Table of Contents
Marking Articles as Stale
If an article needs to be updated, marking it as Stale can keep your product & articles in sync and visitors happy. 😄
Whether you're an engineer marking outdated articles based on a product update or part of the customer support team reminding yourself to update some information, marking an article as Stale can keep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.
Marking as Stale Right Away
When you know an article is outdated right now, mark it as Stale immediately:
- Head to the outdated article
- In the article editor click the
Stalebutton - Select
Nowfrom the pre-defined list - Optionally set a reason by writing your own or selecting a pre-defined reason
- Click the
Set stale nowbutton - Your article is now marked as stale for your whole team to see
Why set a reason? 🤔
Adding a reason helps your team understand exactly what needs updating. Without this, your team may not know what to update when the time comes.
To make this process easier, we've provided a list of common pre-defined reasons. Just click on one and it'll fill it in for you ✨
Scheduling Stale for a Future Date
Sometimes you know an article will become outdated at a specific time, like when a feature launches or gets deprecated. Scheduling Stale lets you plan ahead.
Setting Up Future Stale Dates
- Head to the article
- In the article editor click the
Stalebutton - Select one of the time options or choose a date on the calendar
- Click Schedule stale in x amount of time
- Your article will automatically be marked as Stale at that time
When to schedule a Stale status 🕰️
- You know a feature will be deprecated on a specific date
- Product updates are planned that will affect the content
- You want periodic reviews of older content (set 6 months out)
- Beta features are becoming generally available
When to set Stale immediately ⚠️
- Content is already outdated or incorrect
- Screenshots no longer match the current UI
- Features mentioned have been removed or changed
- Links are broken or pointing to wrong places
Managing Scheduled Stale
Once you've scheduled an article to go Stale, you'll see the countdown timer in the editor. You can:
- Cancel the scheduled Stale anytime before it triggers
- Change the date by setting up a new schedule (this replaces the old one)
- Add or update the reason while it's still scheduled
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
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
Examples of Good vs Poor Reasons
Good Reasons (Specific & Actionable) | Poor Reasons (Vague & Unhelpful) |
"Screenshots show old dashboard. UI changed in v2.1 release" | "Needs update" (what kind of update?) |
"API endpoint changed from /users to /accounts, update code examples" | "Old content" (how old, what's changed?) |
"Feature removed in March 2025 update. Article needs complete rewrite" | "Check this" (check for what specifically?) |
"Pricing changed, update all cost references and comparison table" | "Outdated" (what makes it outdated?) |
Standard Reason Categories
Consider using these categories to keep reasons consistent across your team:
- UI Change: Interface updates, new designs, moved buttons
- Feature Removal: Deprecated or removed functionality
- Missing Content: New features or options not yet documented
- Broken Links: URLs that no longer work or point to wrong pages
- Process Change: Updated workflows, new steps, changed procedures
- Accuracy: Incorrect information, wrong data, outdated policies
What did you think of this doc?
Marking an Article as Fresh
Overview of Stale
