<style>p { margin: 0; }span.fr-emoticon.fr-emoticon-img { background-repeat: no-repeat !important; font-size: inherit; height: 1em; width: 1em; min-height: 20px; min-width: 20px; display: inline-block; margin: -0.1em 0.1em 0.1em; line-height: 1; vertical-align: middle; } span.fr-emoticon { font-weight: normal; font-family: "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "NotoColorEmoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Android Emoji", "EmojiSymbols"; display: inline; line-height: 0; } blockquote { border-left: solid 2px #5e35b1; color: #5e35b1; margin-left:0; padding-left:5px;}blockquote blockquote{ border-color: #00bcd4; color: #00bcd4;}blockquote blockquote blockquote{ border-color: #43a047; color: #43a047;} table.grid{ border-collapse: collapse;} table.grid td, table.grid th { border: 1px solid #ddd;} .fr-fic.fr-dib{ display: block; margin: 5px auto;}.fr-fic.fr-dib.fr-fir{ text-align: right; margin: 5px 0 5px auto;}.fr-fic.fr-dib.fr-fil{ text-align: left; margin: 5px auto 5px 0;}.fr-fic.fr-dii{ float: none; margin: 5px auto;}.fr-fic.fr-dii.fr-fil{ float: left; margin: 5px auto;}.fr-fic.fr-dii.fr-fir{ float: right; margin: 5px auto;}img.fr-dib.fr-fir { margin-right: 0; text-align: right;}img.fr-dib.fr-fil { margin-left: 0; text-align: left;}img.fr-dib { margin: 5px auto; display: block; float: none;}img.fr-bordered { box-sizing: content-box; border: solid 5px #CCC;}img.fr-shadow { box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px 0px #cccccc;}img.fr-rounded { border-radius: 10px; -moz-border-radius: 10px; -webkit-border-radius: 10px; -moz-background-clip: padding; -webkit-background-clip: padding-box; background-clip: padding-box;}</style><p><strong>In this guide we will cover:</strong></p><p><strong>- Enabling the Knowledge Base Area</strong></p><p><strong>- Showing User Article Views</strong></p><p><strong>- Setting Article Restrictions</strong></p><p><strong>- Setting FAQ Restrictions</strong></p><p><strong>- Showing/Hiding Article Details</strong></p><p><strong>- Pin the FAQ list to the page </strong></p><p><strong>- Allow Users to leave feedback on Articles</strong></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Enabling the Knowledge Base Area</span></strong></p><p>First, the knowledge base area will need to be added to the self-service portal. Go to Configuration > Self Service Portal > Menu Buttons, and add "Knowledge Base" and/or "Knowledge Base Search".</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImE4MmFjMzNmLTA1ODktNGJlZC1iOWQ5LWYzYTJmNDQ4YmY1NyJ9.xdPVwF4kFOFc1MI9r-xxNbKvcVH24b1FsuUHlZQ3qL8" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="711" height="358"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 1. Adding the knowledge base to the portal.</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>These will then appear in the menu button list.</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImEyYjViMjJkLTZjNzQtNDE3MC1iMjdlLWJlNDI4ZjllYWM5YiJ9.NFYeBD33QpqKg8nP_5afqyqGJyhFYJ6paHSjaDs0Vu4" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="327" height="132"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 2. Knowledge base in the menu button list.</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>These will then appear as either tiles or within the navigation bar, depending on if you set them to "Show on home screen" and/or "Show on navigation bar" when adding. Below is how they will appear by default on the home screen.</p><p><br></p><p><img data-fr-image-pasted="true" src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjdmOTM4YjlhLTZjOWUtNDNlMC05ODBkLTQyOGEwMjJjYzAyYiJ9.GcEHyOqqwtNN3TG2YYIVDyzMlW8VVsurs1nR7Dl-eLQ" width="987" height="244" style="box-sizing: inherit; border-style: none; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; user-select: none; text-align: left; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; max-width: none !important;" id="isPasted" class="fr-fil fr-dib"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 3. Knowledge base button on the home screen.</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>Clicking into "Knowledge Base" will show the below view by default, with the FAQ lists on the side as well as the most upvoted articles.</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjhjYWM5NmM3LWQ3NmEtNGQ0OC05OTdlLWViMGIzN2FiZDQ2MCJ9.-LM2AZ77o5Ab-FHurIqesXBhJjwVF_m8-NJZSar9mDs" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="1202" style="width: 1204px; height: 669.514px;" height="670"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 4. Knowledge base screen.</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>If clicking into "Knowledge Base Search", you will see the search screen, filtered to the "Articles" entity. </p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjQyMWEwNmMwLTI4NmItNGM5MC1hM2I5LTYxOWQ5ZTRkYmEzMyJ9.GTKoKOS7RjtNWVPdZjGbvB7yRn1-PVjVkoQRCDD0I6k" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="1210" style="width: 1212px; height: 523.609px;" height="524"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 5. Article search screen.