The knowledge base has been widely used by many webmasters who are looking to showcase or sell some items or products on their websites. From this special section, they can add the detailed information of their commodities, such as the frequently asked questions, the related tutorials, the beginner’s guidance and more. With these useful contents, their customers or users can leverage these items in a better and easier manner, and can resolve some basic issues without asking for customer service.
In this case, if you also sell something on your site, it is highly recommended to set up such a great area. In the following, we have made a detailed guide about how to create a WordPress knowledge base.
Step 1 – Create a Sub-Domain for Your Knowledge Base
Firstly, you need to create a sub-domain that is exclusive for your knowledge base. Generally, the domain name can be support.yourdomain.com or wiki.yourdomain.com.
As for the creation process, different web hosts may have different steps. Here, we simply assume you use the top-quality BlueHost. Just follow the below steps.
Log into your cPanel control panel and click the Sub-Domain icon from the Domain area.
Enter your preferred sub-domain name and choose your main domain from the drop-down list.
Enter the Document Root. Generally, it is “public_html/wordpress”.
Click the Create button.
Now, you should enter your control panel again and choose the 1-click installer to install the latest version of WordPress for your newly created sub-domain.
Step 2 – Install the Knowledge Base Template
Here, you can choose a proper template for your knowledge base. Here, you need to know that this theme can only be installed and activated for this special section, but not for your main site.
Here, we simply recommend you to try the option that is named as MyKnowledgeBase. This is a free, simple and responsive WordPress theme. With it, you can set up a full-width knowledge base with 4 columns. Also, you can create a 3-column screen along with the knowledge base sidebar to showcase the hottest or the most recent tutorials.
After installing it, you can customize the Logo, Colors, Header Image, Background Image and Site Identity based on your needs.
Then, you can create some essential pages that need to be placed at the menu section, such as the Contact Us page, the FAQ section and the Blog area.
Here, in the Page Attributes box, you can have three options in addition to the Default Template. They are Full Width Template, Knowledge Base and Knowledge Base Sidebar. Simply choose one based on your ultimate preference.
Now, you can start posting some tutorials for your knowledge base. These posts will be displayed properly just like the following screenshot.
Step 3 – Add the Knowledge Base to Your Main Site
Once you have finished the building of your knowledge base, you now need to add it to your main site. This way, people can find this section easily when browsing your website contents.
To do this, you simply need to enter your WordPress Admin and click the Menus button from the Appearance tab. Then, click the Custom Links and enter the sub-domain of your knowledge base. Here, do not forget to enter the Link Text of this menu item, such as Help Center, Knowledge Base, Wiki and any other you like.
After that, click the Add to Menu button and rearrange it for a proper location on your navigation menu.
That’s it. You have created an independent knowledge base for your readers to learn something about your website and your products easily.
Alternative Method
If you do not want to set up a separate knowledge base, but an inner section of your main site, you can choose this method of using a WordPress plugin named as Knowledge Base CPT. This tool simply generates the custom post type automatically for this special area, allowing you to add the tutorials just like publishing the common blog posts.
Upon the successful installation and activation of this plugin, you can find a new tab on your dashboard column called Knowledge Base. Simply click the Add Articles button to create new tutorials for posting.
Here, you can also find a Sections button in the drop-down menu. By clicking it, you can create various categories for your tutorials for better grouping.
By default, your knowledge base can be created just like the following example.
In addition, you also are allowed to create a sidebar for this great base, showcasing your popular articles or the latest posted contents effectively. To do this, simply click the Appearance tab and hit the Widgets option. Here, you can find a special widget that is called as Knowledge Base Articles, generated by this plugin automatically.
You simply need to drag and drop it into the proper location of the sidebar and click the Save button. Note that you can decide its title and the number of articles to be shown.
Here, we have a special tip that the URL of this knowledge base is pre-determined automatically, which is just like “http://yourdomain-come/kb/”. You have no right to change it, but can show it in your main admin to help readers find this section without any hassle.
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