Knowledge Base

The SysAid Knowledge Base allows you to build a central repository of information that's useful for administrators and end users in finding shared solutions to common problems. Moreover, it enables end users to be independent and find solutions to their problems without having to contact the help desk team.

To open the Knowledge Base, click Knowledge Base in the main navigation menu.

Note that the end-user Knowledge Base is called the FAQ.

Using the Knowledge Base

Finding a Knowledge Base article

To find a Knowledge Base (KB) article:

• Use the Search Keyword box. Enter a keyword or phrase and SysAid searches the tags, titles, and content for KB articles that correspond with the keyword(s) you entered. When you start typing a word, SysAid prompts you with helpful suggestions based on your predefined tags list (for more information, see Add tags below).
• Click All in the Categories tree to display all your KB articles in the Articles column, sorted according to your specification (see Sorting).
• Explore by category in the Categories tree. You can expand categories to see their sub-categories. The small numbers that appear next to the category names indicate the number of articles in your Knowledge Base for the specified category or sub-category.

Sorting

The Articles column displays the titles of all the articles from a specified category. You can sort the articles that appear in this list with the sort icon next to the search box. Sorting allows you to choose only the articles that:

• Are most viewed
• Have been updated most recently
• Have received the largest amount of positive votes

When you've located the desired KB article, click the title to view it (see Viewing).

Viewing

SysAid displays Knowledge Base articles directly in the viewing pane, next to the Articles column. Each article shows its title, author, and last update, followed by the question and the answer. The Views counter next to the article details displays the number of views the article has received.

The KB action buttons appear above the article. For details, see Action buttons below.

At the bottom of the article, you can vote for the article (see Voting for articles), and see whether it's published to end users, when it expires, and its Related Items and History.

Create a new Knowledge Base article

To create a new Knowledge Base (KB) article:

1. Click Create new article. The New article form opens. Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory.
2. Choose a Main Category, Sub Category, and Third Level Category. Choosing the proper categories makes it easier for end users and administrators to find the article when they need it.
3. (Optional) Change Expires if you would like the KB article to expire. By default, articles never expire. An expired article does not appear in the Self-Service Portal.
4. (Optional) In Tags, enter keywords to help identify the article. For more information, see Add tags below.
5. Select Publish In The Self-Service Portal if you want to make the article visible to end users. KB articles are always visible to administrators.
6. Enter an appropriate Article Title. The title is a searchable field.
7. Enter the Question for the KB article. The question is a searchable field, so choose words that help end users and administrators locate this article when they need it.
8. Enter the Answer to the article's question. The answer is also a searchable field.
9. (Optional) Click Add attachment to add any relevant files. End users and administrators can download the attachments as needed.
10. Click Publish.

Your new article is automatically added to your Knowledge Base.

Action buttons

There are several actions that you can perform with the buttons above the article in the viewing pane.

Edit
Edit the selected KB article. For more information, see Edit a Knowledge Base article.

Share
Send an email to an end user or admin that includes a link to the selected KB article.

Print
Open a print preview from which you can print the Knowledge Base article.

Delete
Delete the selected KB article.

Edit a Knowledge Base article

To edit a KB article:

1. Open the article and click Edit above it. The Edit article form opens with the same fields as the New article form. For more information on each of the fields, see Create a new Knowledge Base article.
2. Click Save to apply your changes and close the form.

Add tags

Tags are the keywords that help end users and administrators find articles using the search box. In the search results, articles that contain the tagged words appear at the top of the list, followed by articles that contain the searched word(s) in the title or content of the article. Adding tags to your articles makes it easier for users to find the articles they need.

To add tags to an article:

1. Open the article and click Edit.
2. In the Tags field, start typing a word. Select a suggested tag, or finish typing a new tag and press Enter.
3. Click Save.

Embedding pictures into a Knowledge Base article

You can embed images in the Question or Answer fields of a KB article using the image button in the editor toolbar.

Voting for articles

At the bottom of each article is the Was this helpful? section. Here, end users and admins can vote positively or negatively for the article by clicking Like or Dislike. You can then find the articles that have the highest positive ratings by sorting them by votes (see Sorting).