Organize a knowledge base with categories and tags
Nest categories into subcategories, move and reorder articles, tag them, and see how clients browse, search and filter your knowledge base.
Categories, subcategories and tags decide how clients find an article in your knowledge base. When you finish, your articles sit in a category tree of any depth, carry tags, and you know what the client-side view does with both. All of this happens in the knowledge base editor (/knowledge-bases/<productId>/articles); see Build a knowledge base for how to open it.
Build the category tree
Add a subcategory
In the outline on the left, open the ⋮ menu next to a category and choose Add subcategory. Type a name in the New subcategory in "[category name]" window and click Create. The subcategory appears indented under its parent. You can nest as deep as you need. The Add category button at the bottom of the outline always creates a top-level category.
Move a category
Open ⋮ → Move to… and pick Top level or another category. The category moves together with its subcategories and articles. The list never offers the category itself or anything inside it, so a category cannot be moved into itself. You can also drag a category by its header to change the order.
Move and reorder articles
Drag an article up or down inside its category, or onto another category to move it there. The same move is available inside the article: click Category under the title, pick a category from the list (subcategories are indented under their parents) and click Save changes. Dragging is switched off while the Search articles box contains text.
Use the category page
Click a category's name (the small arrow next to it only folds the category with everything inside it). The main area shows the category page: the name as an editable title, Articles (N) with an Add article button, and Subcategories (N) with Add subcategory. Edit the title and press Enter to rename the category; ⋮ → Rename in the outline does the same.
Tag an article
Open an article. Under the title, next to Thumbnail and Category, the Tags field ends with a dashed Add chip. Click it: a list of the tags already used in this knowledge base opens. Pick one, or type a new tag and press Enter. The × on a tag removes it. Click Save changes (or Publish for a draft) to show the change to clients.
Delete a category
⋮ → Delete asks: Delete this category? Its subcategories are deleted too, and the articles inside become uncategorized. The articles themselves are kept and move to the Uncategorized group at the bottom of the outline. Drag them into another category, or pick one in the article's Category field.
How tags behave
- Capitalization does not create duplicates: adding "Wege" to an article that already has "wege" changes nothing, and the first spelling used stays as the displayed form.
- A tag can be up to 60 characters long.
- Tag changes are part of the article's draft. A tag you add but do not save or publish never reaches the client-side view.
What your clients see
| Element | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Sidebar | The category tree with subcategories nested under their parents, plus a search box. |
| Article page | A trail of the article's categories above the content, the tags next to the date, and Previous / Next links. |
| Tags | Every tag used in published articles, as chips above the category list. Selecting several tags narrows the list to articles that carry all of them. Clear unselects all. |
| Search | Matches the article title and its tags, and combines with the selected tags. |
| No match | Cannot find any results for this search. The tag chips stay visible so the client can unselect. |
| Drafts and hidden | Only articles with the status Available are shown. A category with no available article in it or its subcategories is left out. |
Good to know
Every reorder and move in the outline is saved at once; there is no separate save for the tree. Moving an article through its Category field is different: it is part of the article's draft and applies after Save changes.
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