Installing Articles

Articles is an add-on and has to be installed from the Extension store. It is not available by default.

Follow these steps to install articles:

1. Log in to the CRM.
2. Click Settings.
3. Go to the Extensions section.
4. Click Add-ons. The Add-on window opens.
5. Type Articles in the search bar. The Articles add-on appears.
6. Click Install.

A success message will be displayed after a successful installation. Once installed, it will appear under the Help desk module.

Accessing the Help Document

1. Log in to the CRM.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to the Help Desk.
4. Click Articles. The Articles editor window opens.

You will find the Card View of all the articles in the Article Editor. When you click an article, the Summary View of the article opens.

Summary View of an Article

When you click on an article, the Summary View of the article opens. This displays all the information related to the article.

You can find the below icons beside the title of the article:

• Edit - You can edit the name of the article.
• Follow - You can follow or unfollow the star icon of any article record. By following any article record, you get any updates related to that particular article.
• Tags - You can add a new tag name or select from the existing list of tags from the drop-down. This helps you to identify the record easily.
• Open in a new tab - You can open the article on a new browser.
• Link - You can copy the direct link of the article.

You can find the following icons in the top right corner of the Summary view:

• Preview - After writing the content, you can preview it before publishing it to see how the content appears to the users. You can also look for any errors and rectify them during Preview.
• Edit - On clicking the Edit icon, an Editing Article window of that article opens. You can make article information changes, like adding a new title, description, etc. You can click Save after making the changes.
• More - On clicking the More icon(vertical three dots), you can perform the following actions:
  • Followers: You can see the users who are following the article and also add followers from the drop-down to follow the record.
  • Print: You can print the article by selecting the template.
  • Duplicate: You can duplicate the current record and have similar details in a new record.
  • Delete: You can delete an article by clicking this button.
• Widgets - You can access the following widgets in the Summary View of an article.​​​​​
  • Activity: You can see all the activities performed on that particular article. When you enable the Roll Up toggle, you can find the users who have changed the article. You can also see the time when the changes were made.
  • Analytics: You can find Article views in the form of charts and article rating in the form of percentage.
  • Details: You can click on the arrow icon to expand to go to the detail view of the article.
  • Categories and subcategories: It is mandatory to add categories and subcategories to an article. This helps you to identify articles in a particular category and subcategory.

Creating the Articles

You can add articles by going to the Articles section under the Help desk module. You can modify the article using the article editor. You will be able to choose the font style, size, and color. 

You can add numbering and bullets to your content. You can choose the Headings for your content. You can also enhance the content by adding screenshots and links.

Follow these steps to create the articles:

1. Log in to the CRM.
2. Go to the Help Desk.
3. Click Articles.
4. Click Add Article. The article window opens.
5. Enter or Select the following information:
   1. Title: Enter the name of the article.
   2. Status: Select the status of your article from the drop-down
      1. Draft - This shows that you are still writing article content.
      2. To be reviewed - This shows that the article needs to be reviewed.
      3. Reviewed - This shows the article has been reviewed and is ready to be published.
      4. Published - This shows that the article has been published and is available on KB for users to view.
      5. Junk - This shows that the article is moved to trash but can be reviewed later.
   3. Author: The person who is writing the article is selected from the drop-down list.
   4. Visibility: Choose who should access your articles from the below group of users
      1. Public - Anyone who accesses Vtiger Knowledge Base can view the articles.
      2. Logged in Contacts - Those who are logged in can read your articles.
      3. Employees - Only employees of your organization can read your articles
   5. Source Document: This is the source of the document if any references you would want to add
6. Click Save and Continue.

Note - You can also preview your document before publishing it to correct any errors by clicking the Preview button on the right side of the article editor.

The article is created in the Article editor and ready for you to start writing the content. 

You have an editor’s toolbar, like in a Word document, where you can edit your article by adding headers, tables, screenshots, and links. You can also choose the font style, size, color, etc.

Publishing an article

Once the article is created, you can make it more visually appealing by adding screenshots. You can also make it informative by adding links to other articles and so on. 

Publishing an article will have the following steps:
 

​​​Step 1: Adding screenshots to an article

Follow these steps to add screenshots to the article:

1. Log in to the CRM.
2. Go to the Help Desk.
3. Click Articles. The article editor opens.
4. Choose the article you want to add screenshots.
5. Click the Image icon in the toolbar. An Image properties window opens.
6. In the Image Info tab, paste the Image URL in the URL field.
7. Add the Width and Height of the image.
8. Choose Alignment.
9. Click OK. 

The screenshot will be added to the article.

Step 2: Adding links to an article

Follow these steps to add links to the article:

1. Log in to the CRM.
2. Go to the Help Desk.
3. Click Articles. The article editor opens.
4. Select the Article you want to add links to.
5. Select the text that you want to link the other article to.
6. Click the Link icon in the toolbar. A Link window opens.
7. Select the Link Type as URL from the drop-down.
8. Type the URL of the external document or other article in the URL field under the Link Info tab.
9. Click OK.

The text will appear in blue, underlined form indicating the hyperlink is added to the text.

Note - After adding the link, click the Preview button to see if the link is working, and directs you to the link that you have added.