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Build Guide

Build a Knowledge Base Without WordPress

WordPress knowledge base plugins are glorified blog post categories. Build a real help center with instant search and article analytics.

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The Old Way

The WordPress Approach

Required Plugins

1BetterDocs ($59-149/year) — knowledge base with search
2BasePress ($59 one-time) — knowledge base
3Echo Knowledge Base ($46-96/year) — help center
4Heroic Knowledge Base ($149/year) — full knowledge base
5WP Starter Starter KnowAll Theme ($149) — knowledge base theme

Limitations

Search uses WordPress's built-in search, which is slow and inaccurate
No article analytics — you can't tell which articles reduce support tickets
Feedback widgets (helpful/not helpful) require additional customization
Category navigation is basic — no nested sidebars or contextual breadcrumbs
Content versioning is limited to WordPress revisions with no diff view

Typical Cost

$60-200/year in plugins + hosting

The Modern Way

The Modern Approach

Astro Starlight (or Next.js + Fumadocs) + search engine

Use Astro Starlight or Fumadocs for a purpose-built documentation framework with built-in search, sidebar navigation, and i18n. For dynamic content managed by support teams, pair Next.js with a headless CMS.

Instant full-text search with typo tolerance and highlighting
Built-in sidebar navigation with nested categories
Article analytics — views, search queries, and helpful/not helpful feedback
Markdown/MDX authoring for support teams
Static output means pages load instantly for frustrated customers

WordPress vs. Modern Stack

WordPress

  • Search uses WordPress's built-in search, which is slow and inaccurate
  • No article analytics — you can't tell which articles reduce support tickets
  • Feedback widgets (helpful/not helpful) require additional customization
  • Category navigation is basic — no nested sidebars or contextual breadcrumbs
  • $60-200/year in plugins + hosting

Modern Stack

  • Instant full-text search with typo tolerance and highlighting
  • Built-in sidebar navigation with nested categories
  • Article analytics — views, search queries, and helpful/not helpful feedback
  • Markdown/MDX authoring for support teams
  • Static output means pages load instantly for frustrated customers

Recommended Tools

Astro Starlight

Purpose-built documentation framework with search and navigation

Free and open-source

Pagefind

Client-side search engine with zero hosting costs

Free and open-source

Sanity

CMS for non-technical support teams to manage articles

Free up to 100K API requests/month

PostHog

Article analytics — views, search queries, and user behavior

Free up to 1M events/month

Vercel

Hosting with ISR for article updates

Free hobby tier, $20/month pro

Step-by-Step Build Guide

1

Choose your framework — Astro Starlight for static Markdown KB or Next.js + Sanity for CMS-managed KB

2

Organize your knowledge base structure — top-level categories, subcategories, and articles

3

Write your initial articles in Markdown/MDX with clear headings, steps, and screenshots

4

Add Pagefind (Starlight) or Algolia (Next.js) for instant full-text search across all articles

5

Implement helpful/not helpful feedback buttons on each article with PostHog event tracking

6

Build a contextual sidebar that highlights the current article and shows related articles

7

Deploy and create a plan for regular content audits based on search queries with no results

Frequently Asked Questions

Should the knowledge base be part of our main site or separate?
Use a subdomain like help.yoursite.com or docs.yoursite.com. This keeps the KB separate from your marketing site while maintaining brand consistency. It also lets you deploy and update KB content independently.
How do I measure if the knowledge base is working?
Track three metrics: article views (are people finding it?), helpful/not helpful votes (is it useful?), and support ticket volume (is it deflecting tickets?). Correlate these over time to measure ROI.
Can non-technical support staff update articles?
With Astro Starlight, articles are Markdown files that can be edited in GitHub's web editor. For a more user-friendly experience, use Next.js + Sanity so support staff can edit in a visual CMS.

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