Are you looking to create a Wiki knowledge base using WordPress?
A WordPress Wiki is a website where you can display product documentation or user guides for your customers in an easy-to-follow format.
In this article, we’ll show you how to easily create a wiki knowledge base in WordPress.
Why Should You Create a Wiki Knowledge Base?
A WordPress wiki is a collection of articles and guides that provide information to the users regarding your product or website.
By adding a WordPress knowledge base to your site, you’re creating a virtual library that your customers, subscribers, or users can access at will to find the information they need.
Creating a WordPress wiki helps improve customer support as customers can easily look for answers on your detailed guides instead of calling customer service or opening a support ticket.
Another benefit of creating a knowledge base is that it helps improve SEO by providing numerous opportunities for internal linking to different sections of your site.
That being said, you can build a wiki site within WordPress using a plugin. We’ll show you two different methods and you can choose one that works best for you.
Method 1. Creating a WordPress Wiki Using The Knowledge Base Plugin
First, you need to install and activate the Echo Knowledge Base plugin. For more details, see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, a Knowledge Base tab will be added to your WordPress admin dashboard. Simply click on the tab to launch the Setup Wizard.
The setup wizard will ask you to choose a nickname for your knowledge base. Simply type any name you want in the ‘Knowledge Base Nickname’ field.
Next, type any slug you prefer in the ‘Knowledge Base Slug field. Then, click the ‘Next Step’ button at the bottom.
In the next step, you’ll be asked to choose a layout for your knowledge base.
Simply choose one that looks good to you and then click on the ‘Next Step’ button.
Next, you’ll be asked to choose a layout for your articles and categories navigation.
Choose your preferred layout and click the ‘Finish Set Up’ button.
Once you’ve set up your plugin, you can start by adding categories to your knowledge base.
To add categories, go to the Knowledge Base » Categories page and type a name and a slug for your new category in the ‘Add New Category’ section.
After that, don’t forget to click the ‘Add New Category’ button at the bottom to save your changes.
Similarly, you can also easily add a knowledge base article by going to Knowledge Base » Add New Article from the WordPress dashboard.
This will take you to the post editor where you can write your knowledge base guide and publish it by simply clicking the ‘Publish’ button at the top.
This way you can easily create a knowledge base wiki using the Echo Knowledge Base plugin.
Method 2. Creating a WordPress Wiki Using The Encyclopedia/Glossary/Wiki Plugin
First, you need to install and activate the Encyclopedia/Glossary/Wiki plugin. For instructions, see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, head over to the Encyclopedia » Add Entry page from the WordPress admin dashboard.
This will open up a new entry page that uses the older classic editor to write your entry’s content.
If you want to create your encyclopedia using the block editor, then you need to go to the Encylopedia » Settings page from the WordPress admin sidebar.
From here, simply scroll down to the ‘Features’ section and choose the ‘On’ option from the dropdown menu.
After that, don’t forget to click the ‘Save Changes’ button at the bottom to store your settings.
The Encyclopedia/Glossary/Wiki plugin also offers a paid version.
If you want to access features like adding categories, linking posts, text widgets, and more, then you’ll need to buy the Pro version of the plugin.
It will help you create a more insightful knowledge base for your website.
We hope this article helped you add a Wiki knowledge base section to your WordPress site. You may also want to check out our top picks of the best knowledge base plugins and our article on the best email marketing services for small businesses.
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Raphaël says
Hello,
first thanks for this wonderful tutorial! Very clear and detailed, and it exactly fulfills what I was looking for!
I just have an easy question (last method).
I don’t know anything about CSS, and when I add the bit of code to the style.css file, upload the file, and check how my Wiki looks, it’s still plain.
Did I miss something?
Thanks very much for your help!
Raphaël
yoshi says
Hi,
I think there is a problem with the last function wpb_knowledgebase(),
>>>> WP: 4.9.4
I made 10 articles and 3 sections.
The function display articles from the first section, in the second section too.
The function display articles from the second section, in the third section too.
But the function articles from the third section without trouble.
Clm says
Merci ! Super cool
Michal says
Hello! thanks for help. I picked the last option, to make KB myself. I wonder how to make it works like this:
example.com/knowledgebase/ – list of sections and articles
example.com/knowledgebase/section/ -list of articles in a section
example.com/knowledgebase/section/article – article
at the moment the url’s looks a bit messy :/
How should I do it?
thanks!
WPBeginner Support says
Please contact plugin author for support.
Admin
Jenifer T. says
I vote for using DW Knowledge Base plugin. It does not require you must have a specific theme to create a Knowledge Base plugin. And it’s totally free at this moment.
Kay Slater says
Thank you. I was able to use it for a community dtes gallery website that has limited resources. I really appreciate your sharing this.
Bob G says
I want to add a knowledgebase to an existing site, using existing posts. None of the plugins that I have tried have this capability, however. Do you know of a plugin that will incorporate existing posts?
BobH says
Note that the functions.php file that you have to edit is the one in your theme’s subdirectory in wp-content NOT the one in wp-includes.
Bob H says
I chose option 3 and edited functions.php and added the code above and got this error
Call to undefined function add_shortcode()
Any ideas why?
BobH says
The reason I got the error is because I was editing the WRONG functions.php file:
The functions.php file that you have to edit is the one in your theme’s subdirectory in wp-content NOT the one in wp-includes.
Bob H says
I’ve been looking for something like this for a while. BUT, note that there is a big difference between a knowledgebase, that is administered and populated by the owner/author and a wiki, which by definition “allows collaborative modification, extension, or deletion of its content and structure”
So, we know now how to do a knowlegebase, but how do we do a wiki?
tamimth says
I’m looking for the same thing and all I got is how to do a knowledgebase. if you find anything related to how to do wiki please share.
Ajay says
Syed,
Thanks for the options. I’ve been debating how to best go about adding a knowledge base for my plugins.
In case of a subdomain approach, it would mean having a separate WordPress site for the knowledge base which is good, but at the same time it means having the user to register twice.
In case of the plugin approach, I’m not sure how much of a load it will add to the existing site.
Any ideas?