Create and customize a knowledge base (legacy)

You can create and customize your knowledge base to organize information for your visitors and customers. Once you've created your knowledge base, you can customize the template, create articles, and customize settings.

Before you get started

Before you begin working with this feature, make sure to fully understand what steps should be taken ahead of time, as well as the limitations of the feature and potential consequences of using it. 

Understand requirements

• To create and manage a knowledge base, users will need Super Admin permissions or Knowledge base settings permissions.
• To create knowledge base articles, users will need Knowledge base articles permissions with the Edit access and Publish access toggled on.
• In HubSpot accounts created on or after March 5, 2024, users must have an assigned Service Seat to create and edit knowledge base articles. Learn more about HubSpot's seats-based pricing.

Understand limitations & considerations

• These tools are only available for legacy knowledge bases that have not been migrated. Learn more about migrating your knowledge base.

Create a knowledge base

To begin creating your knowledge base:

1. In your HubSpot account, navigate to Service > Knowledge Base.
2. Click Set up your knowledge base.
3. If you're creating an additional knowledge base, click the knowledge base dropdown menu in the top left and select Add a knowledge base. 
   
   
4. On the Setup page, customize your knowledge base title, language, domain, slug, and logo: 
   • In the Knowledge Base Title field, enter the name of your knowledge base. This will be visible to visitors accessing the knowledge base.
   • To set the knowledge base language, click the Knowledge base language dropdown menu and select the primary language. 
   • To select the knowledge base domain, click the Knowledge base domain dropdown menu and select the domain where your knowledge base will be hosted.
   • If your knowledge base primary language doesn't match your domain's primary language, select the Use language slug in URL checkbox.
   • In the Knowledge base slug field, enter the additional text you want to appear in your knowledge base URL. For example, to have a URL hosted at www.[domain].com/knowledge-base, you would enter knowledge-base in this field. 
     
     
5. To add a logo, click Upload or Browse images. You can also add the Logo URL, adjust the width, and height.
6. When you've entered the details for your knowledge base, click Next.
7. On the Select template page, select a template for your knowledge base home page:
   • Content Rich: shows each knowledge base category and five articles per category.
   • Tiles: shows each knowledge base category with an icon and description.
   • Minimal: shows each knowledge base category with an icon.
   • Cards: shows one knowledge base category per card.
   • Classic: shows each knowledge base category and two articles per category.
     
     
8. When you've selected your template, click Next.
9. On the Select categories page, default categories are pre-selected.
   • Click a category to add or remove it from your list of categories.
   • Once the knowledge base is created, you can edit your categories and create custom ones. 
     
     
10. When you're finished selecting your categories, click Next.
11. Click Done to finalize your knowledge base. 

Customize a knowledge base template

You can customize the appearance of your knowledge base by customizing your knowledge base templates content and design.

Content

You can customize the images and text in the navigation bar, global footer, and page header of your knowledge base on the Content tab.. You can also create and customize the categories that appear on the home page of your knowledge base.

1. The navigation bar on your knowledge base includes your logo, name, navigation links, and a support form. 
   • In your HubSpot account, navigate to Service > Knowledge Base.
   • In the upper right, click Customize template.
   • Click the Content tab and then click Navigation bar.
   • To change the color of the text links in your navigation bar, click the color picker.  Then, use the color gradient to select a color or manually enter a hexadecimal value.
   • To change your existing logo, hover over the logo and click X. To upload a new image, click Upload. To use an image from your file manager, click Browse images.
   • To name your knowledge base, enter the text in the Name your knowledge base field. This text will be displayed in the upper left corner of your knowledge base.
   • To change the text link to your company website, enter the text in the Text link to your company website field. This text will be displayed in the upper right corner of your knowledge base. (e.g., Go to HubSpot)
   • To change the company website URL, enter the text in the Company website URL field. This URL will be displayed in the upper right corner of your knowledge base. 
   • To add a support form, select an existing form in the Support form dropdown menu. Only forms connected to the conversations inbox can be added to the knowledge base.
     
