Open Knowledge Base

gert.verhoeven
gert.verhoeven Member Posts: 23
edited December 2023 in Knowledge Base

We're running an internal IT department, and introducing another password to our users will just be too hard for them. Users will end up not bothering to check the knowledge base, or we will end up supporting them to change their password. This defeats the purpose of having a KB.

Is there a way to open the KB so users don't have to log in?

Comments

  • mbudke
    mbudke Member Posts: 119 ✭✭✭

    AfaIk at this moment it is not possible.
    I was also playing with the KB and think this can be a very very very useful feature to reduce support work especially as I have seen the AI webinar yesterday which might be able to make use of this information.

    Unfortunately at this moment the KB area lacks on a lot of flexibility which makes it difficult. Examples:

    • embedding HTML
    • uploading (embedding) videos
    • searching through the KB when a user creates a new ticket (maybe something for the AI / AI chat)
    • customer-specific KB (like customer documentation). You can workaround it by assigning a category to a customer but this can result in a human error and expose customer data of one customer to another. This is too risky. It would be better if there is per default a KB created per customer which cannot be changed in visibility (except internal visibility by user (e.g. only CEO) in the company).
    • having a "home" page in the support portal to inform the user about recent changes or news
    • having a "latest changes in KB" overview
    • having some sort of "sticky KB" to highlight a specific KB article. (Can be worked around by a home page in case this exists)

    I would be interested if Atera can shed some light if there are some plans for improvements planned.

    I am not sure if advertisements is OK (please edit in case this is not allowed) but you could either use SharePoint (if you have O365) to create a public KB or make use of Atlassian Confluence which is around 6$ for one editing user/ month. But tbh I am also waiting to fully switch to Atera KB to have everything on one platform.

    Best regards,
    Matthias

  • mjones
    mjones Member Posts: 172 ✭✭✭✭

    I like that the feature is there, but agree that it is lacking and could use some love. There are a lot of limitations in the interface.

    Regarding Confluence, can you allow guest access or does everyone need an account there also ?
    Afaik it's free for 5 users, but after that I think you have to pay.

  • kim
    kim Member Posts: 113 ✭✭✭

    I use a SharePoint for my KB since my users use sso and we put other widgets on it for them. I have my Atera portal as a link in my SharePoint int terms for checking and submitting tickets.

  • nina
    nina Administrator Posts: 428 admin

    Hi @gert.verhoeven - You need credentials in order to use the Customer Portal. You will need the end-user's email address and password. Once logged in to the Customer Portal, they will have access to the public Knowledge Base.

  • mbudke
    mbudke Member Posts: 119 ✭✭✭

    Hi @MJones ,

    Regarding Confluence, can you allow guest access or does everyone need an account there also ?
    Afaik it's free for 5 users, but after that I think you have to pay.

    The prices are listed here: https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/pricing

    For public links you require the Standard license but afaIk theoretically you can only have one "editing user".

    I am not going to comment on the company or product but if you would like to understand how they work just watch https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/CLOUD-6999 and take into account what people requested, what they developed and how long it took.
    There is a reason I want to switch to Atera KB so these are highly requested features from me. :-)