About the Knowledge Base

The Knowledge Base (KB) is an online library for storing and retrieving useful information and reference materials, such as company policies, procedures, and forms; how-to guides; answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs); and known solutions to common issues or problems.

Additionally, please see this video created by our Professional Services team about the Knowledge Base.

 

Key Concepts & Capabilities

  • Custom Labeling allows system administrators to relabel the Knowledge Base feature within your Issuetrak site.

For example, it might be called the Resource Library or Documentation instead of Knowledge Base.

  • Anonymous KB Access, if activated, allows anyone to search Public KB Articles directly from the Issuetrak Login screen without logging in.
  • Public KB Articles are available to all users with Knowledge Base (KB) permissions.
  • Private KB Articles are available only to users with Private KB Article permissions.
  • Restricted KB Articles are available only to users with KB permissions that are members of specific Groups or Organizations.
  • KB Categories & Sub categories are used to organize various Articles into overall topics and subtopics. They can also be used to restrict various Articles to specific Groups or Organizations at the overall topic level rather than at the individual Article level.
 

Related Permissions

  • Knowledge Base is required to view the Knowledge Base and Public KB Articles from within your site.
  • Can view Private Knowledge Base articles is required to access Private KB Articles. It is also required to create, restrict or edit Private KB Articles if granted Can add, edit and delete Knowledge Base Articles.
  • Can add, edit and delete Knowledge Base Articles is required to create, restrict or edit KB Articles. Depending on your current System Defaults, Sys Admin may be required to delete KB Articles.
  • Can add, edit and delete Knowledge Base Categories and Sub categories; is required to create, restrict or edit KB Categories and Sub categories. Depending on your current System Defaults, Sys Admin may be required to delete KB Categories / Sub categories.
  • Sys Admin is required to activate or custom label the KB, or activate Anonymous KB Access. Depending on your current System Defaults, it may also be required to delete KB Articles, Categories, or Sub categories.
 

Activating the Knowledge Base

Steps:

  1. From the left menu, click on Knowledge Base.
  2. Scroll down to the Knowledge Base section and check Use KB.
  3. (Optional) To relabel the Knowledge Base feature, enter a new Menu Label (e.g. Resource Library, Documentation, FAQs).
  4. (Optional) To allow Anonymous Access to your site’s Public KB Articles directly from the Login screen, check Allow anonymous search without requiring login (public items only).
  5. Click Update from the top or bottom of the screen.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete and the Knowledge Base (or its custom menu label) will now be displayed within the left menu.

 

Activating Knowledge Base File Storage / Attachments

Knowledge Base Attachments are files that can be uploaded to your Knowledge Base article. These files can then be downloaded and distributed in relation to the article. This feature allows you to add supporting information to knowledge base articles.

  • There's no limit on the number of files that can be attached to an article.
  • There's no limit on the type of files that can be attached to an article.
  • Cloud-based Issuetrak systems have a set limitation of 200 MB per attachment.
  • On-premises customers can set their own attachment size limits.

To enable large attachments in an on-premises environment, please read this Knowledge Base article on our Support site.

 
How to Activate Attachments

To activate attachments you will need to log in as a Sys Admin.

Steps:

  1. Click the gear icon in the upper right > click on Features beneath System.
  2. Check the box for Use Attachments in the Attachments section (You can also specify an attachment Max Size limit).
  3. Click Update.

Attachments are now active and ready to use in your system.

Attachments are a system-wide setting allowing attachments to be added to Users, Organizations, Issues, Projects, Assets, and Knowledge Base articles.

 

Managing Knowledge Base Articles

Searching the Knowledge Base

Always use a space or semicolon (;) to separate specific words or phrases within Quick Search or text-based criteria. Use quotation marks (“) before and after any exact series of characters or words that apply. To exclude search results that contain specific words or phrases, also add a dash or minus sign (-) before the value.

Steps:

  1. Select Knowledge Base from your left menu. (Your site may use a different menu label for the Knowledge Base.)
  2. To search for a specific article number, keyword or phrase, enter your criteria in the Quick Search field and click Search.
  3. To search for Articles based on a variety of criteria, select Search in the right quick menu, enter your criteria and click Search at the bottom of the screen.

The KB article(s) matching your criteria will be displayed when the search is complete.
 

Advanced Search

There are various operators / modifiers that you can apply to your search criteria to achieve specific results. That is, by inserting specific characters in your search terms, you can specify whether you want matches within words, or that contain certain numbers, or that exclude certain characters. We'll explain what these characters are and what they do in the table below:

Symbol Description Example
% Represents zero or more characters bl% finds bl, black, and blue
_ Represents a single character h_t finds hot, hat, and hit
[] Represents any single character within the brackets h[oa]t finds hot and hat, but NOT hit
^ Represents any character NOT in the brackets h[^oa]t finds hit, but NOT hot and hat
- Represents any single character within the specified range in the brackets c[a-c] finds cat, cbt, and cct, but not cdt

Additional notes:

  • The ^ character is only treated as a special character if it's inside brackets.
  • The - (dash) character is treated specially by Issuetrak. Starting a search with - followed by text searches for results not containing that text.
  • If the %, _, or [ characters are needed in the actual search, then they must be surrounded with brackets, like so: [%], [_], [[].
  • If the - (dash) character is needed in the beginning of the search, it must be surrounded with brackets, like so: [-]
  • The ] character can be used normally in search text since it only has special meaning when combined with a [ character.
  • The ^ can be used normally in search text since it only has special meaning when used inside brackets.
  • To search for the text [ytdsgPh87], enter [[]ytdsgPh87] in the search field. Searching for the text [ytdsgPh87] would search for issues that have a 'y', or a 't', or a 'd', etc.
Creating Knowledge Base Articles

Additional options are available on KB Articles after they are saved (e.g. Attachments, Restrictions).

