The Import & Export function allows you Export active content available to your group as HTML and XML. You may also import XML content into your KB. This document will show you how to do this.
To access this tool, log into the KB Admin Tools, then go to the Documents Tab > Import & Export page.
The HTML Export tool is useful in creating an offline backup of important KB content. This allows you to store your content as a static file that would remain accessible in the event of a network outage or service interruption. This is particularly important if you use your KB to store critical procedures that you might use in the event of an emergency, or that you might otherwise rely on for key aspects of your work.
Because your KB content is updated regularly, you may wish to schedule a reminder to export a fresh backup on a regular basis. For instructions on setting up this notification, please see: KB User's Guide - SitePref Tab - Notification Settings
Make your Site selection - From this dropdown menu, you may select the site from which you want to export active content available to your group as a *.html file. The following are the options available to you from this dropdown menu:
Specify Document ID numbers - You may enter a list of comma delimited document ID numbers to include and/or exclude when exporting.
If you plan to export a large amount of content (>100 documents), it is recommended that you split this up into multiple exports, for example, one export per topic area. If you attempt to export too much content at once, the resulting HTML file may be too large for your browser to process after opening.
Export Index button - Click this to download an HTML file that contains an index of links for active document titles. These links will point to the documents contained within your Content export file.
You will get a pop up message from your browser asking what you would like to do with the downloaded file, named "kb_index.html".
Opening the file will open it in a new tab in your default browser. In the image below, two documents IDs were placed in the Include documents with these IDs ONLY field for export. Note how each document title in the index file is a hyperlink to its section in the content file (not yet exported).
Export Content as HTML button - Click this to download an HTML file that contains text-only document content.
Note: LinkDocs and IncludeDocs will show up as document ID numbers only. If you are using IncludeDocs to supply important content, be sure to export the documents themselves. Images will also appear to be broken.
You will get another pop up message from your browser, this time for a file named "kb_content.html".
Opening the file will open it in a new tab in your default browser. In the image below, the same two documents IDs were placed in the Include documents with these IDs ONLY field for export. You will see part of the first document content. As noted above, the image in this document does not load.
You may also export active content available to your KB group as an *.xml file.
In the image below, we see the Export file structure of the downloaded *.xml file. Once you enter your specifications for export, a text-only file for active content can be downloaded to create new KB documents.
Follow the format as prescribed in the window below when creating your *.xml file. Please be mindful that the asterisks indicate required fields. If you do not have data for the required fields, just enter a space in that field as a placeholder.
...a note about img_base_url
The
img_base_url
is made up of the base URL and a relative path.
- The base URL is the host name with no ending slash
- The relative path leads to an image file.
You will need to prepend the relative path with the base url which will make up a valid URL that points to the image file you would like to import.
Example: a base URL of https://kb.wisc.edu and a relative path of /images/group41/5249/bucky_badger_relative_path.jpg leads to the VALID url of https://kb.wisc.edu/images/group41/5249/bucky_badger_relative_path.jpg
Click on the Import Content from XML button at the bottom of the screen.
Find the XML document you created as per the prescribed format and click on the Choose File button and then the Continue button.
The documents created from your import will be set to the status of "In Progress". The person who performed the import will be the owner of the document.
Here are some examples how other KB groups have used the Import & Export feature:
Import
Export