It would be super awesome if we had the ability to post a single article to multiple sections. We have a number of different "buckets" that our customers fall into that each have their own specific section. We often times write articles that are german to more than one group of customers but not all groups of customers. As it stands currently we have to write the article, post it to one section, copy it, navigate to a different section and post the article, navigate to a different section and post the article, navigate to a different section and post the article, and then navigate to a different section and post the article. This is also a huge pain because that one article now has 5 different URLs and becomes a nightmare for updating and linking in our marketing materials and / or website. It would be much easier and efficient if we could choose to post an article to multiple sections (even if it were still separate URL's for each).
Allow articles to be posted to multiple sections
Hi Christian, here we go with an example:
Enduser 1 uses product A (and has label "product_A")
Enduser 2 uses product B (and has label "product_B")
The section about product A is restricted to endusers with label "product_A" and has 2 articles which have the same information as for product B and 1 articles which is specific for product A.
The section about product B is restricted to endusers with label "product_B" etc...
As follows:
Section A has 3 articles A1, A2 and A3
Section B has 3 articles B1 (copy of A1), B2 (copy of A2) and B3
We now have to copy/paste articles and have to maintain them synchrone which is "dangerous" as you can understand.
So if we could use article A1 and A2 more times in other sections .... [happy_face]
Another solution (for my problem) would be to extend the use of labels to restrict users for articles (now its only possible to restrict sections).
In the above example the content would be as follow:
Section A and B are restricted for users with labels "product_A" or "product_B".
Articles are:
A1 and A2 (take the rights from the section)
A3 restricted for label "product_A" only
B3 restricted for label "product_B" only
Like this every users "sees" the right articles.
My guess is that this is a bit more complex and not so broadly wished by other users, but I couldn't resist .... :-)
Thank you for that! A few follow-up questions:
- Why do you restrict content so that users can only view content for the product they purchased? Is that because they really shouldn't see it or is it because it just creates a better experience that your end-users don't see content for products they have not purchased?
- What is the content of the article you want to share? Why is it the exact same content for these different users who have purchased different products?
Hi Christian,
We've been Zendesk customers for a long time now. This is the ONLY post I follow. As a Product Manager, I understand you need to know the use case and rationale to design and implement the correct feature. But in this particular thread, surely by now, after all the years, you have enough use cases and customer "asks" to know your customers want and "need" the ability to repost the same articles in different sections. And if the content could be linked so that a change in one article, also is rendered in the duplicate article.
Sure, there are workarounds. We use them. But this does not necessarily resolve the issue.
I also understand it may introduce errors, such as unwanted, or multiple search results, breadcrumb issues, and handling access restrictions, as well as category/section limitations.
And specifically, you said you want it to be a features that is sustainable and meeting all customer needs.
- You won't be able to meet all customer needs. But you can see, there are "many" unmet customer needs with this feature now.
- Being sustainable? Sure, but as the system is now, it is not sustainable as this is why it is so difficult for Zendesk to add this feature today.
As I see it, Zendesk puts out updates all the time. In fact, I see notices for an update for Help Center for April 4, 2017...so changes are possible. In fact, if Zendesk doesn't change with the times, your customers will.
I would suggest you develop some form of incremental feature, rather than wait until you hear every possible use case, design for every customer need, and then shelf the project because the T-shirt development cycle size is too large! :o)
I like Zendesk...even with all the quirks, but this customer "ask" is more than a quirk, and your customers are saying it all over this thread.
I haven't read all 206 comments but I'm sure mine will be redundant - we have numerous articles that need to be in both the Getting Started category and the Knowledge base category. Unfortunately, duplicate articles is the way we have to do this. Also unfortunately, Automatic Answers/Answer Bot (which is testing well, btw) suggests the same content twice. Not good.
We have multiple brands that often have the same article, but may have a product name in it. Would be nice to be able to create the article once and select the different brands it should be posted to. There should be conditional text that we can use within an article that when the article is published to a certain brand, that the brand name appears. So if <brand 1> is in the article when written, when published that text is replaced with the actual brand name.
James,
We are definitely not waiting for every possible use case before we start building. But the more information we get the better and why not get some more details while we're building this to ensure that we are still on the right track? While there is a lot of feedback in this thread, most of it is not focused on concrete use cases, so it's great to hear what the exact use cases are. It all helps us to understand it better.
And I can definitely guarantee you that we are building as incrementally as we can. But this is changing the entire structure of Help Center, so just doing minor changes will have significant impact on the entire product. It just takes time to build. There is no doubt that if I could deliver this faster I would. Although I do enjoy writing to all of you ;)
Greg,
Why do you want the same content in getting started and inside the knowledge base category? Could you give me an example of an article that you want in both getting started and in knowledge base? Have you ever considered doing a list of links to other articles as your getting started guide, so you didn't have to duplicate? Maybe you already looked into this, so I'm curious why that would not be a viable option for you.
