Project Description

Case Study: Corporate Knowledge Base Application using Drupal

Our client is a multinational software company providing clinical trial products and services to the biotech and pharmaceutical markets.  Their software is used by biostatisticians and clinicians at major pharmaceutical companies to improve drug trials.  Our client was seeking a knowledge management solution to provide product- and training-related information to customers which would be written by their internal documentation teams.

Outright Development created a knowledge management application called the “Knowledge Base”, it was constructed using the Drupal Content Management System (CMS).  This application allows the client’s documentation team to effortlessly publish various types of content such as training materials, release notes, articles, and more.  These materials can be easily accessed, searched, and browsed by end-users.  Additionally, this application serves as a means to deliver help content within the client’s applications through on-screen assistance and “tooltips” via a REST API.

The knowledge management solution utilizes Drupal 9 and includes the following features, functionality, and components:

oAuth and Single Sign-On (SSO)

The application integrates with Okta which provides oAuth login capabilities where the clients’ customers can be authenticated using their own corporate Active Directory user accounts.  Users can also use single Sign On (SSO) to link into the knowledge base application if they are logged into one of the client’s software products without the need to re-enter their authentication credentials, providing a seamless experience between applications.

Support for Multiple Content Types

Outright worked with our client to define and create support for multiple content types using Drupal 9’s entity creation capabilities.  Supported content types include articles, release notes, definitions, screen help, announcements, and training courses and lessons.

Content Meta Tagging

The client’s documentation team can “tag” and organize content with a variety of metadata using Drupal taxonomies which enables end users to easily search and browse the knowledge base data.  Content can be tagged by product type, custom IDs, solution types, topic area, and others.

Faceted, Full-Text Search

The application leverages Acquia Search (Solr search engine) and Drupal’s Search API to provide ‘faceted searching’ where users can filter search results based on category facets such as content type, product, medium, etc.  The application also supports full-text indexing and search of files such as PDFs, Microsoft Word documents, PowerPoint files, and more.  Outright also implemented a custom ‘search boost’ capability where content creators could ‘boost’ certain content to appear higher in the search results based on a weighting value.

Training Functionality

Outright built a training solution where the client’s training staff can create training lessons that can be comprised of text as well as video and document content.  The lessons can then be assembled into quizzes and presented to users.  Users can view the lessons at their own pace and then take a quiz assessment and then see their score.  Administrators at the client can see the results of the quizzes.  Outright use the Drupal “Quiz” module for part of the solution.

Rest API

Outright created a Rest API that the client’s development team can use to integrate the knowledge base content into other applications within the organization.  The API is used to provide knowledge base content which is surfaced as on-screen assistance and “tooltips” within the client’s software products.

Outright Development is a Full-Service Drupal Development Company

Outright Development is a full-service Drupal development company. We specialize in creating custom Drupal solutions for a wide range of web-based projects.  We have extensive experience building websites, intranets, customer portals, web applications, and APIs using the open-source Drupal content management system (CMS).

Drupal is a powerful and flexible platform that can be used to build a wide range of websites and web-based applications. It’s built on open-source principles and has a large and active community of developers contributing to its ongoing development. One of the key benefits of using Drupal is that it allows for easy integration with other technologies, such as databases and other web services.

Outright Development’s team of experienced Drupal developers can create custom solutions tailored to your specific needs, whether you are looking to build a simple website, a complex web application, or something in between.  We can also help you with existing Drupal websites, upgrade, troubleshoot, and perform other services. Outright can provide full-cycle development services, including strategy, design, development, testing, and deployment.  Outright can also provide ongoing maintenance and support services to ensure your website or application stays up-to-date and runs smoothly.