     
   • When you've finished customizing the navigation bar, click Update template in the top right.
2. The global footer on your knowledge base includes your company logo, custom text links, and social network links. 
   • In your HubSpot account, navigate to Service > Knowledge Base.
   • In the upper right, click Customize template.
   • Click the Content tab and then click Global footer.
   • To upload a new image, click Upload or click Browse images to use an image from the file manager. You can also change your existing logo by hovering over the logo and click X.
   • To display a message, enter the text in the Message field. For example, your company name. This text will display at the end of every page in your knowledge base (e.g., home page, article page, category page).
   • To add custom text links, click Add one in the Custom text links field. If you have existing custom text links, click + Add to add additional custom text links.
   • To add social network links, click Add one in the Social network field. If you have existing social network links, click + Add to add additional social network links.
   • To change the icon style for your social network links, click an icon style that will apply to all the social networks buttons you add.
     
     
   • When you've finished customizing the global footer, click Update template in the top right.
3. The page header on your knowledge base includes your welcome message and your header background. 
   • In your HubSpot account, navigate to Service > Knowledge Base.
   • In the upper right, click Customize template.
   • Click the Content tab and then click Page Header.
   • To add a welcome message, enter text in the Welcome message field. 
   • To change the color of the welcome message, click the color picker.  Then, use the color gradient to select a color or manually enter a hexadecimal value.
   • To change the header background, click Header background. You can upload a new image or browse existing images in the file manager. You can also choose a different background color or pattern.
     
     
   • When you've finished customizing the page header, click Update template in the top right.
4. The categories on your knowledge base keep your articles organized. You can create, customize, and organize categories.
   • In your HubSpot account, navigate to Service > Knowledge Base.
   • In the upper right, click Customize template.
   • Click the Content tab and then click Categories.
   •  To create a category, click Create category then enter the Category name and Category description. Once finished with the category details, click Create category. 
   • To customize which categories are displayed on the knowledge base home page, click to toggle the category switches on or off. Categories without articles will be inactive by default. 
     
     

• • To reorder categories, click Organize categories. Then click a category to drag and drop it to its new position. When you've finished organizing the categories, click Update in the top right.

Please note: if you are using a Content Rich or Classic template you will need to manually select articles to appear under each category. This can be done by customizing your template and navigating to Home page > Categories.

Design

You can change the knowledge base template and default styling for elements on your knowledge base.

1. In your HubSpot account, navigate to Service > Knowledge Base.
2. In the upper right, click Customize template.
3. Click the Design tab.
4. To change the knowledge base template, click Change template in the Template section.
5. To customize the colors used for the following elements, click the corresponding color picker in the Button Styles section. Then, use the color gradient to select a color or manually enter a hexadecimal value.
   • Site text link: the color of the footer and article hyperlinks.
   • Navigation bar text links: the color of the top navigation bar text links.
   • Mobile navigation menu background: the background color of the mobile navigation menu.
6. To customize the font used for the following elements, click the corresponding dropdown menu in the Font Styles section, then select a font.
   • Site font: the font used for all headings, descriptions, and article text links.
   • Article body font: the font used for the body content on articles.
   • Table of contents font: the font used in the table of contents on the left side of articles.
   • Breadcrumbs font: the font used in the table of contents for subcategories in the table of contents. 

Create knowledge base articles

In your knowledge base, you can create articles that answer questions visitors may have about your business. You can organize these articles into categories and subcategories, as well as tag them with relevant search terms. 

1. In your HubSpot account, navigate to Service > Knowledge Base.
2. In the upper right, click Create article. 
3. In the article editor, enter a title and subtitle, then write the body of the article. 
4. In the rich text toolbar, you can apply limited formatting and add assets like videos, links, and images. Learn more about editing content with the rich text toolbar. 
5. To customize the article's settings, click the Settings tab at the top of the article editor, then edit the settings: 
   • By default, the article's URL will end in a URL slug of its title. To customize this URL slug, enter a new URL slug in the URL field. To edit the root URL for all knowledge base articles, click Edit the root URL in settings. 
     
