Need Help?

Skip to Content

CCA Portal

Wagtail Guide: Knowledge Base

Last updated on Nov 09, 2022

Portal’s new knowledge base (or KB for short) is a hub for self-service technical documentation for the entire CCA community.

Organized all within one section of Wagtail, knowledge base content is easy to build and maintain. Additionally, you can use our new content tagging system to make your KB articles "findable" to users in a variety of ways.

As an editor, use this guide to learn how to use the knowledge base page templates and features in Wagtail.

Jump to a section

Up next

After you've finished with this overview, learn about Using the How-to Page Template.


The “Knowledge Base” section is nested right underneath the Portal “Home” page. If you have knowledge base editing access, you should be able to find it in Wagtail’s Pages menu or by using Wagtail search.

Knowledge Base Wagtail Explorer with Folders.png

The “Knowledge Base” section itself contains a number of “folder” pages, underneath which you may find articles or additional folders.

Knowledge Base Wagtail Pages, Summarized

Page type

What is this page for?

Available child pages

Knowledge Base

This page houses all knowledge base articles and organizing folders.

• Folder Page

Knowledge Base Folder

This page houses articles and/or other KB folders and is strictly for organizational purposes for editors.

• Folder Page
• How-to Page

How-to

This is the first available page template for KB articles, optimized for step-by-step instructions.

None available

Next, we'll dive more into KB folders, which provide structure in Wagtail.


Knowledge Base Folders

What are KB folders?

KB folder pages contain how-to articles. They provide organization for editors, preventing the Knowledge Base section in Wagtail from becoming one ever-growing list of articles.

Folder Page and Child How-to Page in Wagtail.png

Like how URLs work elsewhere on Portal, a KB article URL will mirror its placement within the site hierarchy, including its parent folder(s).

Knowledge Base URL.png

However, KB folders do not correspond to published pages, so users won’t have to click through various folder pages in order to find the article they’re looking for.

All published articles are navigable from the Knowledge Base Home page on Portal, which incorporates browse and search modes and which utilizes a content tag system to assist with page discovery.

How to use KB folders

As noted above, you can create a KB folder page underneath the Knowledge Base page or an existing KB folder page.

From the Knowledge Base explorer view, click the “Add Child Page” button in the teal header to create a new KB folder beneath the Knowledge Base page.

Add Folder Page from Knowledge Base Page.png

Alternatively, hover over an existing KB folder page in the list lower down on the page, click “Add Child Page,” then select “Folder Page” from the available page templates.

Give your KB folder page a title, then save it (you can either save it in draft or publish it, since publishing won't actually create a Portal page).

Keep your folder titles on-topic

Title your KB folders according to what they contain so your KB article URLs remain polished and professional. Avoid using your name for KB folders. You may, however, align your KB folders with article topics or platforms, or perhaps your department.

Access to KB Folders and Content

The knowledge base is a shared resource, and KB editing access has been designed to promote collaboration and transparency while still allowing you to restrict access to edit your content.

  • All knowledge base editors have access to view/browse the entire Knowledge Base section, including all folders and articles in it.

  • By default, editors can also add new articles or KB folders anywhere within the section, even within KB folders they didn’t create.

  • You’ll have access to edit articles or folders that you have created.

  • You won't have access to edit articles others have added to folders that you created (you'll need to reach out to the Help Desk to set up access).

  • All editors can add and edit articles within the General folder.

KB Access, Summarized

Type of content

Parent page

Can I view / browse?

Can I edit?

Page I created

Folder I created

Yes

Yes

Page I created

Folder someone else created

Yes

Yes

Someone else’s page

Folder I created

Yes

No

Someone else’s page

Folder someone else created

Yes

No

Folder I created

Knowledge Base

Yes

Yes

Someone else’s folder

Knowledge Base

Yes

No

Granting Access to Others

If you’d like to grant others full editing access to one or more of your KB folders, please reach out to the Help Desk with editor and folder names, as well as any additional requests.


Create a how-to page

You can create a how-to page as a child page of any KB folder. After clicking “Add Child Page,” select “How-To Page” from the available page templates.

Add Child Page from Existing Folder.png

You won’t be able to create how-tos directly off of the Knowledge Base section, as every article has to have a parent folder.

The how-to page template is designed for creating step-by-step instructions, though it offers some flexible formatting options. Read more about using the how-to page template here.