Admin Guide — UAD Knowledge Base

Who This Is For: Quality Department Admins and Content Managers
Skill Required: Basic computer use. No coding required.

Logging In

  1. Go to kb.yourcompany.com/admin
  2. Click "Sign in with Google"
  3. Use your company Google account (yourname@yourcompany.com)
  4. If you see "Access Denied," contact IT — your role needs to be set to Editor or Admin

The Admin Dashboard

When you log in as an admin, you'll see:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  UAD Knowledge Base — Admin                 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  This Month                                 │
│  Articles Published: 12     FAQ Entries: 47 │
│  Documents: 23              Questions: 8    │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  NAVIGATION                                 │
│  → Articles        → FAQ Entries            │
│  → Documents       → Q&A Log               │
│  → Users           → Analytics             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Managing Articles

Create a New Article

  1. Go to Admin → Articles
  2. Click "+ New Article" (blue button, top right)
  3. Fill in the form:
    • Title: Clear and specific (e.g., "Condition Rating C3: Definition, Examples, and Photos Required")
    • Category: Pick from the dropdown
    • Summary: 1–2 sentences describing what the article covers
    • Content: Write in the text editor (works like Google Docs)
    • Tags: Type keywords and press Enter after each one
    • Related Articles: Search and select related articles
  4. Click "Save as Draft" to save without publishing
  5. Click "Publish" when ready for staff to see

Edit an Existing Article

  1. Go to Admin → Articles
  2. Find the article (use search bar or browse by category)
  3. Click the article title or the Edit (pencil) icon
  4. Make changes
  5. Click "Save Changes" — live immediately

Archive an Article (Don't Delete)

  1. Open the article for editing
  2. Scroll to the bottom
  3. Change Status from "Published" to "Archived"
  4. Click Save Changes
  5. The article disappears from staff view but is preserved in the system

Important: Always archive, never delete. Archived articles can be recovered.

Managing FAQ Entries

Add a New FAQ Entry

  1. Go to Admin → FAQ
  2. Click "+ New FAQ Entry"
  3. Fill in:
    • Question: Write exactly as a staff member would ask it
    • Category: Pick from dropdown
    • Short Answer: Direct answer in 1–3 sentences
    • Detailed Explanation (optional): More context, examples, exceptions
    • Related Articles: Link to relevant knowledge base articles
    • Approved By: Your name or the Quality Dept reviewer
  4. Click "Publish"

Promote a Q&A Log Question to FAQ

When a question from the Q&A log is worth making public:

  1. Go to Admin → Q&A Log
  2. Find the answered question
  3. Click "Promote to FAQ" button
  4. The question and answer will pre-fill a new FAQ form
  5. Review and edit for clarity
  6. Click "Publish"
  7. The Q&A Log entry automatically updates to "Promoted to FAQ" status

Managing Documents

Add a New Document

Step 1: Add the file to Google Drive

  1. Open the UAD Knowledge Base — Master folder in Google Drive
  2. Navigate to the correct subfolder
  3. Upload or move your file
  4. Follow the naming convention: YYYY-MM_Source_Topic.pdf

Step 2: Sync to the Knowledge Base

  1. Go to Admin → Documents
  2. Click "Sync from Google Drive" (blue button)
  3. Wait ~30 seconds
  4. New files appear in the "Unsynced Files" panel on the right
  5. For each new file, click "Add to Library"
  6. Fill in: Title, Description, Category, Tags
  7. Click "Save" — the document now appears in the staff Document Library

Update a Document's Information

  1. Go to Admin → Documents
  2. Find the document
  3. Click the Edit (pencil) icon
  4. Change the title, description, or category
  5. Click Save

Note: To update the file itself, upload the new version to Google Drive (replace the old file, same name). The knowledge base link updates automatically.

Archive a Document

  1. Find the document in Admin → Documents
  2. Click the Archive button (or change Status to "Archived")
  3. The document disappears from staff view

The Q&A Log

Where Staff Questions Go

Every question submitted through the "Ask a Question" form on the website automatically:

  • Appears in the Admin panel under Q&A Log
  • Appears as a new row in the Google Sheet (UAD KB — Q&A Log)
  • Triggers an email to quality@yourcompany.com

How to Answer a Question

Option A: Answer in Google Sheets (recommended for Quality Dept)

  1. Open the UAD KB — Q&A Log Google Sheet
  2. Find the new question (new rows appear at the bottom)
  3. Type your answer in Column J (Answer)
  4. Change Column H (Status) from "New" to "Answered"
  5. Add your name in Column K (Answered By)
  6. The submitter automatically receives an email with your answer

Option B: Answer in the Admin Panel

  1. Go to Admin → Q&A Log
  2. Click on the question
  3. Type your answer in the Answer field
  4. Click "Mark as Answered"
  5. Both the admin panel and Google Sheet update automatically

Q&A Log Columns Explained

Column What to Put There
Status New → In Review → Answered → FAQ
Assigned To Your name if you're working on it
Answer Your complete answer to the question
Answered By Your name
Date Answered Fills automatically when you change Status to Answered
Notes Internal notes (not sent to submitter)
Promoted to FAQ Check if you've added this to the public FAQ

Managing Users

View All Users

Go to Admin → Users to see everyone who has logged in.

Change a User's Role

  1. Find the user by name or email
  2. Click their name
  3. Change Role from the dropdown:
    • Viewer: Can only read content (default for all staff)
    • Editor: Can create and edit articles, FAQ, documents
    • Admin: Full access including user management
  4. Click Save

Security Note: Only give Editor and Admin roles to people who need them. All other staff should remain as Viewer.

Analytics

Go to Admin → Analytics to see:

  • Top Searches: What staff search for most — if you see searches with no results, add content on that topic
  • Most Viewed Articles: Your most valuable content
  • Most Downloaded Documents: Most-needed files
  • Question Volume: How many Q&A submissions per week/month
  • Response Time: Average time from submission to answer (Quality Dept KPI)
  • FAQ Helpfulness: Staff ratings on FAQ entries (thumbs up/down)

Monthly Report Checklist

At the start of each month, check:

  • ☐ Zero-result searches from last month → add missing content
  • ☐ Questions submitted last month → any that should become FAQ?
  • ☐ Average response time → is Quality Dept meeting service level?
  • ☐ Most viewed articles → are they up to date?

Emergency Contacts

Issue Contact
Can't log in IT Help Desk
Website is down IT + Developer
Google Drive sync broken IT (check Google Service Account)
Email alerts not working IT (check Google Apps Script)
Content question Quality Department Lead

For content writing guidelines, see the Content Manager Guide.
For technical documentation, see the Tech Specs.