Every article in your Customer Portal has a status that controls whether customers can see it and whether your AI agent can use it. Understanding the three statuses helps you manage your content confidently.
Draft
A draft article is a work in progress. It is:
- Not listed on your portal. It doesn't appear on the home page, in categories or in search.
- Used by the AI agent unless you switch it off. See "Articles and the AI agent" below.
- Open to your team under Help articles, on the Draft tab.
Use draft status when you're writing a new article, making significant edits to an existing one, or waiting for review before publishing.
Published
A published article is live and visible to everyone. It is:
- Visible to customers on your portal, in search results, and in category listings.
- Used by the AI agent to answer customer questions.
Publish an article when it's complete, accurate, and ready for customers.
Archived
An archived article is hidden from customers but kept in your portal for reference. It is:
- Not listed on your portal.
- Never used by the AI agent.
- Still accessible to your team for viewing or restoring.
Archive articles when the content is outdated or no longer relevant, but you want to keep a record of it rather than deleting it.
Changing an article's status
- Go to Help articles and open the article.
- Under Status, select Draft, Published or Archived.
- Click Save.
You can also change it from the article list. Open the menu on the article's row and choose Set to draft, Set to published or Set to archived.
Articles and the AI agent
The AI agent uses every draft and published article unless you switch it off. Archived articles are never used.
To keep one article away from the AI agent, go to AI agent → Knowledge, open the Help articles tab and switch off Active on its row. The article editor has no switch for this.