Readers page overview

A reader is anyone who can view your knowledge base. You can have unlimited readers for your knowledge bases. You can also create Reader Groups to segment readers and show different content to different readers.

To view a complete list of all your readers, go to Account > Readers (or Security and access > Readers). The Readers page opens to the Readers tab.

The Readers page has three tabs:

1. Use the Readers tab to view a list of all your readers. Here you can create new readers, view and edit existing readers, search readers, export a list of readers to CSV, and purge deleted readers. Refer to the more detailed sections below for more information on using the Readers tab.
2. Use the Groups tab to view a list of all your reader groups. Here you can create, edit, delete, and reorder your reader groups. You can also set any Auto-assign groups by email rules you'd like to use for those groups if you aren't using Single Sign-On (SSO). Refer to Reader Groups for more information on using the Groups tab.
3. Use the Settings tab to view and edit account-wide settings for readers. Here you can set password complexity and management, set up self-administered reader options like sign-up and approval, customize the reader email templates (including welcome and password reset), and configure custom SMTP to send those emails. Refer to Reader emails, Reader security, passwords, and login options, and Reader signups for more information on using the Settings tab.

The Readers tab

Below, we walk through an orientation of the page and all you can do here, splitting the page into three sections:

• General reader controls at the top of the page
• Reader action controls between the general controls and the reader list
• Reader list controls

General reader controls

Most of the controls near the top of the page are general reader controls that change which readers are displayed (filters and searches) or that you can use to create new readers singly or in bulk:

The general reader controls detailed below

1. Use the filter dropdown to select different Standard or Custom reader filters, which will update the readers list and the CSV export below. The app will remember the last filter you viewed. The Standard filters are:
   • Active (the initial default): Shows all non-deleted readers in your account, regardless of login method
   • Pending Approval: Shows readers who have signed up for access to your knowledge base but haven't been approved. This filter is only relevant for accounts using reader signups requiring approval. Refer to Approve new reader signups for information on approving readers.
   • SSO Readers: Shows all readers who are designated as logging in through a Single Sign-On (SSO) integration.
   • Non-SSO Readers: Shows all readers not designated as using a KnowledgeOwl-maintained reader account, rather than through an SSO integration. Passwords and group membership for these readers are managed fully within KnowledgeOwl.
   • Deleted: Shows all the deleted readers in your account. Purge deleted reader accounts to clean up this filter.
2. Use Create new filter to create new custom filters.
3. Use Import Readers from Spreadsheet to import a spreadsheet to create multiple new reader accounts at once.
4. Use Add Single Reader to create a reader.
5. Search within the selected filter, which will further refine the list of readers to match your search term. You can search for:
   1. A full email address, for example linus@knowledgeowl.com.
   2. The reader's First Name (Linus), Last Name (Owl) or full Name (Linus Owl).
   3. The email domain, for example: knowledgeowl.com or @knowledgeowl.com.
   4. The email start, for example: linus.
   5. The Readers Search doesn't support partial searches, like lin.
6. Use Export Readers to CSV to export the current displayed list of readers to a CSV file. This can be useful for auditing who has access to which knowledge bases, and so forth.

Reader action controls

The reader action controls are links that become active once you check the box next to one or more readers from the reader list. Use these controls to perform actions on the selected reader accounts:

The reader action controls detailed below

1. Select Edit to open the reader details for a single reader only. This option is unavailable if you've selected multiple readers.
2. Select Bulk Edit to change the selected readers' status, reader groups, and/or site access. Refer to Edit readers in bulk for more detailed instructions on using this option.
3. Approve readers whose access is pending or denied. Previously pending readers will receive a reader welcome email once approved. Refer to Approve or deny multiple readers for more detailed instructions on using this option.
4. Deny readers whose access is pending or approved. This cuts off their access to all knowledge bases in their Site Access. Refer to Approve or deny multiple readers for more detailed instructions on using this option.
5. Delete readers whose accounts shouldn't exist. This cuts off their access to all knowledge bases in their Site Access and moves them to the Deleted reader filter. To permanently and fully remove their details from your account, follow the instructions to Purge deleted readers.

Reader list controls

The reader list displayed below all the controls is the real powerhouse of this page. Here you can view and sort the list, control how many readers display per page, and navigate between pages:

The reader list controls explained below

1. The Login column displays the reader's username/email. Select the column header to sort alphabetically, select again to toggle between ascending and descending order.
2. The Name column displays the reader's full name, formatted as: Last Name, First Name. Select the column header to sort alphabetically, select again to toggle between ascending and descending order.
3. The Site Access column displays the knowledge bases the reader can access.
4. The Groups column displays the reader groups assigned to the reader.
5. The Last Activity column shows the last time the reader was active in your knowledge base. Select the column header to sort by date, select again to toggle between ascending and descending order.
6. Use the Readers per page controls to toggle between 20, 50, or 100 readers displayed per page.
7. If your readers list runs onto multiple pages, use the More and Back buttons to cycle between the pages.