Get Started with Knowledge Base in BoldDesk
A knowledge base is a self-service portal and central repository of information for your customers and employees. They can use it to get answers to inquiries that are frequently posed about the good or service. The categories of knowledge base are as follows:
Public knowledge base is publicly available data, which can be used to write user documents for your products. It results in higher agent productivity, a drop in ticket issuance, and quicker problem resolution, which leads to happy customers.
Few use cases are:
- Write how-to documents
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Internal knowledge base is private data for the employees within your organization. It helps to improve internal knowledge sharing and collaboration, which leads to serving the customer better.
Few use cases are,
- Training materials for your onboard employees
- Sharing knowledge within your team
Checkout this video for more details
Agent Portal
The BoldDesk Knowledge Base software helps to categorize, create, and manage the articles. In knowledge base, the contents are organized as follows:
- Category
- Template
- Section
- Article
Category
Category is the root level folder for organizing the articles which will be displayed on the knowledge base home page. To create a new category, navigate to Knowledge Base home page and click on create.
You will be required to fill the following details:
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Category name and description (optional).
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Category icon.
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Article sorting criteria.
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Select the brand to which the category should be visible.
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Select the visibility to control public or private article. Once you are done, click on add and the new category will be created.
If you check the box “create a ticket for any negative feedback” you can also select the ticket assignee. However, if no assignee is specified, the ticket will be assigned to the author by default. This will only apply to the specific category setting and will not affect other categories.
Template
Knowledge base templates in BoldDesk are prewritten outlines of content designed with a predetermined structure and sequence to simplify the development of articles. They assist in creating knowledge base articles with a standardized format, aimed at improving efficiency, consistency, scalability, and the overall user experience. These templates can be created from the Knowledge Base home page by clicking on create then selecting template. Explore more on Creating and Importing an Article Template.
Once you click on create, you will be required to provide the template name, set the visibility whether private or public, and add description. Once you are done, you can save the template for future use. All created templates will be listed under the article templates folder.
Section
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You can create nested sections under each category by clicking the plus icon in the category as shown:
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Click add New Section and the following details can be filled.
- Name
- Description
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By clicking the Add button, the section will be added under the category. This helps to create hierarchical structures of folders to better organize your content. 4 levels of nested sections are supported.
To learn more about organizing your knowledge base, click Organizing Knowledge Base: Categories & Sections in BoldDesk.
View Permission
The categories and articles are assigned different levels of view permission. This helps to create public and private or internal knowledge bases. The following are the supported view permissions:
| Any Users | The articles are publicly visible to all users. |
| Logged-in Users | The articles are only visible to logged-in users. |
| Any Agent | The articles are only visible to agents. |
| Specific Content Group | Users with selected content group assigned can view the articles. |
| Specific Agent Group | Users with selected group assigned can view the articles. |
Article
An article can be added under categories and their sections. Hover over the category or section where you want to add an article, click on the plus option, and then click on New Article
When you click on New Article, the article creation page will open.
The following details can be filled:
- Title
- Description
- Select category and section
- Option to enable comments
- Select visibility option
- Select tags
- Set the date when the article needs to stop showing in the portal
- Set status indicator
- SEO meta data
Users can create categories and sections based on their needs and place the articles accordingly. Under the manage article section, users can move sections and articles between categories or change the position of categories and sections.
Article Views
Under the Articles section, the predefined views are available. The supported filters are:
- All Articles
- My Articles
- In Draft
- My Review
- In Review
- Approved
- Published
- Expired
Using this, we can quickly navigate to the article list based on its status. Also, using the Filters option, we can filter based on assignee, author, tags, etc.
Workflow Process
Knowledge base supports the workflow process that helps in the review and approval of the articles. This helps multiple teams work together to create the article and make them publicly available to customers. The following are the possible statuses:
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Draft
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In Review
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Approved
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Publish
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Unpublish
Customization of Self-Service Portal
When you sign up for BoldDesk, the customer view of the self-service portal will be disabled by default. You can enable the module under the Customer Portal knowledge section as shown below:
The following are the basic customizations of the knowledge base portal:
- Banner color
- Banner welcome text
- Enable satisfaction feedback
- Basic article configuration
- SEO
Self-Service Portal (Customer Portal)
The self-service portal is the place where a user may search for and find the information they need. The articles will be accessible on this site after they have been published.
The categories will be displayed on the home page as shown:
Users can search all the published articles using the search bar and can directly navigate to the category by clicking the category card to view the articles under that category.
You can also click on the article to view the article details page and the article details screen as shown:
On this page, options to navigate to other articles under this section or category are:
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Table of contents (lists the headers in this article for quick navigation)
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Related articles (lists the related articles by matching tags)
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Recent articles (list the recently created articles)
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Add comment and feedback
You can view all categories and sections in the side menu on the knowledge base page. Additionally, when you select a specific article, all other articles within that section will also be displayed in the side menu for easy access.
Roles and Permission
The following are the knowledge base roles and permissions:
| Roles | Permission |
|---|---|
| Agent | Create categories and sections, create an article |
| Support Manager, Support Administration, Account Owner | Create categories and sections, create an article, approve article, publish an article |
You can create custom roles and assign the permissions based on your need.
FAQs
Q1. What’s the difference between Public and Internal KB?
- Public KB is visible to anyone.
- Internal KB is restricted (agents) for internal processes and training.
Q2. How many levels of sections can I create?
Up to 4 levels of nested sections.
Q3. Can I automatically create tickets from negative article feedback?
Yes. In Category settings, enable “Create a ticket for any negative feedback.” Optionally assign a default owner; otherwise, the author is assigned.
Q4. What’s the recommended article workflow?
Draft → In Review → Approved → Publish. Use Unpublish for temporary hides or deprecations.
Q5. How do I restrict article visibility?
Use View Permissions: Any User, Logged-in Users, Any Agent, Specific Contact Group, or Specific Agent Group. Combine with Brand visibility if you manage multiple brands.
Q6. How do I improve findability and AI retrieval?
Use clear titles, concise summaries, relevant tags/keywords (including synonyms and error codes), consistent templates, and related links.
Q7. Does BoldDesk Have a User Manual?
Yes. BoldDesk provides a comprehensive online user manual through its Help Center / Knowledge Base, which acts as the official product documentation.
Q8. Do I need to purchase additional credits over time if our customers use the Knowledge Base frequently?
No, you do not need to purchase additional credits when customers frequently use your Knowledge Base as it is a built‑in feature, included at no extra cost and does not depend on any credits.
Q9. How can I remove the expiry tag from a knowledge base article and make it visible indefinitely on the Customer Portal in BoldDesk?
Open the article in Edit mode, go to the Settings panel on the right, and locate “Article Expires On.” Clear the expiry date (leave the field blank), then Save and Publish the article. When the expiry date is removed, the article becomes visible indefinitely on the Customer Portal.
