Knowledge Base — Articles (Admin) — User Guide

Module: HSE (Health, Safety & Environment)
Audience: HSE content authors, administrators
Version: 1.0.0
Last updated: 2026-07-22

Overview

The HSE Knowledge Base lets authorised staff create and maintain safety articles — policies, procedures, guidelines, and similar content. Articles belong to groups (categories such as Health, Safety, Environment) and can be published to the customer portal or kept as internal staff-only references.

This guide covers admin article management (HSE → Knowledge Base). Managing groups and the customer portal are separate guides.

Prerequisites

Pre-use checklist:

• HSE module is activated
• At least one KB group exists (three defaults are seeded on install: Health, Safety, Environment)
• Staff account has HSE View permission (minimum)

Accessing the Knowledge Base (admin)

1. Log in as a user with HSE access.
2. Open HSE in the left sidebar.
3. Click Knowledge Base.

Expected: The articles page opens with a list of all articles. Users without HSE permission see access denied.

Understanding the two views

The Knowledge Base admin page supports two layouts:

List view

• Columns: Article name, Group, Active (check/cross icon), Date published
• Click the article name or Edit to open the editor
• Use the filter icon to show articles from a specific group only

Kanban view

• Each column represents a KB group (colour-coded header)
• Article cards show title, view count, and an Internal label when applicable
• Disabled articles appear with strikethrough (visible to editors only)
• Click an article title to edit (internal) or preview on the portal (public articles open in a new tab)

Creating an article

1. On the Knowledge Base page, click + New article (requires Create permission).
2. Complete the form:
   • Subject (required) — article title
   • Group (required) — select a category
   • Internal article (optional) — check to keep the article staff-only (not shown on the customer portal)
   • Disabled (optional) — check to hide the article from the portal and from view-only users
   • Description — article body (rich text editor)
3. Click Submit.

Expected:

• Success message and return to the Knowledge Base page
• New article appears in the selected group's list and kanban column
• A URL slug is generated automatically from the subject

Validation: Subject and Group are required. The form will not submit if either is blank.

Tip: To add a new group while creating an article, use the + button next to the Group dropdown. Note: Only administrators can create groups; other users must select an existing group.

Editing an article

1. Open an article from the list or kanban view.
2. Update fields as needed.
3. On existing articles you can also edit the Slug (URL-friendly identifier used on the portal).
4. Click Submit.

Expected:

• Success message and return to the Knowledge Base page
• Total views counter reflects portal visits (not admin previews)
• A link at the top shows the article URL (admin link for internal articles; portal link for public articles)

View-only users: Cannot save changes; submit button is hidden.

Internal vs public articles

Use Internal for draft guidance, staff procedures, or content not meant for customers.

Disabling an article

Check Disabled on the article form to deactivate it.

Expected:

• Article hidden from the customer portal
• View-only staff no longer see it in kanban view
• Editors still see it in kanban with strikethrough styling
• Article remains in the list view with an inactive (cross) icon

To re-enable, uncheck Disabled and save.

Deleting an article

1. From the list view, use the row Delete action, or open the article and click the trash icon (requires Delete permission).
2. Confirm the deletion.

Expected: Article removed permanently from list and kanban. There is no recycle bin.

Reordering articles (kanban)

Users with Edit permission can drag article cards within a group column or between columns.

Expected:

• New order saved automatically
• Moving to another column changes the article's group

View-only users cannot drag cards.

Filtering articles by group

1. In list view, click the filter icon in the toolbar.
2. Select a group name (or View all).

Expected: Table shows only articles in that group.

Common issues

Related features

• KB Groups — manage categories, colours, and order (administrators; separate guide)
• Customer portal — public-facing article browser at /hse/kb (separate guide)
• Incident management — unrelated workflow; see incident-management.md

Test execution sign-off (QA)

Record Pass/Fail per section when executing QA.