Checklist for Internal and Public-Facing Knowledge

This checklist is for Knowledge Editors to use when approving internal articles in TDX and when publishing public articles to the IT site.

Table of Contents

• Process and Procedures
• Style
  • Article Title
  • Content
  • Format
  • Links
  • Images/Video
• TDX Article Settings

Process and Procedures

• Article is unique (no duplicate content). See Search for Duplicate Knowledge
• Curated content is properly referenced and has effective context. See Use Curated Content
• Author has collaborated with knowledge owner and other stakeholders
   

Style

Article Title

Internal Standards

• Leads with the service or application name and version number(s) followed by a colon (when applicable)
• Summarizes article contents

Additional Public Standards

• Uses the active voice, e.g., create, assign, secure
• Is 10 words or less
• Uses title case
• Uses words customers might search on
   

Content

Internal Standards

• First paragraph is a problem statement or description that provides context
• Sentences are concise and easy to scan; paragraphs are short
• Sentences are grammatically correct and contain no typos
• Uses simple language and terms 
• Content is well ordered; topics and subtopics are in a logical sequence 
• Refer to customers as callers or users; Refer to technicians as you
• Information is technically accurate, up-to-date, and complete
• Acronyms and abbreviations are defined on first use

Additional Public Standards

• Audience is clearly defined and is addressed as you
• No jargon is used unless understood by intended audience
• Content contains words customers might search on
• Content is directed to the appropriate audience throughout the article
   

Format

Internal Standards

• Topic and subtopic titles are formatted as headings
• Use numbers for steps, bullets for lists
• Application interface terms are referenced just as they appear in the interface 
• Application interface terms are in bold
• Table(s) have a header row(s)
• HTML is clean (see Remove Extra HTML Formatting from an Article)

Additional Public Standards

• Content is well ordered; topics and subtopics are in a logical sequence
  • Topic and subtopic titles: 
    • Are formatted as headings and are not bold
    • Use "ing" verbs when describing a process within the article content
       

Links

Internal Standards

• Long articles have a table of contents (TOC) that use in-page anchor links
• Link text clearly references the target content (see Create a Link in an Article)
• Links to other pages do not open in a new window unless it disrupts the flow of a form or other process or will log your out of the system

Additional Public Standards

• Links to other KB articles use the TDX URL, not the it.umn.edu URL.
• Email addresses are spelled out
   

Images/Video

Internal Standards

• Images are uploaded to server (not pasted in or attached)
• Images include appropriate alt text (see Make Images Accessible)
• Images are beneath the step(s) they illustrate
• Images have a TDX-generated 1 pixel border (set in Insert/Modify Image window) to define edges when necessary (see Make Images Accessible)

Additional Public Standards

• Images are essential to understanding the content and associated with the step they define
• Images are cropped and sized appropriately
• Videos have transcripts or closed captioning
   

TDX Article Settings

Internal Articles

• Article is in the appropriate TDX Knowledge Category
• Owner is set to a Group and selected based on agreement between stakeholders
• Tags include any appropriate technologies or services.
• Next Review Date is set
• Notify Owner on Feedback is checked.
• Article Summary is one sentence describing the article purpose
• Should the viewing of this content be limited to the University community? is set to the appropriate setting.

Public-Facing Articles

• Article is in the appropriate TDX Knowledge Category
• Article Summary is the first sentence of the article
• Tags include any appropriate technologies
• Published to KB is checked
• Next Review Date is set
• Appropriate Group is set as Owner, based on agreement between stakeholders
• Notify Owner on Feedback is checked
• Knowledge Internal Notes have been added when appropriate
• Should the viewing of this content be limited to the University community? is set to the appropriate setting.