How to Backup your Knowledge Base (no coding required, all platforms)

Hey everyone, a couple of weeks ago I was wondering how I could back up all my knowledge base content and after some research I was a bit disappointed as my only options were

• upgrade to a plan that I couldn't afford at the moment
• write your own backup script that's using Zendesk APIs
• use a Windows app - haven't touched a Windows machine in years yay

So I decided to write an app that makes exporting knowledge base data a breeze for everyone.

You can find the latest version in the Zendesk Apps Marketplace

How to install & use TL;DR

1. Head to the Zendesk Apps Marketplace & click install
2. Add an API access token in the app config ( how to create API access tokens )
3. Open the app and click "CREATE FIRST BACKUP"
4. 🎉

Depending on the size of your help center a backup can take some time, you will receive an e-mail when your backup download is ready.

What does the backup contain?

• categories
• sections
• articles
• tags
• translations
• attachments (downloaded, not just linked)

The Backup File Structure

/data/data.json                # All the data as 1 (soon to be importable) JSON file
/data/.log                     # Backup log
/html/[your knowledge base structure]...  # A locally browsable copy of your knowledge base
/index.html                    # A backup summary - start here!
/README

If you open the /index.html you can see a backup summary and the hierarchy of your knowledge base:

Other Use Cases

Translation management. Sometimes you don't want your translators to have access to your internal knowledge base, by exporting your knowledge base you can pick specific pages and hand them to your translators

Roadmap

- Automatic Backup Scheduling
- Multi-Brand Backups

I hope this app is useful to you. As always, I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and suggestions!
You can send me a message to patrick@kolibridigital.com any time :)

PS: I'm also currently working on a Knowledge Base Import app that will let you import your backups on a global and per article/section/category level (have a sneak peak)