Explanation
Reuse words from the article's short description, error messages, etc.
The "Meta" field is weighted high in the search calculations. Therefore, it's important to put the critical words in the "Meta" field even if they are already in the short description or in the body. If your article is about Outlook, for example, the word "Outlook" should definitely be in the "Meta" field. Also use words from error messages when possible.
Ideas for words to use
Unified Communications and Skype for Business
Required
Microsoft Skype for Business SfB Texas Tech University TTU Unified Communications UC
Optional, depending on the type of article
telephone phone number DID EV enterprise voice mail voicemail VM service video call IM instant message response group RG VoIP IVR auto automatic automated attendant dept department departmental directory menu recording greeting dial
askIT and knowledge base
KBase K-Base KB knowledgebase knowledge base askIT ask IT Help Central HelpCentral ITHC Desk Helpdesk Service Now ServiceNow
Overview
basic overview general info information about
Troubleshooting guides, especially intricate procedural guides
NOTE: Do not overuse the keyword "tguide". See the "tguide" section below. It should not be used on every troubleshooting article that we create. Ideally, there would be one of these troubleshooting guides for each major service only.
tguide trouble shoot troubleshoot guide
How to get assistance with a particular service
how to get request help assistance procedure process who where call contact
Microsoft 365
Required
TTU Texas Tech University Microsoft365 Microsoft Office 365 Office365 O365 M365
Optional, depending on the type of article
Office.com One Drive OneDrive for Business cloud storage file document ttu.edu web app webapp site website suite service online
TechMail
Required
ttu.edu TTU Texas Tech University TechMail mail email Microsoft365 Microsoft Office 365 Office365 O365 M365
Optional, depending on the type of article
Exchange Online server ActiveSync EAS EWS service Outlook.com Outlook web app webapp OWA webmail
Wireless network
Required
Wi-Fi WiFi wireless network Internet
Optional, depending on the type of article
TTU Texas Tech University campus TTUnet net TTUguest guest visitor eduroam edu roam connect Res Halls ResHall residence hall dorm
Software installation
install set up setup program software application app
Web applications
webapp web app application website site page webpage
iOS
Apple iOS 17 16 iOS17 iOS16 iPhone 15 Pro Max Plus 14 13 SE
iPadOS
Apple tablet iPad OS mini Air Pro iPadOS 17 16
macOS
Apple Macintosh Mac OS macOS Sonoma Ventura Monterey 14 14.x 14.0 13 13.x 13.0 12 12.x 12.0 MacBook Air iMac Pro mini Studio
Windows 11
Microsoft Windows 11 Windows11 Win11
Windows 10
Microsoft Windows 10 Windows10 Win10
Android
Android 14 14.x 14.0 13 13.x 13.0 12 12.x 12.0 11 11.x 11.0 Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Google Pixel 8 Pro 7
Health Sciences Center
TTU HSC TTUHSC Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Nursing school SON Medicine medical SOM Pharmacy SOP Professions
IT Help Central
IT Help Central ITHC HelpCentral Helpdesk Service Desk
KACE
Quest KACE KASE CASE
Anticipate what your audience might search for
Put yourself in place of the audience
Ideally, our goal should be a knowledge base that requires the least amount of training possible for average users to benefit from it. The searching should be intuitive to users so that there is a small learning curve on knowing what words to use in a search. Anticipate the actions of your audience (those searching for your article) by putting words which might be used in their searches.
Add the name of the system, application, operating system, and version.
If your article is written for customers, think about the end user being them and not just our support agents. You can do this by thinking about what types of problems might your audience encounter. What problems would they contact us about? What problems would your audience encounter that would result in them searching for the article that you are drafting? Use the keywords that the audience in that situation would use when they search.
Add misspellings and slang words
Anticipate common misspellings and other mistakes of your audience (for example, for Rogue DHCP articles, type "rogue" and "rouge" as keywords). Don't go too far with this, however. Only use common misspellings.
Add slang keywords. For example, if your article is about creating an interaction in ServiceNow, add the slang terminology "ticket" and "issue" to the "Meta" field even though it may not be proper terminology to use in the main article content like the short description field.
Remember: just because you know how to correctly spell a word doesn't mean your audience does. Look for instances where words might be separated or combined in a search, whether mistakenly or because of ambiguity. This is commonly the case with compound words and portmanteaus. For instance, articles created regarding the TechShare service should include "Tech", "Share", and "TechShare" as keywords because some people may search for "TechShare" while others might mistakenly type "Tech Share".
Non-dictionary keywords
The following are officially approved keywords for use in askIT that are not dictionary words. These words are approved for use on certain articles to make finding content in askIT easier.
| Word | Notes |
|---|---|
| KBguide | Provides authors of knowledge articles with best practices guides. |
| tguide | Provides support agents a troubleshooting guide and documentation on what information to gather from the customer for particular types of issues. See "tguide" section below. |
| NSCguide | Used for our guide for NSCs. |
| ITvid | Articles containing embedded videos created by the TTU IT Division. |
| 3pvid | Articles containing embedded videos created by a third party (non-IT Division, such as Microsoft or Apple). |
| ms-settings | For any Windows article that use these blue ms-settings hyperlink button. |
tguide
In order to help Service Desk agents troubleshoot various issues, special guides are created in askIT with a keyword "tguide" (short for "troubleshooting guide"). See the knowledge base documentation regarding templates for guidance on which template to use and how to frame these types of articles.
A tguide may contain a list of information for the agent to gather, either because it will help them in the troubleshooting process or because it is needed for agents at a higher level. When the information is listed, the following text should appear above the list, and items should be placed in italics and green font (#2dc26b) if a corresponding question does not exist for the item in FootPrints.
Based upon the type of issue, please answer the issue-specific questions in FootPrints and gather the following information to assist in handling the issue. Gathering this information may help you determine how to fix the problem or it may be necessary if the issue needs to be assigned to another team. Do not simply collect this information and assign the issue without troubleshooting to resolve the issue.
TIP: Items for which a specific field does not exist in FootPrints are designated in italics and green font.