Open topic with navigation

Managing Knowledge Base Articles

You can apply the following methods to incorporate knowledge base (KB) articles in the Console.

Writing or importing the article means the content is stored in the Console and you edit the content in the Console. If you edit an imported article in the Console, the original remains untouched. Conversely, editing the original of an imported article does not affect the content that resides in the Console. Referencing an article means the content is being maintained externally.

Where: Navigator > Resources > Knowledge Base

To enter or change basic information about the KB:

  1. If you are creating a KB, right-click a group and select New Article.

    If you are editing a KB, right-click the KB and select Edit Article.

    Tip: In edit mode, the Launch Editor and Upload File buttons are enabled.

  2. In the Knowledge Base Editor, select the Article tab.

  3. On the Article tab, type in the Name text field for the new KB, or make edits for the existing KB.

  4. Optionally use the Summary field to add a brief description of the article.

  5. Optionally enter a different name for the information source in the Author/Credits field.

    At this time, the Upload File and Launch Editor buttons are still disabled for new articles. Note that this condition applies only if you are defining a KB for the first time.

  6. In the Import/Reference field, select Import to enable the buttons.

    From here, you can use the Console to write the article using your preferred editor. You can also choose to import an article or to reference an article.

To write the article using your preferred editor:

This assumes you have completed the steps to enter basic information about the KB.

  1. Click Launch Editor to start your editor application.

  2. In the editor application, type the content of your article. Save the file.

    The file has an assigned filename using a default path where the Console is installed. On the Console’s edit panel for the KB, this path is inserted in the Origin URL field.

  3. Click Apply to save the KB definition.

    After saving, the Origin URL field is cleared.

  4. Verify that the content is added to the KB by clicking the edit panel’s Editor tab.

    If the content needs to be changed in the future, do it here.

  5. Click Preview if you want to see how the article will appear in your default Web browser.

To render text as HTML:

This assumes you have completed the steps to enter basic information about the KB and that you are familiar with authoring in HTML.

  1. Create a KB article or edit an existing article.
  2. In the Import/Reference field, select Import.

  3. In the Editor tab, enter your HTML-formatted article using the following general guideline:

    <html>

    <body>

    Your article here

    </body>

    </html>

  4. Click Apply to save the KB definition.
  5. Click Preview if you want to test.
  6. Read the information in the resulting popup and click Yes if you want to continue rendering the article in HTML.

The preview is displayed in your preferred Web browser.

To import an article:

This assumes you have completed the steps to enter basic information about the KB.

Note: When you select Import, only the content between the body tags of the HTML page appear. Therefore, you should use Reference when the HTML page uses JavaScript, uses frames, or includes images. Select Import after you have used an editor to create a file specified in the Origin URL text field.

  1. In the Origin URL text field, type the URL or directory path to the page or file.

  2. In the Import/Reference field, verify that Import is selected.

  3. Click Apply to save the KB definition.

  4. Verify that the content is added to the KB by clicking the edit panel’s Editor tab.

    If the content needs to be changed in the future, do it here.

  5. Click Preview if you want to see how the article will appear in your default Web browser.

To reference an article:

This assumes you have completed the steps to enter basic information about the KB.

  1. In the Origin URL text field, type the URL to the page or file that contains the article's information.

  2. In the Import/Reference field, select Reference.

  3. Click Apply to save the KB definition.

  4. Click Preview if you want to see how the article will appear in your default Web browser.

To show an article:

In the Knowledge Base window, right-click an article and select Show Article.

To move or copy an article:

  1. In the Knowledge Base window, navigate to an article and drag and drop it into another group.

  2. Select Move to move the article, Copy to make a separate copy of the article, or Link to create a copy of the article that is linked to the original article.

    If you select Move, the resource or resource group moves to the new location. If you select Copy, you create a separate copy of the resource or resource group that will not be affected when the original resource or resource group is edited. If you select Link, you create a copy that is linked to the original resource or resource group. Therefore, if you edit a linked item, whether the original or the copy, all links are also edited. When deleting linked items, you can either delete the selected item or all linked items.

To delete an article:

  1. In the Knowledge Base window, right-click an item and choose Delete Article.

  2. In the dialog box, click Delete.