3. Life Cycle of a Public-Facing Knowledge Base Article

Does the knowledge article already exist in the knowledge base for the subject?

To ensure one source of truth, use Search to find and confirm if the information you want to add already exists in a KB, Service article or website.

If an article already exists, then consider only editing the existing article.

Categories are like folders, they help to organize your articles by topic.

You cannot create new categories but you can request new or different categories as needed.

Select the category in which the new article is to be published.

Click  +New Article to start a new blank article page.

Go to the Settings tab.

A good Title (Subject) must be:

• Use a good search term.
• Write in active voice the subject comes before the verb.
• Thirty characters or less as Google will truncate longer titles in any web analytic reports.
• Use title case:
  • Capitalize the first and last word, in addition to nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. 
  • Do not capitalize articles. prepositions or coordinating conjunctions. 
• Do not begin with "How to..."

You can let the articles sort alphabetically by Subject (name of the article).

Or you can choose what order the article will appear in the list of articles by entering a number.

The summary helps users discern how relevant your article is to them.

Write a brief (keep to one to two sentences) meta-description about the article content.

This summary will appear underneath the article title when the article is displayed within a Category, but also appears in a user Search.

Fill in the Summary section by typing in a very brief phrase to describe the article.

Keywords are effective with internet Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Keywords help users easily find the article when they are searching the IT Services portal.

• Typically, tags are words found in the 'Subject' description.
• To add a tag, click on a tag or enter the a tag topic in a search box.
• Use hyphens between multiple words or phrases.
• Do not use the tags student, employee, or faculty.

Related article: Tag use in KB articles

Click Save to commit your changes so far.

It is recommended to frequently click Save as Draft or Safe Draft button when creating or editing a knowledge article.

In the Body section enter your article information.

Use Ctrl+V to paste your content as plain text directly into the main body section.

You can also click Source in the upper-left corner to view and edit the source code.

Format headings only (excluding body text) using the KB editor's headings with either Heading 2 or Heading 3 from the menu pull down.

Find an earlier version of your KB article

Each time an article is published, the system creates a separate, historic version called a Revision. A Revision allows you to: See what was revised Who made the changes Compare two revisions Restore a previous revision if necessary.

The revision page will display the content of the article as it displayed at the time it was saved.

Each table row will display each saved revision of your article with the newest version at the top.

1. Use Edit Article and choose Revisions from the main menu.

2. Click a Revision number link to open and see details.

3. If you choose to restore to that version, use the Restore to this Revision button.

4. Confirm OK.

5. The revision table will now display the restored version of the article as the newest revision at the top of the list.

6. To see the newly published revision, click the article title in the navigation breadcrumb listing.

Compare Revisions button

Use the Compare Revisions button to compare the differences between two versions of an article.

1. Click on the revision you want to compare i.e. Revision 3.

2. Click the Compare Revisions button.

3. From the drop-down menu, select the previous revision to compare against.

4. Click Compare.

- The page will display the content of the two revisions inline.

- Newer content such as text and images will be highlighted in green with underline.

- Removed content will be highlighted in red with strikethrough.

- Formatted/modified content will be highlighted in blue.

- Some formatting, such as tables, may not be able to be compared.

Format the body text only (exclude headings) with Arial Font, Size 16.

As you work on your first draft, it will be in the Not Submitted state and not visible to others.

Continue to Save as Draft as needed.

If you exit the KB and return to edit an article later, find your draft article by:

• Using the menu Search.
• Set the Status to Not Submitted.

When an article is in Draft Status, the Contributor has the option to:

• Approve the draft to publish it and make it available to end users.
• Edit the draft and save it as a draft revision (not visible to public) or publish it as a full revision (visible to public).
• Reject the draft and mark the draft as rejected.
• Delete the draft and remove the draft.
• Compare revisions (see the Revisions tab) and revert to previous versions if necessary.

If this is a new KB article, a subject matter expert (SME) needs to review it for content accuracy.

To send your article for review you can use the system's notification via a comment or Outlook email.

Go to the Settings tab.

Set your article to the Submitted state.

Outlook email:

Send an Outlook email with link to the KB article to the reviewer or use the articles Comment button.

System notification via a comment:

In the Notify field type to search and select the reviewers email.

Add a comment to request your article to be reviewed.

A draft KB article Submitted for review is listed under the Articles Pending Review tab.

Check KB article for relevancy, spelling, accessibility and mobile-friendliness.

For more information on how to see what was revised, who made the changes, compare two revisions, or restore to a previous revision:

See related article: Compare KB Versions.

After a review, the article can be marked as either Rejected or Approved.

