Knowledge templates
You'll need: an administrative role. Administration → Knowledge Templates.
A knowledge template defines what a record in a knowledge base looks like: the fields,
their types, which are required. A Product template might have a name, a description, a
price, a category and an image; a Location template an address, hours and a phone
number.
Each field carries a type, which is what lets the AI answer exactly rather than approximately: a currency field can be compared, while a paragraph mentioning a price cannot.
Why templates matter
A knowledge base without a template is a body of text, and the AI answers approximately from it. A knowledge base with a template is a table, and the AI answers exactly.
The difference shows in questions that have one right answer:
- "What does the AeroDesk 2 cost?" A price field answers this reliably; a paragraph mentioning the price answers it sometimes.
- "Which locations are open on Sunday?" An hours field can be filtered; prose cannot.
Templates also make bulk import possible, since a spreadsheet's columns are mapped onto the template's fields.
Design a template
Include only the fields you will maintain. Every field has to be filled in for every record, and empty fields are worse than absent ones: the AI reads them as "no value" rather than "unknown".
Three rules to follow:
- One record per real-world thing. One product, one location, one policy.
- Fields for what gets asked about. If nobody asks it, it belongs in the description.
- Consistent names across templates. If
Productcalls itcategory,Serviceshould too.
Analysis schemas for media
The same idea applies to uploaded files. An analysis schema (Administration → Media Analysis) defines what the AI should extract from an image, so a product library and an event library get analyzed for different things.
Change a template later
Adding a field is safe: existing records have it empty until someone fills it in. Removing or renaming a field affects every record and anything that references it, so get the names right early.
Changes are recorded in Administration → History.