Description
About
This is a lightweight plugin to create a knowledge base.
Add shortcode [knowledgebase] on a page or use the widget to display your categories and posts.
You can personalize your knowledge base by adding attributes to the shortcode or the widget.
This plugin can also be used to create a FAQ or wiki.
You can also display categories and posts from a custom post type (such as WooCommerce product categories and products).
How to use
After installation create a page and add shortcode [knowledgebase] to display your categories and posts.
Or go to Appearance > Widgets and use the widget to display your categories and posts.
Default settings categories:
- 4 columns when using shortode
- 1 column when using widget
- Order by name
- Ascending order (A-Z)
- Empty categories are hidden
- Parent and subcategories are displayed separately
Default settings posts:
- Order by date
- Descending order (new to old)
- All posts are displayed
Shortcode attributes
You can add attributes to the shortcode mentioned above.
- Add custom CSS class to knowledge base:
class="your-class-here" - Change number of columns:
columns="3" - Include certain categories:
include="1,3,5" - Exclude certain categories:
exclude="8,10,12" - Display empty categories too:
hide_empty="0" - Display category description:
description="true" - Change number of posts per category:
posts_per_page="5" - Display posts in ascending order:
order="ASC" - Display posts by title:
orderby="title" - Display posts in random order:
orderby="rand" - Display post counter: count=”true”
- Display post meta (date and author):
meta="true" - Display View All link:
all_link="true" - Change label of View All link:
all_link_label="your label here" - Change label of post without title:
no_title_label="your label here"
About the columns attribute: you can choose between 1-4 columns. In mobile screens 2 columns (except the 1 column knowledge base).
You can disable the columns with columns="0". This can be useful for your own styling.
Examples:
- One attribute:
[knowledgebase posts_per_page="5"] - Multiple attributes:
[knowledgebase include="1,3,5" hide_empty="0" meta="true"]
Widget attributes
The widget supports the same attributes. Don’t add the main shortcode tag or the brackets.
About the columns attribute: this attribute is being ignored because you can set this in the widget.
Examples:
- One attribute:
posts_per_page="5" - Multiple attributes:
include="1,3,5" hide_empty="0" meta="true"
Post tags
Besides displaying posts by category you can also display posts by tag: taxonomy="post_tag"
Custom post types
You can also display categories and posts from a custom post type (such as WooCommerce product categories and products).
To display these categories and posts you should add 2 shortcode attributes: “taxonomy” and “post_type”
WooCommerce:
- Product categories and products:
taxonomy="product_cat" post_type="product" - Include product category image:
taxonomy="product_cat" post_type="product" woo_image="true" - Display by tag instead of category:
taxonomy="product_tag" post_type="product"
Question?
Please take a look at the FAQ section.
Translation
Not included but plugin supports WordPress language packs.
More translations are very welcome!
The translation folder inside this plugin is redundant but kept for reference.
Credits
Without the WordPress codex and help from the WordPress community I was not able to develop this plugin, so: thank you!
Enjoy!
Screenshots
Knowledge Base (GeneratePress theme) 
Knowledge Base (dashboard) 
Knowledge Base WooCommerce products (GeneratePress theme) 
Knowledge Base widget (dashboard)
FAQ
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Where is the settings page?
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Plugin has no settings page, use the shortcode with attributes or the widget with attributes to make it work.
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Does this plugin have its own knowledge base post type?
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No, it’s build to create a knowledge base by using the default categories and posts.
You can also display categories and posts from a custom post type (such as WooCommerce product categories and products).
-
How can I change the layout or colors?
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You can use an attribute to change the number of columns or to disable the columns. But you should use custom CSS for making other changes.
If you disable the columns CSS class “vskb-custom” is added to the knowledge base. This can be useful for your own styling.
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Where to find the category ID?
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Every category URL contains an unique ID. You will find this ID when hovering the category title in your dashboard or when editing the category.
It’s the number that comes after:
tag_ID= -
Where to find the tag ID?
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Every tag URL contains an unique ID. You will find this ID when hovering the tag title in your dashboard or when editing the tag.
It’s the number that comes after:
tag_ID= -
Is it possible to display a subcategory underneath its parent?
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No, this is not possible. Parent and subcategories are displayed separately.
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Is a post without a title also displayed?
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Yes, it will be displayed in the frontend of your website with a default label. You can change this label by using an attribute.
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Does this plugin have its own block?
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No, plugin doesn’t have its own block in the editor and there are no plans to add this anytime soon.
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No Semantic versioning?
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Version number doesn’t give you info about the type of update (major, minor, patch). You should check changelog for that.
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How can I make a donation?
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You like my plugin and you’re willing to make a donation? Thanks, I really appreciate that! There’s a PayPal donate link at my website.
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Other question or comment?
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Please open a topic in plugin forum.
Reviews
Contributors & Developers
“VS Knowledge Base” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
“VS Knowledge Base” has been translated into 6 locales. Thank you to the translators for their contributions.
Translate “VS Knowledge Base” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
Version 6.9
- Bumped the “requires PHP” version to 7.0
- Bumped the “requires at least” version to 5.0
Version 6.8
- New: disable columns in widget
- This can be useful for your own styling
- Was already possible when using the shortcode
- Minor changes in code
Version 6.7
- Minor changes in code
Version 6.6
- Minor changes in code
Version 6.5
- Removed function load_plugin_textdomain() because redundant
- Plugin uses the WP language packs for its translation
- Kept translation folder for reference
- Because of this change plugin now requires at least WP 4.6
Version 6.4
- Plugin has a new name
- But plugin itself and ownership did not change
Version 6.3
- Changed get_categories() into get_terms()
- Because of this change plugin now requires at least WP 4.5
- Minor changes in code
Version 6.2
- Fix: custom CSS class
Version 6.1
- Better validating, sanitizing and escaping
Version 6.0
- New: attribute to disable the CSS of the columns
- This can be useful when using your own styling
- Re-added attribute for adding custom CSS class to the knowledge base
For all versions please check file changelog.