Barry,
Publishing to other brands is probably a slightly different although related feature request. I would recommend you to add your vote and feedback to Share articles across multiple brand accounts so we keep it in the same place.
Christian, we want to walk new customers down a path in Getting Started, but not overwhelm them with every article on every subject like you would find in the Knowledge Base. There might be a Navigation Bar article in a Getting to Know the Software section of the Getting Started category. That Navigation Bar article might also exist in a more exhaustive User Interface section of the Knowledge Base category.
We're using a list of links as a workaround but it's not a good one because once the user opens an article they're off the Getting Started path (the left side article nav is no longer related to Getting Started). Let me know if you need further explanation.
+1 Absolutely! This is needed ASAP!
Greg,
Thank you that definitely helps in understanding how you would use the ability to publish to multiple sections.
@Christian
>> Why do you restrict content so that users can only view content for the product they purchased? Is that because they really shouldn't see it or is it because it just creates a better experience that your end-users don't see content for products they have not purchased?
Bit difficult to explain. Endusers have tags/labels representing what product(s) they use. Seperate products sometimes do have specific information and it is NOT wanted users see information of other products.
>> What is the content of the article you want to share? Why is it the exact same content for these different users who have purchased different products?
Products do have same instruction in general but have a few differences.
I don't want to repeat but I specifically want to relate to Barry's comment re multibrand, variables and conditional text.
Zendesk is a great HC but it's not trying to be a full CCMS with all functionality as used by tech writers such as variables, conditional text and reusuable text.
A suggested workflow for Barry would be to author in Paligo (cloud-based professional authoring tool) and then click a button to push into Zendesk. You could make your single topic that would then push into the multiple brands/articles that you need with the exact desired output.
This takes nothing away from Zendesk. It adds additional functionality.
You can get more info, and speak to me here: https://sales.contextengage.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000812229
We would also like to create a nice "Getting Started" section where we link to select articles that are in our more exhaustive help knowledgebase.
For now, I plan to make an article full of links, but it would be nice to be able to make special links sections where the links all go to other pre-existing articles elsewhere in the HC. (Perhaps they wouldn't be indexed for search as such because the linked article is indexed instead?)
this request has been running for five years, please act on it or reject it if you don't want to do it.
You, Zendesk, just release re-vamped Helpcenter as "Guide" and it is still not possible.
We are just starting to us helpcenter/guide need the to be able to publish an article in two sections.our use-scenario is as follows
We have a category called "Your solution". With in this category each customer organizations have their own section which is restricted to users from the specifik organization.
We also have a section created per customer organizations under another category called Internalsupport. These sections are restricted to agents. In this section are internal support articles that our agents need to support the customers but we don't want the end-users to see.
However we do have articles that is relevant for agents and end-user. We therefor NEED to be able to have articles listed under two or more sections with different restriction level
Folks, it just ain't gonna happen. Five years is clear evidence that they don't see any value in it and they're not going to do anything within our lifespans. If they had wanted to do it, they would have. Instead they challenge people's use case descriptions and make vague promises. Some things about ZD are pretty cool, but this is a basic requirement for any modern help system, and its absence is simply not acceptable. However, I did notice lots of new icons and stuff, so there's that... Face it - they're just not into you.
I've been watching these types of threads for quite some time. I have to say I am utterly disappointed in ZenDesk and their short-sighted attitude on this specific subject. I currently work for a small company, but our Help Center is growing exponentially on a daily basis. Because of this there are articles that need to be displayed in multiple areas without requiring me to remake them. This is a huge no-no. I shouldn't have to duplicate my work in order to work around the short-comings of the platform I'm using.
The most recent release of the Guide Feature was utterly useless. It hasn't assisted me in managing my help center in the slightest. What people really want and need has been systematically and historically ignored. I find this to be an stunted business approach and would strongly urge ZenDesk to reevaluate their priorities.
This is a feature that many of us NEED. It's not a want.
Furthermore, the way we've been led on for years about this feature is unbecoming. It is either something that will be done or will not. I think many of us would appreciate a direct yes or no instead of the generic roadmap answer.
Please, please give us what we need.
Come on guys, this seems like a no brainer!
How many more pages of people asking for this seemingly simple/basic feature will it take before it gets taken seriously and implemented? We are in the process of testing out Zendesk and honestly this forum has put me off the product quite a bit. I don't expect that every user requested feature be implemented immediately but the lack of communication from zendesk about this feature, and the number of years its been asked for, is highly alarming.
Login to the community
No account yet? Create an account
Enter your E-mail address. We'll send you an e-mail with instructions to reset your password.