create, edit and manage knowledge base articles.
Creating Articles
KB articles can be created at either the global or client level, and the article will pertain only to the specific KB library it was created within. The steps below apply to both.
- Navigate to either your global knowledge base OR to a client's knowledge base within their client space.
- This first window will show you all of your KB articles in a list format (either all global KB articles or all KB articles pertaining to the client space you're currently within).
- Only articles that you have permission to view will be visible.
- Click ((New Article)) in the top right-hand corner.
- From the dropdown, you'll need to choose how you'd like to create your new article; your options are:
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Blank
- Create a fresh new KB article.
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Upload PDF
- Upload a PDF document to create a formatted KB article.
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Use template
- Create a new article, starting from an existing article marked as a template.
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Blank
- Select the creation option of your choosing, and start writing!!
Editing Articles
Editing existing global KB or client KB articles requires a user role of Author or above; as well as permission to view the article you wish to edit. The steps below pertain to both global and client KBs.
- Navigate to either your global knowledge base OR to a client's knowledge base within a client space.
- Click inside an individual, already-existing article.
- Click the ((Edit)) button in the top right-hand corner of the article page.
- This will open a window containing our WYSIWYG editor; which you can use to write, update and format your KB articles.
In order to publish changes to an article, you must click the ((Publish)) button on the right-hand side before navigating away. Articles do auto-save but auto-save to a draft stage.
Managing Articles
Managing articles requires a user role of Author or above; although only admins and super-admins have access to all management abilities. Articles may be managed individually, or in bulk; we'll explore both options below.
Bulk Actions
The bulk action option can be utilized when viewing articles in the list; either from the main article page (global or client-specific) or from within a specific folder/sub-folder (when viewing a folder/sub-folder, the bulk manage with pertain only to articles found within that folder).
- Navigate to either your global knowledge base OR to a client's knowledge base within a client space.
- Select one or more articles and select the ((Bulk Actions)) button.
- Alternatively, navigate further inside of a KB folder; you'll have a bulk manage option, specific to the folder you're currently inside.
- From the Bulk Actions menu you'll have the options to:
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Move to Global KB
- Moves the article(s) to your global KB; if the article already exists in the global KB, this option would be moving the article to another folder or to your main KB list (no folder).
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Change Company
- Moves the article(s) to another client's KB of your choosing.
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Archive
- Moves the article(s) to the museum (clients' museum for client articles, or the 'archived' tab for global KB articles).
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Change Folder
- Moves the article(s) to a folder or if they are already in a folder, to a different folder.
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Move to Global KB
Individually Manage
Within an individual article (global or client KB), clicking ((More Options)) at the top right allows you management of that specific article. These abilities may be limited due to your security user role, but include:
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Move to Global KB
- Moves the article to your Global KB (only available for client specific articles).
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Change Company
- Move the article to another client space.
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Archive
- Move the article to the museum (or your 'archived' tab for global articles).
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Favorite
- Marking the article as a favorite will have it show in My Favorites on your dashboard.
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Set Expiration Date (client KB only)
- Choose to designate an expiration for the article; these expirations get placed into the clients' expiration list (and admin global expiration list).
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Lock
- Mark the article as read-only; dis-allowing further editing of the article.
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Delete
- Permanently delete the article (admins or super-admins only).
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Change Permissions
- Choose to restrict certain security groups from viewing/accessing the article.
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View Current Access
- View which users have access. Users with access will have a green check; users with restricted access will have a red 'x'.
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Flag
- Select a flag from a list of Flag Types that can be created in Admin > Flag Types to mark if the article needs reviewed, updated, etc..
Tools
The sections below serve to introduce tools associated with article creation, management, and sharing. Expand each section for an overview of the tool.
KB Folders
Folders act as the primary tool for article organization. Subfolders can be created and nested within folders for further categorization and organization of KB articles; this applies to global and client KBs.
Knowledge Base Folders can be created at either the global or client level. For client level folders, the articles within will pertain only to the specific KB library the folder was created within. The steps below apply to both global and client level.
- Navigate to either your global knowledge base OR to a client's knowledge base within their client space.
- Select ((New Folder)).
- Name the new folder and add a description (optional).
- To add a new article to the folder, click into the folder and select ((New Article)).
