Knowledge base templates you can copy today

Which knowledge base template to use

Most help center content falls into five article types. Pick the template by the question the reader arrives with, not by the feature you want to describe. A consistent structure lets readers scan, helps reviewers spot gaps and gives search engines and AI assistants clean, predictable sections to quote.

Help article template: how-to

Use it for any single task a customer performs in your product: creating, configuring, connecting or exporting something. If the title needs the word "and", split it into two articles.

• Start the title with "How to" plus a verb, using the words customers type into search.
• Put the one-sentence answer above the steps so readers and AI answers get it immediately.
• One action per step; bold the exact UI labels so they match the screen.
• End with the result the reader should see, so they know the task worked.

# How to [do the task] in [Product]

[One-sentence answer: what the reader achieves and the shortest path to it.]

**Applies to:** [plan / role / platform]
**Time needed:** [about 5 minutes]

## Before you start
- [Permission or role required]
- [Anything that must be set up first]

## Steps
1. Go to **[Menu] > [Page]**.
2. Click **[Button]**.
3. Enter [value] in **[Field]**, then click **Save**.

## Result
[What the reader sees when it worked.]

## Next steps
- [Link to the related task]
- [Link to the troubleshooting article]

Troubleshooting article template

Use it when readers arrive with a symptom or an error message. Order the fixes from most to least likely so most readers can stop after the first one.

• Use the exact error text as the title: that is what people paste into search.
• Describe the cause in plain language before the fix.
• Include a check step so readers can confirm the problem is solved.
• List what support needs (account ID, screenshot, time) to shorten the ticket.

# [Exact error message or symptom]

[One-sentence summary of the most common cause and fix.]

## Symptoms
- [What the reader sees, including the exact error text]

## Cause
[Why it happens, in one or two sentences.]

## Solution
1. [Most likely fix first]
2. [How to confirm it is fixed]

## If that didn't work
- [Second cause]: [fix]
- [Third cause]: [fix]

## Still stuck?
Contact support and include: [account ID, screenshot, time of the error].

FAQ template

Use a FAQ article to group short questions about one topic, such as billing or data security, where each answer fits in two or three sentences. Anything longer deserves its own how-to article.

• Phrase each question the way customers ask it, ideally copied from tickets or failed searches.
• Answer in the first sentence; add context after.
• Link to the full article instead of repeating long procedures.
• Keep one topic per FAQ page; a single catch-all FAQ becomes unsearchable.

# [Topic] FAQ

## [Question phrased the way customers ask it]?
[Direct answer in the first sentence.] [One or two sentences of context.]
[Link to the full article]

## [Question]?
[Answer.]

## [Question]?
[Answer.]

Release note and changelog template

Use it for every release that changes what customers see or do. Lead with the benefit, describe fixes by the symptom users noticed, and always state whether action is required.

• Write the headline as an outcome ("Export reports to CSV"), not an internal ticket name.
• Link each new feature to its how-to article.
• Keep "Action required" even when the answer is "None": readers look for it.

# [Version or date]: [Headline benefit]

**Released:** [YYYY-MM-DD]
**Available on:** [plans / platforms]

## New
- **[Feature name]**: [what users can now do, in one sentence]. [Link to how-to]

## Improved
- [Change and why it matters]

## Fixed
- [Bug described by the symptom users saw]

## Action required
[Anything users must change, or "None".]

Getting started article template

Use it once per product as the first article new customers read. It is a map of the first session, linking out to detailed how-to articles rather than repeating them.

• Promise a concrete outcome and a realistic time in the first sentence.
• Keep it to three to five numbered milestones.
• Link every milestone to the detailed how-to article.
• Feature it on the help center home page.

# Get started with [Product]

[One-sentence promise: what the reader will have working, and how long it takes.]

## 1. [Create your account or workspace]
[Two or three sentences.] [Link to the detailed how-to]

## 2. [Connect or import the first thing]
[Two or three sentences.] [Link]

## 3. [Invite your team]
[Two or three sentences.] [Link]

## 4. [See the first result]
[What success looks like.]

## What to read next
- [Core concept article]
- [Most common next task]
- [Where to get help]

Help center category structure for SaaS

Use this as the skeleton of a new help center or when reorganizing one that has grown messy. Six top-level categories are enough for most SaaS products; deeper nesting hides articles instead of organizing them.

• Name categories after what customers do, not after your internal team names.
• Use task-based article titles that start with a verb.
• Keep troubleshooting in its own category so error searches land in one place.
• Put release notes last; they are read often but rarely browsed.

Help center
├── Getting started
│   ├── Get started with [Product]
│   └── Set up your account
├── Use [core feature]
│   ├── Create a [thing]
│   └── Edit or delete a [thing]
├── Integrations
│   └── Connect [Product] to [tool]
├── Account and billing
│   ├── Change your plan
│   └── Download invoices
├── Troubleshooting
│   └── [Exact error message]
└── Release notes
    └── [Version]: [Headline benefit]

Write templates for AI answers and RAG

AI assistants and help center chatbots retrieve passages, not whole pages. Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) splits articles into chunks by heading, so each chunk must make sense on its own. The templates above are built for that.

• One task per article: mixed articles produce chunks that answer half a question.
• Descriptive headings ("Change your billing email", not "Overview") tell the retriever what each chunk contains.
• Answer in the first paragraph so the quoted passage already contains the answer.
• Name the product and feature explicitly instead of writing "it" or "this page".
• Write out exact UI labels, error messages and limits; models quote them literally.

How to use these templates in Multibase

Multibase is a white-label knowledge base where one account runs many branded portals. The templates work in any tool, but a few Multibase features make them easier to keep consistent across portals and languages.

• Version history: recent versions of each article are kept, so you can compare them and restore an earlier one if a template change goes wrong.
• Review workflow: assign reviewers who check new articles against the template and leave comments before publishing.
• AI article generation: describe the task in a prompt, then edit the draft into the template structure.
• AI translation: a consistent structure translates cleanly; Multibase creates a draft per language and you publish each language independently, across 9 content languages.
• Changelog and scheduled publishing: use the release note template in the changelog and schedule it for launch day.
• Gap Finder (paid plans): searches with no or weak results, ranked by frequency, show which how-to or troubleshooting article to write next, with a one-click draft.