InstantKB.NET v1.3

asp:review

InstantKB.NET v1.3

Leverage ASP.NET in your Next Knowledge Base System

By Anand Narayanaswamy

Development of a perfect knowledge base system is crucialfor the success of any business that provides services for the community particularly in the area of customer support. But, as the process is verytedious, it can take several months for the development of a perfect knowledgebase system. This is where the importance of products developed by popularvendors comes into play. Although there are several free knowledge baseapplications available on the Web (in both ASP and ASP.NET), each one of themlacks important features and often contain banner advertisements. I was recentlyon the lookout for a knowledge base application for my hosting business (for customersupport); I ended up with InstantKB.NET. The product is not free, but I mustsay that the application is worth the amount I invested.

Getting Started

InstantKB.NET (http://www.instantasp.co.uk/products/instantkb/)is very easy to install and deploy on the server. It is an ASP.NET-basedapplication with tons of cool features. After payment authorization iscompleted the vendor will create a MyInstantKB.NET account for you (http://my.instantasp.co.uk/Default.aspx?ReturnURL=/MyProfile.aspx).You can download the product from the secured location. You can also requestadditional licenses and create support tickets from your secured area. Thedownload file is available in two formats, MSI and ZIP. You ll need to placethe extracted ZIP file inside the wwwroot folder. The product ships with therequired database scripts. You should execute the two important script filesbefore attempting to access the knowledge base system. The first SQL scriptwill create the required tables and stored procedures. The second createsdefault content for your knowledge base. You won t be able to log in to the adminarea if you don t run this script. Although I encountered this problem, it waspromptly resolved by the vendor.

Once you set up the database, the rest of the work is veryeasy. You can run the application by using the URLhttp://localhost/InstantKB13/. You should give the real URL if you are testingit on the Web. Moreover, you should also create databases either by using QueryAnalyzer or by using the Web-based tool provided by your hosting provider. Thevendor responded to all my support queries immediately.

Initially, the knowledge base will contain the defaultcontent from the database. You can then log in as an admin and modify thesettings according to your preferences. You can easily create roles, categories,and articles from the admin area. You can also modify your password and e-mailaddresses. It is indeed very easy to work with this product once you understoodthe basics behind how it works. Before the creation of an article, you shouldcreate the required categories and assign an ID for each one. An interestingfeature of InstantKB.NET is that you can assign icons to the category nodes.There are several icons available inside your admin area, and you can make useof any one of them according to your requirement.

From my point of view, the vendor should add more iconsfor various business purposes. There should be a feature, available inside theadmin area, to upload your own images for the category nodes. I hope the vendorwill consider this while developing the next version of the product. The productcomes with a read-me file and also the required documentation regarding theclasses. You can access a comprehensive step-by-step Getting Started tutorialfrom the MyInstantKB.NET area. After you create all the categories, the nextstep is to add articles into the system. You must assign a category for eacharticle and it will appear under that category head on the left side. Aninteresting point to note regarding InstantKB.NET is that it comes with a richtext box editor with cool features. You can also add attachments such as sourcecodes in ZIP format after saving the article. You can modify any data at anytime by logging into your admin area.

InstantKB.NET comes with powerful search functionality.Some of the other notable features include the provision for adding unlimitedarticles, Role-based security, Ask a Question, and much more. Another notablefeature of the product is that you can add links to articles. These can beeither external links or links within the knowledge base. The application canbe easily customized depending upon your requirements. You can modify headersand footers by adding your own content and images. These are made up of .NETuser control files (.ascx) that you need to modify only once. Any modificationsto these files will be reflected across the whole system. I noticed that thearticle content gets erased after I add a related article link. I hope thevendor will look into this matter and issue a hot fix to resolve the problem.

Diving In

Let s now see how to work with this product. You mustfirst log in to the admin area to add categories. You must use the defaultusername and password initially, but you can modify the credentials from theadmin control panel. Your initial screen after logging in will look like Figure1.

Figure 1: Your initial view after loggingin.

Select the Add New Category link to add a new category;provide the required information. You should provide a sort order for yourcategory; this determines the placement of the category. You should also assignthe appropriate role for the category. You can supply an icon for the categoryby checking the relevant check box. The Manage Categories link will enable youto modify an existing category. After you have added a new category for yourknowledge base, the next step is to add an article; click the Create NewArticle link (you ll see a screen as shown in Figure 2).

Figure 2: Create a new article.

The application ships with a cool and robust text editorfor formatting articles. I found that adding images will take some time as thesystem performs additional tasks, such as uploading, etc. You should alsoassign a type for the article from the list of choices provided. The vendorshould provide a facility to add our own type, but the built-in types are sufficientfor general use. An important point to note is that you should assign anappropriate category for the article. Your article will appear inside thatcategory. You can also provide relevant external links and assign the desiredskill level. If you decide to publish the article straight away you must changethe Article Status option to Publish To Web. There is also a facility to addthe name and e-mail address of the author who suggested the article. I leftthis option blank as I am the author of all the articles.

The Manage Articles link will let you edit the publishedarticles. An interesting fact is that you can search for a specific article andthen step forward to edit the article. This will surely help a site where thereare hundreds of published articles.

Let s examine the product from the perspective of endusers. Two sections, titled Most Popular Articles and Latest Additions, are shownin Figure 3.

Figure 3: Most Popular Articles andLatest Additions.

Select a category node to view a list of articles underthat particular category. Users can rate an article, as well as add commentsfor each published article. One of the important points to note is that userscan ask questions of the administrator. However, this feature will be availableonly if the administrator has enabled it on the system.

The product comes with different types of licenses, suchas user, developer, single-domain, and unlimited domain (visit http://www.instantasp.co.uk/Products/InstantKB/Order.aspxfor more detailed information regarding pricing).

Conclusion

I didn t experience any difficulties working with theproduct. I also deployed the product to the Web server and the whole processwent smoothly. I did, however, face some critical issues during the beginningstages but I got all the required clarifications from the vendor without anydelay. However, I found that the loading of the site is initially a littleslow. Once it loads completely the rest of the link will work fast. I suggestthe vendor look into this area more carefully when releasing the next editionof the product.

For my money, InstantKB.NET is one of the bestapplications for setting up a complete knowledge base system. The product ispacked with rich features and leverages the full potential of Microsoft s .NETFramework.

Microsoft MVP AnandNarayanaswamy works as an independent consultant and runs NetAnsTechnologies (http://www.netans.com), whichprovides affordable Web hosting services. Anand also runs LearnXpress.com (http://www.learnXpress.com),Dotnetalbum.com (http://www.dotnetalbum.com),and http://Csharpfaq.com, and regularlycontributes articles and product and book reviews to various Web sites. He canbe reached at mailto:[email protected]

Rating:

Web Site: http://www.instantasp.co.uk/products/instantkb/

Price: End UserLicense, US$119; Developer License, US$299