KB Templates
Once an article is created (at either the global OR client level), you have the ability to designate the article as a template. Doing so allows you to create articles, starting from an exact copy of an existing article!
Creating Templates
- To mark an article as a template, you'll need to be inside the article itself. From here, click the top right more options ellipsis.
- From this window, click Make Global Template. Doing so will allow you to create an exact duplicate of the article, at either the client or global levels.
- Articles created from a template are designated 'child articles' to the original. All child articles created are accessible from the Template section, on the right-hand sidebar of the parent article.
Child articles can be edited/altered to better suit the client/asset they are tied to, this will not change the parent article or any sibling articles.
Quick-Share Links
All of your published KB articles come equipped with the ability to create quick-share links. These are public links to view ONLY the selected KB article, and allow you to easily share useful articles with external users or users who may not have/require portal access.
Once an article has been created; from the right-hand sidebar, users will have the ability to Create Public Share Link. This generates a unique URL, specific to the article you've created it for. The share link may be regenerated or expired at any time; both options disable the previous link created.
The ability to share articles via quick-share links may be removed via security groups/permissions by the admin/super-admin users at your organization.
File Storage
The Files section is a toggle-able module that allows users to add files to an article. Any user can view the files attached to an article that they have permission to view. If a user is at least an "Author" role, they are able to upload their own files.
- Click into the files section on the right-hand sidebar to browse files to upload, OR drag and drop files directly into the section to add. These files will populate into list format.
- To update the name of the file, click the ‘edit’ icon to the right of the file name. Ensure that you click save after updating the name.
There is no limit to the number of files allowed to be uploaded but said uploaded individual files cannot exceed 100 MB per file.
Comments
The comments section allows for simple text-field entries and serves to provide an area for any additional information that may not fit directly into your article or other categories/sections.
Full View
Knowledge base articles need to be scanned and reviewed quickly; what better way than in full view!? Toggle this ability to minimize the sidebars when inside of a specific KB article, while maximizing the article contents; the only way to read an article.
Additional Abilities
The sections below will serve to introduce additional features associated with KB articles. The items below can all be found at the bottom of the right-hand action menu when inside of an article page.
Revision History
Revision histories serve to provide a breadcrumb trail of when edits to the article were performed, as well as by who. To view revision history, click a user's name from the Activity Feed in the bottom right. Your current version will be notated at the top of the timeline.
To view an older version, navigate down the timeline to the desired previous version.
To revert back to an older version, select the older version from the timeline and click the Revert to Version button.
Activity Logs
Activity logs serve to provide a detailed information page on what actions have been performed to the specific article you currently reside. Any action performed on an article is recorded within the articles' specific activity log; as well as in the Hudu admin Global Activity Logs.
Activity logs can be filtered by:
- Client name.
- The action performed;
- By the user who performed the action;
- or by the IP address from which the action was performed.
View who has Access
This feature will allow admins and super-admins to view who has access to the specific article. Article access can be denied via security groups.
- Users that have access to the article will be designated by a green check mark.
- Users that are restricted from accessing the article will be designated by a red X.
Printable Versions
Physical copies of KB articles may still be required; by clicking the print icon in the top right, you'll open a new tab with a copy of your KB article, in printable format.
FAQ
How do you move articles to folders?
Answer: To move an article(s) to a folder, you can either:
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- Select an individual article and select the Bulk Actions dropdown. Select Change Folder and if folders exist, you'll be able to choose which folder to move the article to.
- Select more than one article from the list view and select the Bulk Actions dropdown. Select Change Folder and if folders exist, you’ll be able to choose which folder to move the article to.
Is markdown editing supported?
Answer: As of version 2.23, some markdown formatting is supported!
Notes: Supported markdown is:
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- Italicizing (*xxx*)
- Bolding (**xxx**)
- Both italicize and bolding (***xxx***)
- Headings (#, ##, ###, ####)
- Lists (* or -)
Why am I seeing broken images in my KB articles?
Answer: Images that are copy and pasted into articles are just pointers to the image's original location and may break over time. To ensure images are uploaded to your Hudu server, click the "Insert/Edit Image" icon in the editor, select Upload, choose to browse for or drop an image in the box and click Save.