Direct to KB

The forms that appear under Direct to KB, under New, allow data to be saved directly to the Knowledge base.  The data that will be saved is controlled by the layout of the Request form in use, and the fact that it goes directly to the knowledge base means that statistics are gathered separately for it from the Service requests and the Internal tasks.

Direct to KB forms are usually accessible to Regular users and above, however, your System administrator may have removed access to them for you in which case you may not have permission to add questions to the Knowledgebase at any other point either, though you may have the ability to recommend that a response should be included in the KB.

You can use Direct to KB forms, like the KBnew form, in the main RefTracker window by clicking on the appropriate form under New and Direct to KB, or you can use it in a separate window by clicking on the window icon to its right.

The KBnew form is designed to allow simple facts to be quickly added to the Knowledge base. It is usually used to pre-populate your KB with your file of ready reference facts, when you first set up your RefTracker system, and on an ongoing basis, for adding facts found when answering on the spot services, or proactively researching facts for the KB.

There may be more than one form for adding entries to the KB in your system.  All forms that directly add entries to the KB are indicated in the New menu list by a following solid circle icon.

Note that information entered into the Knowledge base using the Direct to KB screens is not reported as a service statistic by RefTracker’s Statistics reports, but rather, specifically as a Direct to KB statistic. This is because populating the Knowledge base is an administrative function, and not the provision of a service to a client. 

To use a Direct to KB screen:

  • Choose the Request form that you want to use (there may be more than one in the menu list). It will usually be called “KBnew”.
  • Override the Request type defined by this form with a more appropriate one, if appropriate.
  • Fill in the provided fields and check that your entered information is perfectly correct as it is going straight into the knowledge base! You can use QuickText in the Answer field of this screen.
  • Add any appropriate attachments to either the question or the answer by using the appropriate [Manage . . . . attachments] hyperlink.
  • Choose how long before the entry should be reviewed for continued relevancy.
  • Click the “Include in FAQ” radio button, if this question should appear in a special Frequently Asked Questions list in your web site (or, if you use it that way, to indicate that this is a KB entry that should be provided to your web master for approval before they include it in your web site). This question may have been configured out by your system administrator.
  • Complete any closing fields that your organisation uses like Categories, or Expertise, and record any Resources used to create this entry, if your organisation records Resources.
  • Click on Submit and, in just a few seconds, your new entry will be able to be found by searching the knowledge base via the search screen including the Answers search screen.

Exercise :

Try using this screen to add information to the Knowledge base. You may be doing this as part of a program to pre-populate the knowledge base with information that you expect to be asked in the future (you might also consider using QuickText to do this), or it might be that you have just answered a question face to face and you believe that you can save other staff from researching the same thing again by adding what you already know to the knowledge base. The KBnew screen allows information like this to be added without having to enter any information about a client, and without generating a service statistic.