Marking Articles as Stale

Whether you're an engineer marking outdated articles based on a product update or part of the customer support team reminding yourself to update some information, marking an article as Stale can keep your product & articles in sync and visitors up to date.

Marking an Article as Stale

You can mark articles as stale immediately or schedule them to go stale in the future. Here's how:

1

Head to an article, then click the Stale button

If you're on a smaller screen, click the Article details icon first, then choose Stale Status from the menu

2

Select Now or Schedule a date in the future

You can choose from a pre-defined amount of time, or choose any date in the future (we recommend this century, though 👽).

3

Write a Stale reason

This helps anyone (including yourself) remember why it was marked Stale in the first place.

Choose one of the pre-defined common reasons to save yourself some time.

4

Click Set stale now / Click Set stale in x

This will add the Stale status on your article

5

Click Save to apply Stale status

Your Stale status won't apply until you hit Save on the article editor.

What Happens After the Scheduled Date

When the scheduled date arrives:

• The article automatically becomes Stale
• Team members get notified in their weekly Stale email if they have them enabled
• The article & content views show the Stale indicators

Best Practices for Stale

Stale works best when everyone uses it the same way. A little consistency goes a long way, especially as your Knowledge Base grows.

Write Reasons That Help

When multiple team members work on your Knowledge Base, specific reasons help everyone understand:

• What exactly is outdated or incorrect
• How urgent the update is
• What type of changes are needed
• Who might be best qualified to make the updates

Future you will be grateful. So will your teammates.

Examples of Good vs Poor Reasons