When a question is already answered in your knowledge base, you can attach the article to your reply instead of writing the answer again. The customer sees the article's opening (or the one section you picked) right under your reply, with a link to read the rest, and the same goes into the notification email.
Add KB is in the reply form of every discussion for your support staff, as long as your site's knowledge base is turned on. Customers don't see the button.
Attach an article
- Click Add KB above the reply box.
- Start typing what you're looking for. Tender searches your articles' titles and text as you type and lists the matches, each with its section and the first few lines.
- Click an article. If it has headings, pick Whole article or one of its sections (see below). An article without headings is attached straight away.
- Write the rest of your reply and click Comment (or Comment & Close).
Tender puts a link to the article in your reply where the cursor was, and shows a preview under the reply box, headed Attaching KB article, of what the customer will see. You can move or reword the link like any other text.
You can attach one article to each reply. To use a different one, click Add KB again and pick it. Articles work in internal replies too.
Link to one section of an article
Long articles often answer several questions. When the article you pick has headings, Tender lists them under Whole article, indented the way they are in the article. Pick a heading to point the customer straight at that part:
The link in your reply then goes to that heading, and the preview shows only that section:
If someone later removes or renames that heading, the reply shows the start of the article instead, and the link still opens the article.
Using the keyboard
You can attach an article without leaving the keyboard:
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| Tab to Add KB, then Enter | Opens the search box |
| Type | Searches your articles |
| ↓ / ↑ | Moves through the articles, then through the headings |
| Enter | Picks the article, then Whole article or the heading |
| Esc | Closes the search without attaching anything |
After you pick, the cursor goes back to your reply, so you can carry on typing. Press ? on a discussion page to see these keys with the rest of the keyboard shortcuts.
What the customer sees
On the discussion page, the reply carries a box with the section and title of the article (and the heading, if you picked one), its opening lines or the section you picked, and a Read more… link to the full article:
The notification email shows the same thing under your reply, headed Knowledge base, with a Read more link. If you use your own email templates, the attached_kb variable holds the article: see Customizing your site email templates.
Attach articles your customer can read. An article in a section only some customers can see (see User Class-Important & Beta) still shows its preview in the reply, but the full article only opens for the customers who can see that section.
Linking to a heading yourself
Every heading in a published article has its own link. Hover over a heading and a # appears beside it (on a phone or tablet it's always faintly there). Click the #, and the address in your browser now points at that heading: copy it and paste it anywhere, in a reply, an email or another article.
Turning it off
Add KB shows on every site with a knowledge base. If you'd rather your team didn't use it, ask us and we'll turn it off for your site.