When adding a KnowledgeBase component you need to specify:
Access Level - here you can define if only space admins can add new entries, or if all space members can add new entries.
Once you have added a KnowledgeBase component you need to do some initial setting up in order for it to work. The main thing you need to do is define which templates will be available for inputting data, but you can also define a category tree under which the entries can be filed.
By default a KnowledgeBase does not have any templates attached, so this is the first thing you need to do once the component is added. To access the template options click on the spanner next to the heading on the KnowledgeBase start page. From here you can:
Select an available template - on the right you will see a list of available templates. This list will consist of any system wide templates that your server Admin has set up, along with any custom templates that you have set up. Select any of these and click 'Add' to have them added to the current KnowledgeBase.
Add/Modify custom templates - this allows you to create a custom data input template, which provides yourself or users with specific fields to complete in order to gather data the way you want it, eg. you might want to collect research article summaries, so you could set up a template that looks something like this:
When adding a new custom template you need to start by adding the following details:
Description - a brief description to explain what the template is to be used for. This description will display when you are choosing a template to add a new entry to the KnowledgeBase.
Number of fields to display in summary listing - this will set how many fields from the template will display when a user lists the entries in a KnowledgeBase. If set to 1 then only the first field of the template will display in the summary listing. The first field of the template is always displayed as a link to the full entry.
Once you have added a new template you need to select it on the right of the screen under 'Modify a template' and click Modify in order to add some fields to the template. You can't use a template unless it has some fields defined. Once you are on the Modify Template page you have the following options when adding/modifying fields to your template:
Name - a brief name for the template. This name will be displayed nest to the field input box, so should be reasonably descriptive, eg. Author.
Description - a brief description or instructions for the data to be entered in this field, eg. "In the author field please enter the author name in the following format - Davies, John". This description can be accessed if the user clicks on the help ? next to the field name on the entry input screen.
Display order - this dictates the order in which the template fields display on the entry input form. A field with a sort order of 1 will display above that with a sort order of 2.
Type - There are three types of input field:
Text - this is for straight text input. For plain text fields you can also specify the number of lines to display for the text input box.
Url - if a field is specified as a url then any url added to it will be automatically linked when a user displays the entry.
File - a file field type will provide users with a browser option to locate files on their hard drive and upload them.
You can add as many templates as you want to an individual KnowledgeBase component.
For KnowledgeBase components that may get a lot of entries you may want to create a category tree to file entries under. To add categories click on the spanner next to the heading on the KnowledgeBase start page and select 'Add/Modify' categories. Here you will see options for adding new categories and editing existing ones.
If you want to create sub categories, in the Parent Category list select the category that you want the category to be a subcategory of. You can nest categories down as many levels as you like, eg.
Education
Secondary
Science
Physics
Year 11
To add a new entry to a KnowledgeBase click on the green + next to the heading on the KnowledgeBase start page, or within categories next to the current category name. If there is more than one template defined then you will be give a list of templates to choose from. If there is only one template defined then you will be taken direct to the entry input form.
To modify an entry go into the full entry display page and follow the 'Edit' link.
With each entry in a KnowledgeBase users have the ability to add comments. To do this they just need to click on the 'Add Comment' link on the full entry page. These comments are treated like forum postings and will display in a users new postings page.
To modify or delete and existing comment click on the Edit link at the bottom of the comment.