Organizing your Knowledge base Content

Organizing your Knowledge base Content

One of the simplest and most overlooked aspects of being organized is getting your knowledge base articles organized. You really have to think about where to put your articles so that they could be easily located by your customers. So you must begin with the assumption that everything fits into a category or hierarchy of similar things. 

Zoho Desk allows you to organize your articles in the following tree structure: Category > Sections > Sub-sections > Sub-subsection > Articles. That is, you can create a maximum of three hierarchies under a category. Also, note that you cannot have orphan articles in a category when you add a child section underneath it.

Category 
Category is the top-level folder in your knowledge base and it is linked to a department. So mush, as that when you add a new department it will create its associated category in your KBase. You can add multiple sections underneath a category to organize your articles. Typically, you can directly add articles to a category. However, when you create a child section, you will be asked to move the articles from the category to the new section. If you override this option, a new child section by the name 'Uncategorized' will be created and the orphan articles under the category will be moved to it simultaneously. 

Editing Categories
A category is typically named after the department to which it is linked. You cannot add custom categories without adding a department. However you can edit a category to rename it as per your preference.  To edit a category:
  1. Click the [Module] Tab from the top bar.( For e.g. Dashboard, Help Center, etc.)
  2. Select Help Center from the Modules menu.
  3. In the Help Center Dashboard page, Click the   icon from the top bar.
  4. In the Organize Category page, you can find a list of categories that were added in your KBase. 
  5. Hover your mouse pointer on a category and then click the  icon.
  6. In the Edit Category pop-up, make the required changes. 
  7. Click Update.
The category will be renamed as per your preference. 

Adding Sections
You can add any number of sections under a category. The sections will help you to group your articles on a common theme. You can add two more levels of hierarchy to a section. To add a section in your KBase:
  1. In the Help Center Dashboard page, Click the   icon from the top bar.
  2. In the Organize Category page, hover your mouse pointer on a category and then click the  icon. 
  3. Enter a name for your section. 
  4. Click Save.
A new section will be added and the articles that were existing in the category will be moved under this section. You can also follow the above steps to add child sections linked to a section. Moreover, you can use the breadcrumb navigation to find your way around the categories and sections in your KBase.
 
Editing Sections
You can edit the sections, child or parent as and when required in your KBase. To edit a section:
  1. In the Help Center Dashboard page, Click the   icon from the top bar.
  2. In the Organize Category page, click on a category to navigate to the section you want to edit.
  3. Hover your mouse pointer on a section and then click the  icon.
  4. In the Edit Sub-section pop-up, make the required changes. 
  5. Click Update.
The section will be updated. You can also follow the above steps to edit the child sections linked to a section.

Deleting Sections 
You can delete the sections that were added under a category. To delete a section:
  1. In the Help Center Dashboard page, Click the   icon from the top bar.
  2. In the Organize Category page, click on a category to navigate to the section you want to delete. 
  3. Hover your mouse pointer on a section and then click the  icon. 
  4. Click Delete in the confirmation dialog box.
The section will be deleted from your KBase and the articles underneath it will be moved to the Recycle Bin. You can also follow the above steps to delete the child sections linked to a section. Please note that, you have to first delete the child sections, before you delete a parent section.

Reordering Categories and Sections
Reordering your knowledge base folders is important because the casual article reader rarely gets to the bottom. You can manually reorder the categories and their respective parent and child sections so that the most important and useful stuff stays at the top. 

To reorder categories and sections:
  1. In the Help Center Dashboard page, Click the   icon from the top bar.
  2. In the Organize Category page, hover your mouse pointer on a category you want to reorder.
  3. Grab the category by the  icon and drag-drop it where required.
Your action will be saved immediately. Not just the categories, but you can drag-drop sections, sub-sections etc., as well. Simply click on a category to navigate to the list of sections and reorder them as required.

Besides, manual reordering, you can leave it for the system to automatically sort and order your categories and sections alphabetically. Here is how you could reorder your KBase folders alphabetically:
  1. In the Help Center Dashboard page, Click the   icon from the top bar.
  2. In the Settings page, click Access.
  3. In the Access Settings page, enable the Sort Folders Alphabetically feature. 
All of your knowledge base folders will now be sorted alphabetically from A-Z. Please note that this option applies only to the folders and not for the articles under them. Your customers can always sort through the articles as per their needs. 

Moving Sections
You can move the articles in a KBase folder to a different section within a category. For example, let's assume that you have 2 sections namely, Zylker Tablets and Zylker Handhelds. You can move the articles under Zylker Tablets to Zylker Handhelds. In which case, the section Zylker Tablets will be added as a sub-section to Zylker Handhelds and the articles will be moved underneath it. 

To move folders within a category:
  1. Navigate to the KBase folder you want to move. It can be either a section, sub-section or a sub-subsection. 
  2. Hover your mouse pointer on a folder and then click the  icon.
  3. In the following pop window, specify the section and/or a sub-section using the drop menu. 
  4. Click Move.
Please note that you cannot move sections that were hidden from your customers in the help center.