KPBSD Support Knowledge Base
One of the Support Portal's cornerstone elements is the online Support Knowledge Base (KB), the one you're in now, reading this article.
Overview
We first started publishing KB content in Fall 2020, initially for ourselves, but then deliberately and increasingly to support you (staff, students, and families), and it continues to grow all the time. Some articles are primarily "how-to" oriented, others are "about your tech", others mostly contextual or informative about process or practice. Some are very simple while others are rich, and most of them cross-link between each other to give you access to related things if you need it.
District IT leans on these articles all the time. As we figure out "the best way" to do something, or if we realize that we're taking a lot of calls about the same problem, often we will "write it up", so that whoever needs it (including us; we use it too), can get a consistent (and updated!) explanation, at any time and from anywhere. From our end, this also means we can spend less time re-explaining the same thing, and more time on the next need. This helps everyone.
A Supplement, Not a Replacement
Now, let's be very clear about this: it is not, repeat not, our intention to simply replace the historic functions of the Support Helpdesk, with the self-service functions of the KB and the rest of the Support Portal. Instead it is a supplement, serving the specific goals of being convenient, consistent, updated, potentially faster (both in any given case and also in the aggregate), and above all, available any time and anywhere. Please keep this in mind when we send KB links to assist with answering questions, resolving tickets, etc. We're not just giving you stuff to read--we're actually giving you the most efficient way to come to resolution.
Portal login and search
Log in to the Portal using the Login link at upper right, to see all that your District account can access. The search feature is always available in the Portal, and it will build search results as you start typing. Search results may include not just KB articles, but also requests or tickets that relate to you.
Browsing for articles
You can also browse for KB articles if you wish. To get to the article browser, either use the Browse help articles link on Portal home, or click Solutions under the Portal's top-left menu. Categories are on the left, and folders and articles on the right. Be aware that within a folder, the order of articles may not be alphabetic, but instead curated for importance.
Article features
KB articles originate from a variety of authors, and while we all aim for clarity, correctness, and consistency, you will almost certainly see a few different layout and writing styles along the way. There are, however, some universal article elements that are worth specific mention, including:
- At the very top, the Portal's navigation bar, including search input
- The article's breadcrumb path within the Portal and the article browser
- A copy article link icon immediately right of the title (use this for a "friendly" URL to share)
- A scannable QR code which will take you to the current article (useful for printed pages)
- A related articles panel suggesting other articles with similar keywords or content
- Below the article's content, there are feedback and print functions
Be aware of these universal features, and by all means remember to use the structure of the article (e.g. headings and lists) as an assistive aid in helping you to digest its content. (That's certainly why we write the structure into the article! :-)
Always growing
Please keep in mind that our knowledge base is always growing, and if you see an article that is published but empty of content, it just means we haven't gotten to flesh that one out yet, but we recognized a need for it and wired it in to something else. Which brings us finally to...
Feedback always welcome!
There is a lot of challenge in making an effective knowledge base, and one critical component is your feedback. From our end, we do our best to maintain consistency, clarity, correctness, completeness, etc., and we always try to keep things updated, but inevitably we miss some things. You can help us to keep things improving by letting us know when something is out of date, or needed and not there, or confusing, etc.
The KB article feedback widget is always available and (especially if widely used) can prove valuable to us. But we welcome direct feedback too. You can always contact the Support Helpdesk directly (even a quick phone call) and let us know. We appreciate thoughtful input, both positive and critical--such is the best way to make things better for all of us.