Scenarios

Your organization or unit maintains one or more websites outside of the KnowledgeBase, and you would like to display some your KB content there as well.

Your organization or unit develops one or more web-based applications, and you would like to embed "how-to" or other supplemental information directly within the application.

Why Can't I Just Copy my KB Content?

While this can seem like the easiest option, copying and pasting information from your KB into another website results in the duplication of content. While this doesn't necessarily cause a problem in the short-term, it will create extra work in the future, and worse, could lead to conflicting information.

When the published information inevitably needs to be updated, someone will need to manually update it in both places. This could play out in a few ways, some of which are worse than others, and none of which are ideal:

• Extra work: You become responsible for making two updates to what is effectively the same content.
• Extra time: You only have access to edit the content in the KB, and must request that someone else make the same change to the external website or application (which could lead to delays in publishing the changes).
• Inaccuracy: Only one source of the content ever gets updated, leading to confusion for end users (and possibly content owners) as to which source is accurate.

Making Your KB Content the "Single Source of Truth"

Rather than duplicate your content, you can instead use the KB API in combination with JavaScript to dynamically display that documentation on the external webpage. Once you have set up the connection, you will be able to update your KB content normally and see the changes reflected automatically wherever you have embedded it.

Doing this also helps ensure that the information you wish to provide to your end users is readily available to them in the appropriate contexts. If you believe someone may need to see a policy directly associated with information on your website, you don't have to send them somewhere else to find it. In the case of a web-based application, you can surface relevant help information at the exact moment it is needed.

What Does Embedded KB Content Look Like?

The great part about embedding content using our API is that only the content itself gets delivered. This means that the actual appearance of the content (for example, the font being used, link styling, etc) will match that of the website where you are embedding it.

The only exception to this is if your document contains inline CSS for styling, as that will be present in the body of the document. This can be used to your advantage, or removed if it is causing problems.

To see an example of this in action, open the following webpage in your browser: My Official Service Website

So How Do I Embed KB Content On My Website?

The following document explains how you, the content owner, can determine exactly what content you would like to display on your website, and how it can be embedded using front-end web code: KB User's Guide - API - Using JavaScript to Embed KB Content