</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Showing User Article Views</span></strong></p><p>In Configuration > Knowledge Base > Articles, you can choose to enable "Show Knowledge Base Article views in the Users activity feed". Their activity feed will then show when a user views an article on the self-service portal. This can be useful for tracking which issues each customer tends to struggle more with or have more questions about.</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImE3MTExZDJiLWU3MGItNGJkMy05MmY3LTkwZjY5ODE3MGU5MyJ9.TVExksJ3YGJ_dmVhqV--iUpTQOJkEkyrATwPSuuDwJA" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="426" height="41" style="width: 426px;"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 6. Enabling view tracking.</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>This can be viewed in the "Overview" tab of the user's profile.</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjU1MDQ1N2NmLWU5ZWMtNGUxZC05ODAyLThjNWMwZTUzMTJlMSJ9.czU-7P662DgDhne-VB9Dee4-Xm_VuBOci7IfqPIdBoo" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="457" height="161"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 7. User viewing an article.</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Setting Article Restrictions</span></strong></p><p>Articles can be restricted from user viewing in a few different ways. </p><p><br></p><p>In Configuration > Self Service Portal > Configuration, the below options are made available. You can choose whether users have to log in to be able to view articles, or if anonymous viewing is not allowed for that article, whether to redirect them to the login screen. The user will then be redirected back to the article they wish to view after doing so. <strong><em>Note: The second option is not applicable if anonymous viewing of the portal is not enabled.</em></strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong><em>Note: The first only will show if "Require Users to login to access the portal" is enabled.</em></strong></p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjAwZThjYjliLTkwZDUtNDdmOC1iMTc0LWQ2MWE0NDgwMDE5MCJ9.2pHa9nT8o-mZN3ygXqgCKuaTRy51VGOEqA_sbZjO78U" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="515" height="97"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 8. Login configuration for the Knowledge Base.</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>You can also set geo location restrictions on articles. This can be found in either Configuration > Self Service Portal > Miscellaneous Settings, or Configuration > Knowledge Base > Articles.</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImMzZGQxODM4LWI3MmEtNDNjMS04MjI0LTZkN2IxNGJkMTQzYSJ9.9w8l7Vox152CNM1EfaibMqBJHHZXTRg-64nALd9M7L0" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="398" height="67"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 9. Geo restriction option.</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>Upon enabling, a table will appear on articles. Here you can select either countries and/or continents to include or exclude from viewing.</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImEwODZhZGI2LWM0YTQtNGQ2Yi05NWM0LTAyOGVhNmNkZWQ5NCJ9.wHqMZMoZKpCEOn9d592hv1YlNKeYAIXODMaajQP56pE" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="1205" style="width: 1207px; height: 153.925px;" height="154"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 10. Geo location restriction table.</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>In the same area, customer and (if enabled) top level restrictions can be set with the same method.</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImZhM2VmNmEwLTU2MGQtNDQwOC05MWVlLTNlZWQwM2QyYTRiMiJ9.ijfyfZ5a-VlMm8jD9NF2NX1fTX4mT9dHDZ9uXgfOkj0" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" style="width: 1215px; height: 341.218px;" width="1287" height="362"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 11. Customer and top level restriction tables.</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In this same area you can also restrict which user roles can view this article. To do this uncheck "Show for all User Roles" and you will be able to choose which user roles can see this article. </span></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjcxYTE1NTc2LTY2NWItNDUxMy05YTA2LWUyYjkzMGVjMDczYyJ9.t9wY2Voeoo4pJDtwOzuAd1wEYxlal_INtwBUCd_ZKgc" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="883" height="387"></span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 12. User role Article restriction. </span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>Only users with these roles will be able to see this article in the portal. </p><p><br></p><p>If you would like to configure restrictions for a group of articles, rather than set this on each article, you can use FAQ list restrictions. </p><p><br></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Setting FAQ Restrictions </span></strong></p><p>In a similar way, articles can also be restricted via the FAQ list they are assigned to.