 

Steps:

  1. Select Knowledge Base in the left menu, then click Add under the Articles section of the right quick menu. (Your site may use a different label for the Knowledge Base.)

You can also create KB Articles directly from an Issue by selecting Create KB Article in its right quick menu. For your convenience, the Issue’s Subject, #, Type, Description, Notes, and Solution will be copied into the Article – but you can also change or remove those values as needed.

  1. (Optional) Select the article’s Category and Sub Category.
  2. Enter the article’s Title (255 characters max).
  3. Enter the article’s content.
  4. (Optional) If you want to limit access to this article to users with Can view Private Knowledge Base Articles permissions only, check Private at the top of the Add Knowledge Base Article screen. (You must also have this permission to see this option.)
  5. (Optional) If you need to add Attachments, check Include Attachments. (The upload screen will open once the article is saved.)
  6. (Optional) Enter any Tags (i.e. keywords or phrases) that might help users locate this Article. (Use a semicolon to separate multiple keywords or phrases.)
  7. Click Save.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete.

Editing Knowledge Base Articles

Steps:

  1. Select Knowledge Base in the left menu (your site may use a different menu label for the Knowledge Base).
  2. Open the article that you want to update.
  3. Click Edit in the right quick menu.
  4. Make your changes on the Edit Knowledge Base Article screen.
  5. (Optional) Toggle whether the article is Private in the Details card.
  6. (Optional) Enter any Tags that you'd like to associate with the article (separated with semicolons).
  7. (Optional) Add any Subscribers that should receive notifications when this article is updated. Note that any change to the article will result in notifications being fired to subscribers!
  8. (Optional) Set Restrictions for this article that will limit its visibility to specific groups or organizations. You must have Sys Admin permission in order to see the "add/edit" link for Restrictions.
    1. Drag/drop any groups or organizations that should see the article to the righthand columns.
    2. Click Update to save the selected groups/organizations.
  9. Click Update.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete.

Deleting Knowledge Base Articles

Steps:

  1. Select Knowledge Base in the left menu (your site may use a different menu label for the Knowledge Base).
  2. Open the article that you want to delete.
  3. Click Delete in the right quick menu.
  4. Click OK to verify you want this item deleted.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete.

Archiving Knowledge Base Articles

Issuetrak provides the ability to quickly archive KB articles. When you archive a KB article:

  • The prefix "ARCHIVE -" is appended to the title
  • The article is set to "Private"
  • The article's category is set to "Archive", "Archived", or "Archives" if any of these categories already exist in your site. If none of the above already exist, then a new "Archive" category will be created and the article will be set to this category
  • All sub categories are cleared

Steps:

  1. Select Knowledge Base from the left menu (your site may use a different menu label for the Knowledge Base).
  2. Open the article that you want to update.
  3. Click Archive in the right quick menu.
  4. You'll be prompted to confirm that you want to archive the article, which will set its status to "Private". Click OK to confirm.

The screen will refresh with a confirmation message displayed at the top.

Subscribing to Knowledge Base Articles

You can ensure that readers are kept up-to-date with changes to specific articles by subscribing them to updates. Subscribers will be notified each time the article they are subscribed to has been updated.

Steps:

  1. Select Knowledge Base in the left menu (your site may use a different menu label for the Knowledge Base).
  2. Open the article that you want to update.
  3. Click Subscribers in the right quick menu.
  4. Click Add New User.
  5. Find and select the user that should receive update notifications for this article.

You will be returned to the Subscribers for Article #xxxx screen with the message "User was successfully added" displayed at the top.

 

Managing Knowledge Base Categories

Creating Knowledge Base Categories

Additional options are available on KB Categories after they are saved (e.g. Restrictions, Subcategories).

 

Steps:

  1. Select Knowledge Base in the left menu, then click Add under the Categories section in the right quick menu (your site may use a different menu label for the Knowledge Base).
  2. Enter the Category’s name (50 characters max).
  3. (Optional) To display this name in a specific order within the KB Category list, enter a numeric Display Order.
  4. Click Save.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete.

Editing Knowledge Base Categories

Steps:

  1. Select Knowledge Base in the left menu, then click List under the Categories section in the right quick menu (your site may use a different menu label for the Knowledge Base).
  2. Click the pencil next to the appropriate Category in the Knowledge Base Category List.
  3. Make your changes on the Edit Knowledge Base Category screen.
  4. If desired, add a Sub Category and optional Display Order.
  5. Set Restrictions for this category that will limit its visibility to specific groups or organizations. You must have Sys Admin permission in order to do see the "add/edit" link for Restrictions.
    1. Drag/drop any groups or organizations that should see the category to the righthand columns.
    2. Click Update to save the selected groups/organizations.
  6. Click Update.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete.

Deleting Knowledge Base Categories

Deleting a KB Category will remove its name and any related Restrictions from existing Articles.

 

Steps:

  1. Select Knowledge Base in the left menu, then click List under the Categories section in the right quick menu. (Your site may use a different menu label for the Knowledge Base.)
  2. Click del next to the appropriate Category in the Knowledge Base Category List.
  3. Click OK to verify you want this item deleted.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete.

 

Deactivating the Knowledge Base

Steps:

  1. Click the gear icon in the upper right > click Features beneath System.
  2. Scroll down to the Knowledge Base section and uncheck Use KB.
  3. Click Update from the top or bottom of the screen.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete.

Was this article helpful?
Thank you for your feedback!
User Icon

Thank you! Your comment has been submitted for approval.

Related Articles

 Copyright © Issuetrak, Inc. All rights reserved.