Convert a Word document to an article page

Use this import option if you'd like to import the contents of a Microsoft Word document into a new article in KnowledgeOwl.

How the Word import works

For this import option, the importer will copy the content from the Word document and strip out a lot of the proprietary Word formatting to convert it to streamlined HTML that will work with your knowledge base's default styles. (If you've copied and pasted Word into the article editor before, the Word importer basically does the same thing as the Clean formatting option.)

It then inserts this cleaned content into a brand new article.

How to convert a single Word document to an article

Follow these steps to convert a single Word document into a new article:

1. In KnowledgeOwl, go to Pages.
2. Use the Top-Level Content and secondary content panes to navigate to the category or subcategory where you want to import your Word document(s).
3. Select + Add > Import. The Import file modal opens.
4. Add your Word file by dragging and dropping it into the modal or select Browse files to navigate your computer and select the file for upload. The modal updates to display the name of the file you selected.
5. Select Continue. Our file importer process your file, then the modal updates to What would you like to do?
6. Choose the Convert to an article page option. Then select Continue.
7. Choose the Category you'd like your article created within. This defaults to the category you were in when you began + Add. Select the X next to that category name if it's the wrong place. If you didn't select a category to begin or you've removed the category, start typing the name of the category. Use the autosuggest to select the correct category.
8. Review the Page title. This is the article's title and will be displayed in the table of contents, at the top of the page as the Heading 1, and anywhere else the article is referenced. The modal should automatically grab the file's name, but you may want to edit this.
9. Review and update the Summary. The summary is displayed on category landing pages and may be used in search results. It's indexed for search. Refer to Summary for more information on working with this field.
10. Optional: Select Advanced options if you'd like to set:
    1. The article's Publishing status: The importer defaults to using the Draft status. Use the dropdown here to select the status you'd prefer.
    2. Add a tag name to the article: Some folks like to add tags as they create articles this way to indicate that they were converted from Word, or to use the date of the import or other identifying details. Refer to Tags feature overview for more information on working with tags.
11. Select Create article.

The Converting your files modal opens. You can choose to wait while Owl Intelligence runs or to Close and keep working.

If you leave the modal open, it updates once the conversion is complete, saying:

Your drafts are ready
Your files have finished converting. Find them in the file import tray in the left nav.

From any page in KnowledgeOwl, hover over the 1 draft ready link in the bottom of the left nav:

The file import tray in the left navA menu appears to the right of this with the imported article's title. Select the article's title to open it in the article editor for editing.

The author who completed this import is listed as the author for the article.

Articles created this way will automatically have an Author note to identify the name of the Word document they were converted from, for example:

Sample author note in an article created by converting a Word document

Next steps

Review the article's content to be sure it looks good after the import. Some formats don't import as well as others.

Adjust the author, any other metadata, and publishing status just as you would any other article.

Limitations

The Word importer cannot import same-page anchors, so if your document has a table of contents or some other jump links to navigate up or down the page to a specific section, those won't import.