     
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   • To set the language of the article, click the Article language dropdown menu and select a language. 
   • To assign a category to this article, click the Category dropdown menu and select a category.
     • To add this article to a new category, click the Category dropdown menu, then click Create new category. 
     • On the category creation screen, enter a name and description for the category, then click Create. 
   • To assign a subcategory to this article, click the Subcategory dropdown menu and select a subcategory.
     • To add this article to a new subcategory, click the Subcategory dropdown menu, then click Create new subcategory.
     • On the subcategory creation screen, enter a name for the subcategory, then click Create. Learn more about using subcategories in a knowledge base. 
   • To add a tag to the article, click the Tags dropdown menu and select a tag, or type a new tag, then click + Add "[name of your new tag]" tag. Adding tags to an article will widen the search results it appears in. 
   • To add a meta description to the article, enter a description in the Meta description field. This description will appear in search results below the page title. 
   
   • To change the visibility of the article, select an option in the Control audience access section: 
     • Select Public to make the page's content available to any visitor. 
     • Select Private - Single sign on (SSO) required to require visitors to log in with your SSO provider. This option is only available if SSO has been set up for the domain where your knowledge base is hosted. Learn more about setting up SSO for your content. 
     • Select Private - Registration required to require visitors to register with your site to view this article. Learn more about setting up registration for private content. 
    
   • To add a code snippet to the head HTML of the article, click Advanced options, then enter the code snippet in the Head HTML field. 
     
6. Before you take the article live, you can preview it by clicking Preview in the top right. The preview will open in a new tab and can only be viewed by logged in HubSpot users. 
7. In the upper right, click Publish or Update to take the article live.

Customize knowledge base settings

You can customize a knowledge base by setting the domain, visitor access, and language. You can also turn on features such as support forms and related articles.

Set the knowledge base domain

1. In your HubSpot account, click the settings settings icon in the top navigation bar.
2. In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Content > Knowledge Base.
3. To edit your knowledge base domain, click the first dropdown menu and select a domain. Learn more about connecting a domain. 
4. To edit the knowledge base's URL, enter a URL slug in the Knowledge base slug field. 
5. In the bottom left, click Save. This will immediately change the URLs of your live knowledge base articles. 

Customize knowledge base access

If you have a custom domain connected for your knowledge base, you can restrict access to some or all of its content. Learn more about setting up private content for knowledge bases. 

1. In your HubSpot account, click the settings settings icon in the top navigation bar.
2. In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Content > Knowledge Base.
3. Select an access option for visitors: 
   • Public and private: for each article, you can select whether it's available to all visitors or only visible to registered users. 
   • Private-only: all articles are visible to registered users only.
4. Select an access option for search engines: 
   • Block knowledge base search result pages from appearing in Google and other search engines: a no-index tag will be added to the search results page of your knowledge base. This will prevent this page from appearing in search engine results. This is the default option and is recommended to avoid security and user experience issues. 
   • Allow knowledge base search result pages from appearing in Google and other search engines: the no-index tag will be removed from the search results page of your knowledge base. This will instruct search engines to crawl this page.

Please note: the access options for search engines only apply to your knowledge base's search results page. All other knowledge base pages will be searchable unless specified in your robots.txt file.

Set the knowledge base language

You can manually set the primary language for your knowledge base. In order for a language to be used as a primary language, all categories must be translated into that language. 

1. In your HubSpot account, click the settings settings icon in the top navigation bar.
2. In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Content > Knowledge Base.
3. In the Language section, select the Use language slug in URL checkbox. HubSpot recommends using a language slug in the URL if your knowledge base's primary language is different from your domain's primary language.
4. To edit the primary language for your knowledge base:
   • Click Add language in the Other languages section.
   • In the dialog box, click the Language dropdown menu and select your language, then click Add.
   • In the bottom left of your knowledge base settings, click Save.
   • In the Primary language section, click Edit. 
   • In the dialog box, click the Language dropdown menu and select your language, then click Yes, change language. 
5. In the bottom left of your knowledge base settings, click Save.

Turn on related articles

You can add a related articles section at the bottom of every article. This section will contain articles with similar content to the current article. Related articles are automatically adjusted based on visitor attributes and article performance.

1. In your HubSpot account, click the settings settings icon in the top navigation bar.
2. In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Content > Knowledge Base.
3. In the Related Articles section, click to toggle the switch on.