Default KB Template With Instructions
Selections Before the Body
Title: Please delete the default template title and use the following format - "Name of Application/System - Brief Title (capitalize like a book title)"
Keywords: Keywords are searchable within the KB. No need to enter words that appear in the title; commas are not needed. Please add as many keywords as you can to make searching easier.
Search priority: It is set to Normal by default. If this article will be referenced often, please select Top or High and it will populate at the beginning of the KB search results.
Page Footer: It is set to the contact information for the Tech Service Desk. A secondary option is the Learning Commons.
Summary: Enter a brief summary for your article and if there is an intended audience, please specify here. If a summary is superfluous, click the space bar on your keyboard to register "text" as this field is required.
Body Instructions
Check out the TinyMCE Editor instructions in the KB User's Guide. The KB User's Guide is a great resource for any information that is not listed here. Please feel free to add all of your new content underneath the instructions below so that you have the directions at your fingertips. Prior to requesting activation, delete all of these instructions above your content.
1. Save changes
While you are creating your document, frequently select the Save change button (below the Body) so that you don't lose any work.
2. Copying content from other sources
Pasting content in from other sources such as Word or the web will likely create formatting issues. Please instead paste your text into an application such as Notepad first, then copy from there and paste into the body here. Images CANNOT be copied and pasted into the body. See #3 below.
3. Images and attachments:
- Must be uploaded to a KB folder and then inserted. For more information on image requirements, please click here.
- You must save the document at least once prior to uploading images or attachments.
- Do not paste images from other sources directly into the body. Select Create doc attachment folder (below the Body) or you may upload to the Shared attachment folder. For more information on this process, please click here.
- The Snipping Tool (Windows), Grab Tool (Apple), and Print Screen options are invaluable for capturing images. Please do not include extraneous visual content in your images. Pictures should highlight the content that you are describing. Borders and arrows can be added to emphasize important parts of the image. To do so, edit the image in an application such as MS Paint. The image needs to be edited and saved prior to uploading it to the KB attachment folder.
- Screenshots should not contain your name or personal user information. Please be sure to remove/erase those details in your image editor prior to uploading to the attachment folder in your article.
- Once your image is in the attachment folder, place your cursor where you would like to insert it, and select the Place image link in the Icon/Action section below the body of the article. For accessibility purposes, you will receive a prompt to provide a specific and succinct alternative description for the image. Leave it empty only if the image is purely decorative.Once done, click OK.
4. Actions
If you are directing the user to click on or navigate to something specific, bold the text instead of putting the text within parenthesis.
5. Inserting links to a URL or an email address
If you enter the full URL including https://, the editor will automatically hyperlink it, however, it will not open in a new window by default. Select the text and click the hyperlink (insert/edit link) button in the toolbar. Enter the URL, select Open link in new window or tab and click Save. If you are instead linking to an email address, in the URL field, enter the address in the format of mailto:my-mail@my-domain.com
6. Linking to another KB article within your article
Position the cursor where you would like to insert the link, select the Custom tab in the toolbar, and select KB link doc. Enter the document ID number, choose Open link in new window or tab, and click Insert.
7. Anchors
If your article is long, consider using links at the top of the article that are tied to anchors in the body. This will allow users to easily navigate through the content. Position the cursor where you would like to insert the anchor, select the Insert tab (above), and select Anchor. It will prompt for an ID. Give it a name and select Save. Next, enter the text at the top of the article that will become the link to your anchor. Highlight the text and select the hyperlink button in the toolbar. In the Anchors field, select the anchor ID/Name that you just created and select Save.
8. Preview your document
Press the small Preview button below the body, next to save changes, in order to see how your article will look live. Make sure any hyperlinks are working as expected.
9. Accessibility checker
You may click on the person icon in the toolbar, however, the system will run an accessibility check when the article is saved.
10. Grammar checker
You may opt to use a free browser plug-in like Grammarly.
11. Headers:
- Use Header 3 when introducing new sections in your article as demonstrated below.
- To select that header, click on the Format tab and select Format>Headings>Header 3.
Title of Section A
- Instructions for how to complete the first step.
- Instructions for how to complete the second step.
A screenshot can be uploaded here
Title of Section B
- Instructions for how to complete the first step.
A screenshot can be uploaded here, etc.
Selections Below the Body
See Also: If you want related article links to appear at the bottom of your article, insert those document ID numbers here (add a space between each ID number). This is important in making sure that our KnowledgeBase is as thorough and helpful as possible.
Topics: There are a limited number of topics you can choose from. If you don't see an appropriate topic for your article, leave it blank.
Audience: This selection will not restrict students from seeing Faculty/Staff articles and vice versa, however, users can opt to search articles that are only intended for the audience they are a part of. Please select your intended audience.
Write Access: "Owner group ( owner)" is the default and it is the appropriate choice for Parkland authors (even if you are not part of a User Access Group). It allows all members of the access group (if one exists for you) to make edits, however, you will need to specifically select your group, if applicable. To do so, select Show all write access and check the appropriate group as pictured below. If you would like to have a User Access Group created for you, please reach out to Sara Stone.
Read Access: It defaults to No user groups selected. This is the appropriate choice if you want anyone outside of your User Access Group to be able to read the article.
Site Access: Leave both options checked.
Campus Access: It defaults to being searchable and viewable without authentication. Most articles are configured this way. If your article is of a more secure nature, you may opt to select Ext/Internal with campus login. If external SiteAccess is also selected, the document is searchable externally, and the document title is exposed to external site users, but document content access will require users to log in. External search results will indicate that campus login is required for these documents. For this option to work as intended, internal SiteAccess must be also selected.
Relevance: "My group / sharing groups" is the default and typically we leave this as is. It means that your document will not be searchable within other institutions' KB sites.
Status: When creating or editing a document, the status defaults to In Progress. If you are not done creating a document but need to close your session, click Submit and you can come back to your document later. It will be stored within the In Progress link under the Documents tab in https://kb.parkland.edu/internal and will NOT be viewable from the public KB site (https://kb.parkland.edu). Once you are done and are ready to have it reviewed, change the status to Request Activation and then click Submit. The status will then change to In Review. Once it has been edited and approved by the Parkland KB admin/s, they will publish it, the status will change to Active, and it will be searchable and viewable by users. IF YOU DO NOT SELECT REQUEST ACTIVATION and SUBMIT WHEN YOUR ARTICLE IS DONE, IT WILL NOT GET PUBLISHED.
Activation: Most authors will leave this as the default, however, adjustments can be useful for preparing documentation in advance of a product or service roll-out.
Expiration: Documents are automatically set to expire four years after the creation date. The document owner will receive "review" email prompts every year so that authors can go in and edit and/or update information. Owners will also receive a review notification a week or two prior to the expiration date. Please review the document(s) and make updates as appropriate. If no updates are needed, simply use the Mark as reviewed option. Expired documents are unavailable users so it is extremely important that you stay on top of your content!