Working with drafts in the knowledge base (Guide Lite and Professional)

On Guide Lite and Professional, you can create draft articles for new content. Draft articles are saved but not published. You can work on them until you're ready to publish.

Note: On Guide Enterprise, you can create a work in progress for new content, similar to a draft on Lite and Professional. You can also create a work in progress for existing published content without affecting the published version.

Guide admins can add or edit draft articles. Agents who are not Guide admins can add and edit drafts in sections where they have been granted permission (see Restricting access to knowledge base content).

Topics covered in this article:

• Adding draft articles
• Editing draft articles
• Publishing draft articles
• Viewing a list of all drafts

Adding draft articles

When you create a draft article, it is saved but not published, so that you can continue working on it until it's ready to publish.

To add a draft article

1. Select Add > Article in the top menu bar.

   

   The article that is created is a draft by default, as indicated at the top of the article.

2. Enter the initial content of your draft article.
3. Select a section for your article from the Publish in section menu.
4. Click Save.

   Be sure to note the URL for your draft. If you're not a Guide admin, you'll need to the URL to get back to the draft because there is no navigation to the article until it is published. If you're a Guide admin you can view a list of all drafts.

   The URL for the published version of the article will be the same as the URL for the draft version.

Editing draft articles

You must know the URL for the draft you want to edit, unless you are a Guide admin who can view a list of all drafts (see Viewing a list of all drafts).

To edit a draft

1. Go to the draft article you want to edit, then click Edit article in the top menu bar.

   

   Alternatively, if you are a Guide admin, you can view a list of all drafts, select a draft you want from the list and it will open in edit mode.

2. Make your changes.
3. Click Save.

   The draft article is updated. You can make more edits, if needed. Or you can click Preview to preview your article in your Help Center.

Publishing draft articles

You must know the URL for the draft you want to publish, unless you are a Guide admin who can view a list of all drafts (see Viewing a list of all drafts).

To publish a draft

1. Go to the draft article you want to publish, then click Edit article in the top menu bar.

   Alternatively, if you are a Guide admin, you can view a list of all drafts, and select the draft you want to publish from the list.

2. Select a section for your article from the Publish in section menu.

   

3. Chose any of the following options:
   • To close the article for comments, deselect Open for comments.
   • To promote the article in its section, select Promote article.
   • To add an attachment, click Upload attachment on the lower side of the editor.

     The file size limit is 20 MB.

4. (Guide Professional) Add any Labels you want.

   As you start typing, a list of existing labels appears for you to chose from, or you can add a new keyword by selecting Add as a new label.

   Labels can be one word or a multiple word phrase. Labels are indexed for search with a little less weight as the article title, but multiple labels with similar words can outweigh the title and body of the article, so use labels carefully to balance your search results.

5. Click the drop-down arrow on the Save button, then select Publish.

   

   The article is published.

Viewing a list of all drafts (Guide admins only)

On Guide Lite and Professional, you can access a complete list of your draft articles. You must be a Guide admin to view a list of drafts.

Note: Enterprise customers do not have a list of drafts, but instead have article lists for Team Publishing article states.

To view a list of drafts

1. In Guide, click the Manage articles () icon in the sidebar.

   The Lists tab opens by default.

2. Click Drafts.

   A list of all your drafts appears.