The Approved status is used to officially “publish” the article in its final state and make it viewable to all users with permission.

If an article is rejected, use .....................

A new article must be Approved, before it can be Published.

Publishing allows an article to show up in navigation and be seen by others.

Publishing allows an article to show up in navigation and be seen by others.

A Contributor can Publish an article.

A new article must be Approved, before it can be Published.

The permissions for your team's KB articles are preset to your team by default.

If you create a KB article in a category that is in a private area, then it will remain private to your team after publishing.

If you need to share your article with another person or team, contact the ITSM Services Team to adjust permissions.

Set the status of the article to determine the visibility of the article in the main knowledge base navigation.

Individual teams must decide on how often information should be reviewed and updated.

Teams MUST set a review date for each article.

Always enter a Next Review Date to six months to one year at these checkpoints:

• Publishing date
• Date of last review date
• Prior to an event i.e. semester start or software release

The KB system will then trigger an email reminder to all team owners 14 days prior to the set Review Date.

At the given Review Date, the team owner of an article will review it and decide to either make edits to outdated information or to “archive” the article.

Set the check mark field so the system sends an automatic email reminder to the Group Owner to read over the article and make minor updates to keep content accurate and relevant.

The Team Owner of an article will receive reminders of when to their article requires a content review.

In the Search field, start typing your IT Services team group and when it appears, enter to add it.

Search and add a reference person who wrote the article or who may have the most knowledge about the article's content.

Notify Owner on Feedback box, the owner email will receive direct notifications when someone leaves commented feedback on an article. This has been turned "off" at the administrator level so it will not activate whether there is a check in the box or no

Each KB article is assigned a group of Contributors (called an Owner Group) to manage its review and edits.

Two weeks prior to a KB review date, all members of the KB's Owner Group will receive a system-generated email notification to remind them about a KB that needs reviewing.

All Contributors have permissions to review and update the article.

The Owner Group must decide which Contributor(s) will complete the updates.

Read the full article and answer if the article is still:

Relevant?

• Is this article still needed?
• Is the information applicable to what users are doing today and in the future?

Accurate?

• Is the information correct as stated in the article?
• Are all hyperlinks identified and correct?

Easy to Use?

• Does the article follow the templates? If not, is it still easy to follow?
• Is the article too wordy?
• Are lists used effectively if needed?

If KB no longer relevant, follow steps to properly set KB status to Archive.

• Gather any feedback and comments from users on improving the article and incorporate them into the content.
• Decide what information is needed such as what are students and employees getting stuck with.
• Write facts simply, logically and have it make sense.
• Update to reflect current versions of any software and include up-to-date images.
• Fix any broken links.
• Make format, numbering, and style consistent.
• Make content accessible and mobile-friendly.

When satisfied with the changes, or if none are needed, complete these steps:

1. In the Draft Summary field, type Review complete followed by a brief note to describe any changes you made. For example:

• Review complete. No changes needed.
• Review complete. Article no longer relevant, please archive.
• Review complete. Updated the screen shot and the instructions to match the new version of the software.

2. Select Update the Article (make changes live to the website) or Save the article (place it in draft).
3. Set Next Review Date (six or twelve months).
4. Place a check mark in the Notify Owner of Review Date.

When the information in s KB article becomes obsolete, the KB article needs to be archived.

OPTIONAL: Prior to archival, do a quick search for any links that point to the KB article.

These links may come from other TDX articles or UFV blogs or the UFV.ca website.

Remove these external links or point them to a new KB reference.

OPTIONAL: It is helpful to give a reason as to why the article was archived for people doing future KB searches. This reason can be formatted in font colour red.

Choose Edit article and at top of the content you might write:

• Example 1: Archived: Technology no longer supported.
• Example 2: Archived: Information obsolete.
• Example 3: Archived: Duplicate content.

Click Update Article to save the changes.

OPTIONAL: Add the words "Archived" to the title (aka subject) of the article helps to alert others the KB content is no longer valid.

Go to the Settings tab and add ARCHIVED: in all caps to front of Subject line.

Click Save.

Archive status means the KB is no longer accessible by public users.

Contributors can always go back in to edit mode and reverse the changes and reuse the article at a future date.

Go to the Settings tab, click the Status drop-down menu, and select Archived.

OPTIONAL: Assigning a replacement article allows for pre-existing links to this article to be redirected to a similar article subject and not reach a "Page not found".

Go to the Settings tab and under Replacement Article, and either start typing in the field and select the article; or use search and then assign a replacement article.

Click Save.

Preview the article once more in an internet browser to verify your new archive settings.

The TDX system will also place a banner notice at the top of the article as a warning:

"The article has been archived and may contain outdated information."