How to Manage Your Knowledge Base Articles
Summary
Learn how to navigate your knowledge base, understand different article statuses like Draft, Unpublished changes, and AI suggestions, and keep your content up-to-date. This guide provides an overview of the article management lifecycle, ensuring your documentation is always accurate and accessible.
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When to Use This
Use this guide when you need to find, edit, update, or understand the status of any article in your knowledge base—including when you notice draft indicators (like grayed-out article icons), visibility restrictions (Internal vs Public), or AI suggestion indicators that require review.
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Understanding Article States
Article status tags (common)
- Draft: The article has never been published and is not visible to end-users.
- Unpublished changes: The article is currently live, but has saved edits that are not live yet.
Article status/visibility icons
- Grayed-out document icon: The article is a Draft.
- Solid document icon: The article is Published (live state).
- Lightning bolt icon: Brainfish has generated AI suggestions for the article that require your review.
- Lock icon: The article is Internal Only (restricted to team members).
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Navigate to the Knowledge Section: Access the main list of all your articles by going to the Knowledge section of your application.
- Identify Article Status: Quickly identify the current state of any article by looking for tags/icons next to its title. Common statuses include:
- Draft (new, unpublished content; may appear as a grayed-out document icon)
- Unpublished changes (live article with pending edits that aren't visible yet)
- AI suggestions (often indicated by a lightning bolt icon)
- Open the Editor: Click on any article title to open it in the editor, where you can modify its content.
- Check Article History: Hover over an article's metadata to see a quick summary of when it was last published, updated, and viewed, along with the user who made the changes.
- Publish Your Work: Use the Publish button within the editor to make a new draft live or to apply your saved Unpublished changes (including accepted AI suggestions) to the public-facing article.
Changing Article Visibility (Internal vs Public)
Use this when you need to confirm whether an article is live to the public or restricted to your team, and when you want to change that setting.
- Locate the visibility toggle in the article view (usually showing Internal or Public).
- Click to switch the state:
- Switch to Public to make the article visible externally (to end users, depending on your site/help center configuration).
- Switch to Internal to restrict the article to your team.
- If needed, visibility can also be adjusted from the Agent screen.
Common Tasks
Publishing a Draft
- Locate a draft article (often shown with a grayed-out document icon).
- Click the draft article to open it.
- Review and edit the content as needed.
- Click Publish to make it live.
Reviewing and Accepting AI Suggestions
- Open an article that shows a lightning bolt icon.
- Review the suggestions Brainfish provides (for example, improvement recommendations).
- Click Accept All to apply the changes, or reject them if they aren't needed.
- Click Publish to make the accepted changes live.
Common Questions (FAQs)
What's the difference between 'Draft' and 'Unpublished changes'? A Draft is an article that has never been published and is not visible to end-users. Unpublished changes refers to an article that is currently live, but has been edited since its last publication. These new edits are saved but not yet visible to the public.
What does the lightning bolt icon mean? It indicates Brainfish has generated suggestions for that article and is waiting for you to review and accept/reject them.
How can I sort my articles? The interface provides several sorting options above the article list, including Recently updated, Recently published, Least recently updated, and A–Z to help you find what you need quickly.
Can I see who made the last change? Yes, the name of the person who last published and last updated the article is visible in the article list, providing a clear audit trail.
Troubleshooting Tips
- Cannot Find an Article: If you're having trouble locating a specific article, use the main Search bar at the top of the page for a global search.
- Edits Not Appearing Live: If you've edited an article but the changes aren't visible to your audience, check for an Unpublished changes tag next to the title. You must click Publish within the article's editor to make the changes live.
- Accidentally Discarded a Draft: If you navigate away from an unsaved draft, your changes may be lost. Always make sure to save or publish your work before leaving the editor.
- Suggestions Accepted but Not Live: Accepting suggestions applies them to the article content, but you still need to click Publish to make the update visible to end-users.