It is important to understand image copyright when using images in knowledge. If you're searching images on the web, you should confirm their licensing status before using them in any UMN content.
Resources
How-Tos
Understand how TDX knowledge base articles are displayed and linked on the Technology Help (IT) website.
When you need to use a table in a knowledge base article, follow these guidelines and formatting instructions to make the content accessible to all users.
This article covers:
Alternative text, or alt text, provides a text equivalent for images, charts, graphs, and more. This article discusses how to add Alternative Text in TeamDynamix (TDX) Knowledge Base articles.
Including images in a knowledge base article can help users accomplish their tasks more quickly.
You can provide technical information not meant for a public audience using Knowledge Internal Notes for articles published to it.umn.edu.
Addressing feedback in a timely fashion is an essential part of keeping our knowledge resources up to date.
Any technician in TDX can create a new Knowledge Base article and submit it for approval by an editor.
When an article has reached the end of its useful life, it should be archived.
The lifecycle of a Knowledge Base article begins with a Not Submitted article and progresses through when an article is Archived.
Every knowledge article should have a category assigned to it that represents the Technology, Service, or Business Process that the article addresses.
When you create a Knowledge Base article, you will be identified as the Owner.
Before archiving a Knowledge Base article, you need to check for other articles that link to it and either remove those links or update them to avoid breaking those links.
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This checklist is for Knowledge Editors to use when approving internal articles in TDX and when publishing public articles to the IT site.
This article covers creating links to other pages external to the article.
If you are a technician in TDX, you can draft a new Knowledge Base article.
Work In Progress (WIP) articles are generated directly from tickets, and should be created as part of the resolution process if no article for the knowledge you used to resolve the issue currently exists.
TDX allows you to edit an existing article and then save your changes as a Draft. The Draft version won't be visible to others until you Approve This Revision it.
Images can make it easier to follow instructions in a KB article. The most effective images do one of the following:
Before inserting images into your knowledge base article it's important to crop, resize them, and add any highlights if necessary.
This page provides a list of commonly-used TDX knowledge terms and their explanations. Note that this is not an exhaustive list of definitions.
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You can use Google Docs to draft knowledge. Drafting in Google Docs allows you to use the collaboration features to get feedback from your colleagues.
To edit an article, you first have to create a draft revision.
Technicians can edit an article owned by them or by their Group until it has been submitted for approval. Once submitted only those people with an editor role will be able to edit your article.
You can embed a video from Kaltura or YouTube into a knowledge base article to help your audience better understand the instructions in the article.
The Knowledge Base is the primary source for how-to content vetted by the IT community. Knowledge is managed by the Owner.
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All nested numbered lists in TDX default to Arabic numerals. Sub numbered lists should be formatted as lower-alpha and then lower-roman for clarity.
Anyone with a technician role in TDX can leave Feedback on an article and can see all the Feedback left on any article. Feedback helps us keep our Knowledge Base up to date and relevant.
Properly formed subjects greatly help with both searching and identifying which article to use.
Writing Article Titles
Follow these guidelines to better help users find your article:
When you create an incident form in TeamDynamix, you are required to link the Knowledge Base article to the form as part of the resolution process.
You can make an anchor link or in-page link (sometimes called a jump link) by associating an anchor with selected text on a page, and then linking it to another location on the same page.
Alternative text, or alt text, provides a text equivalent for images, charts, graphs, and more. Some of its benefits include:
Global Knowledge Editors can publish existing articles, regardless of ownership, to the Technology Help website.
While you can use a variety of editors when drafting a knowledge base article, Google Docs is the most common choice because it is readily available and easy to use.
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It is the responsibility of every OIT support professional to contribute to our knowledge ecosystem. Effective contribution requires collaboration, both within your team and with others.
Before creating a new knowledge article, it is important to search for existing resources.
All technicians can view all Knowledge Base articles regardless of an article's status or ownership.
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You can help our users help themselves by providing them with links to knowledge articles published to the Technology Help website or wherever your department publishes its knowle
Anyone can create a new Knowledge Base article and submit it for approval by an editor.
Before someone submits an article, they should have reviewed it for technical accuracy first.
Sometimes a knowledge article needs to be removed from the Technology Help website but still needs to be active in TDX. For instance:
Lists can be used to better organize an article and make it easier to scan.
Creating a new knowledge base article may involve writing something completely from scratch or curating an existing resource.
Use headings to identify the topics and subtopics of your article. Headings have several functions:
Self-Help Guides
This self-help guide is for users who create or edit knowledge in TeamDynamix.