What is new in version 7 of PHPKB knowledge base software?

 

Have a look at some of the most exciting features in the upcoming release of PHPKB software.

 

 

The features mentioned below are a part of both Standard as well as Enterprise Editions in version 7.0.

1. Implemented TinyMCE as the new WYSIWYG HTML Editor for authoring articles.
2. Category-wise access for admin users (writer, trusted-writer, and editor) so that they can operate only in the categories that are assigned to their admin group.
3. Facility for admin users to log in on the front-end knowledge base area using the same username and password as that of their admin account.
4. Facility to upload attachment files during article create/edit operations.
5. Facility to convert a public category to private and vice-versa.
6. Subscribe to the category feature for users so that they can subscribe to a category of their choice to receive email notifications whenever a new article is published under that category.
7. Added TreeView display for categories on the public area.
8. Added 3 layout themes for the knowledge base homepage.
9. Added 2 layout themes for the front-end article display page.
10. Auto-Save facility  during article creation and modification that saves a copy of the content at regular time intervals to prevent loss of unsaved data and/or changes in case of a session timeout.
11. Article Link Management .
12. Facility to remove expiry date of an article if it was set previously.
13. Added publish date feature for articles so that an article gets published on the specified date.
14. Added expiry date feature for news and announcements.
15. Added Syntax Highlighter Tool in the new WYSIWYG Editor to highlight the source code syntax of various programming languages.
16. Highlight search terms in the article content when a user clicks through search results.
17. Inherit "Group Permissions" for accessing private categories from existing users while creating a new user or modifying an existing user.
18. Facility to whitelist user(s) for the comments section to auto-approve comments posted by them. The comments submitted by a whitelisted user will not require approval before publishing.
19. Facility to restrict access to the knowledge base for only logged-in users.
20. Significant improvements in performance.

 

PHPKB 7.0 introduces a new and easier way to insert article links while creating or modifying a knowledge base article. Links to other articles are created using a specific syntax, called "link marker". This not only helps in keeping links organized but also makes link management between articles easy. There is a new button on the WYSIWYG HTML Article Editor. For example, "Article A” is linked within the content of "Article B”, "Article C” and you try to delete Article A, the PHPKB software will not only warns you but also gives you the list of articles where there is a link to "Article A”. You can then decide either to keep article A in the system or delete it forcefully.

 

 

The auto-save is a new feature that automatically saves a snapshot of your article automatically, helping to reduce the risk or impact of data loss in case of a session timeout, crash or freeze! This feature can be turned on/off from the settings page. The Auto-saving is done in a predefined time interval which is configurable via the settings page of the admin control panel. Apart from that, there is also an option to manually auto-save the work-in-progress by pressing CTRL+S keys while working in the WYSIWYG Editor. The ’Last Saved’ duration is recorded and presented in real-time above the WYSIWYG editor as shown below.