</p><p><br></p><p id="isPasted">On the FAQ list, you can choose whether the list will show for all users, or if it is accessible, but not shown on the portal. "Show for all Users" will override customer/organisation restrictions. "Don't show on the Self Service Portal".</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImU1YTA3ODJmLTMwMTEtNDYzYi05ZTYwLWQwOGQ0NTM3OTMxZSJ9.SN6JvztkSBarK1P_R4IRqLyK8EjRnVbUKIWivNHd9Dk" width="770" height="135" class="fr-fic fr-dii"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 13. User restrictions on an FAQ list.</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>Organisation restrictions (that are overridden if "Show for all users" is enabled) can be found in Configuration > Knowledge Base > FAQ Lists. This applies if multi-tenancy is used for users logging into different portals.</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImQ2Yzc5ZTUxLTYxYmYtNDljYi05MjBmLTk4Y2UxOTkxYTZhZiJ9.YMAaqiAPZZL6HKBAClM_5cXXlWbLn5lTsM_F8CTeWXw" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="634" height="69"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 14. Organisation restriction.</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>Upon enabling the above, the "Users can see all available FAQ Lists" checkbox will show on the organisation in Configuration > Organisation. If disabled, the "FAQ lists that Users can see" multi-select will appear to select which lists should show.</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6Ijc2NmMyNWU1LTRjZmItNDY2Yy1hNWUxLTk2MzdhMjk5NzEzNSJ9.CHQwxWBj0vDRr5wKsqkVTF3ghLcnODolbEi9f-Ayuk8" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="658" height="150"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 15. List restrictions on an organisation.</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p id="isPasted">The same option for geo location restrictions for individual articles is also available for FAQ lists. Upon enabling in either Configuration > Self Service Portal > Miscellaneous Settings or Configuration > Knowledge Base > FAQ Lists, the same table as in <strong>Fig 10</strong> will also show when editing FAQ lists.</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjYwNjhlMTk5LTY0YTUtNDYxMC1iMDE5LTgwYTFkZjdhYjVhMyJ9.CuepZe3gjtFuX7AJB16_p4Mk-Pgox5t4YJ0KF5g72EM" width="312" height="65" class="fr-fic fr-dii"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 16. Geo location restriction option.</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Showing/Hiding Article Details</span></strong></p><p>In Configuration > Self Service Portal > Knowledge Base Settings, you can find options to choose which details of an article are shown. Visibility of the creation, tag and edit information is split out to enable you to truly customise what your users can see.</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjliZTk3YTJhLWUzOGQtNDIxNi1hM2ViLTI1ZWZjOTA4OTFhNyJ9.ipYaHRNjVNePZGYW6FE-yWpQMxdFi1Ad0UqYZWO3LA4" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="224" height="391"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 17. Hide/show knowledge base information.</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Pin the FAQ list to the page</span></strong></p><p>You can enable 'sticky' FAQ lists. When stick FAQ lists are enabled clicking on an FAQ list in the portal, or navigating directly via its URL, will load the related articles directly into the main content area and automatically highlights the corresponding FAQ list in the sidebar. It also ensures the FAQ list menu says pinned to the screen as you scroll through an article, rather than needing to scroll back to the top of the page to change the FAQ list. </p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImRmYzg5MDMxLWQ4YmYtNDM0MC04YmY1LWI4YTFjZTA2OGZkNSJ9.BxXasoyra4OYlzDJ3El6G5DJcoNGqskNzH7ajBdi3ME" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="1138" style="width: 1140px; height: 571.185px;" height="571"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 18. Knowledge base when stick FAQ lists enabled</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>To enable this, head to Configuration > Knowledge Base, and enable "Enable sticky FAQ navigation menu on the portal". </p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjRmNWM1ZDQ3LWY4YTgtNDJmMS04OGRiLWM4Y2VlN2NjN2RjNSJ9.5pD_cPNjNDS0itS_h3NX7aXvraZPIrx7cfwQo8zy_G0" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="798" style="width: 800px; height: 292.705px;" height="293"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 19. Enable Sticky FAQ lists</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Allow Users to leave Feedback on Articles</span></strong></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Voting can be enabled for knowledge base articles to allow users to leave feedback on articles. This includes single click voting and prompting users to complete a form, which logs a ticket. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">For more information on this, checkout: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-fr-linked="true" href="https://usehalo.com/haloitsm/guides/2666" data-pasted="true" style="font-size: 11pt;">Knowledge Base Article Feedback</a>.</span></p>
