The major features added to the version 1.2 release of the Bamboo Knowledge Base Solution Accelerator are:
- Show a Tag Cloud Web Part on the KB Client Site
- Submit article ratings using a 5-star interactive graphic rating system
- Configure a unique icon image for each article category shown in the tree view
Along with some performance enhancements of the tree view itself to make switching between categories faster, these new features are targeted for the Knowledge Base end user trying to find the most relevant information when they need it most.
The Tag Cloud Web Part is configured to point to the Bamboo KB Articles List in the KB Admin site so that it can pick up the tag terms associated with each article. It also points to a new list that calculates the number of times the article has been viewed, which allows the Bamboo KB Tag Cloud Web Part to show the most popular tags.
This is the Tag Cloud as it is displayed in the KB Client site (Meeting Workspace template)
This is the tool pane of the KB Tag Cloud Web Part. You can see that you have the option to allow users to choose from a drop-down list to filter the tag cloud down by first letter of the tag term, format the look of the tag terms in the cloud, and limit the number of tag terms to display. Once you've clicked on a tag term, a list of the related articles are displayed below the cloud. You can configure the number of related articles shown.
The new 5-star graphic rating system allows end users to rate an article by selecting 1-5 stars. The average rating of the article is displayed in the right side bar on the article page. The old rating system allowed you to select numbers from 1-5. You can choose between this numbering rating system or the 5-star rating system when configuring the Bamboo KB Display Article Web Part in the KB Client site. The 5-star rating system is displayed next to the article content as shown below.
And at the bottom of the article is a section for the user to rate the article as well as provide a comment.
And last but not least is the ability to show unique icons for each category and sub category in the Tree View displayed (as an option) on the home page of the KB Admin and Client sites. In the Bamboo KB Categories List on the KB Admin site, you can enter in the URL to the category icon you want to use. The icon should be stored in a Picture Library on the same site or in the /_layouts/images folder on your SP server. Your category icons could look like this.
These features go a long way to helping you deliver a professional, useful and efficient Knowledge Base system to your clients and/or employees. To learn more about this product's features, see the SharePoint Knowledge Base Solution Accelerator product page on our web site.
Posted
Mar 13 2009, 04:00 PM
by
Dani P
My name is Dani Pfettscher (that's pronounced 'fetcher'). I am part of the Product Management team here at Bamboo Solutions. Currently, I own the task of creating and maintaining the documentation (a.k.a. Application Notes) for all of our products as well as managing the content for our storefront product pages. As someone who documents our products, I end up knowing pretty much how every one of them works. So when you see a blog from me, it will be all about how to use our products, why you'd want to use our products, or when not to use our products. So if you want to learn more about specific Bamboo products, please let me know and I will blog about it ASAP.