Private Knowledge Bases: Set-up Guide & 5 Security Best Practices

‍Private Knowledge Bases: Set-up Guide & 5 Security Best Practices

When your team’s SOPs live in random Google Docs or Slack threads, things fall through the cracks—especially during onboarding or audits. If you’re an IT or Ops lead, or even a founder at a growing company, you’ve likely wished for a secure, internal space where employees can quickly find policies, how-tos, and repeatable workflows. That’s where a private knowledge base comes in: a centralized, access-controlled hub for institutional know-how.

This guide walks you through how to set up a private knowledge base—and five critical security practices to keep it safe.

What is a Private Knowledge Base (and Why Use One)?

A private knowledge base is a secure, internal wiki or documentation hub restricted to your employees or team. Unlike public-facing help centers, it lives behind authentication—think HR policies, onboarding checklists, or IT troubleshooting guides.

Why companies choose private over public:

• Privacy: Internal SOPs or HR docs shouldn’t be Google-indexed.
  
• Compliance: Security policies often mandate access control for sensitive data.
  
• Speed: Faster onboarding and fewer repeat questions from teammates.
  
  

“I set up a knowledge base using HelpSite to get our app up and running with some basic FAQs—without the need for the development team to create custom pages... and all for free!”

How to Set Up a Private Knowledge Base in HelpSite

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You can create a private knowledge base on HelpSite in minutes—no devs needed. Here’s how.

Step 1: Create a HelpSite account

Start your free trial and choose a custom domain (e.g., kb.yourcompany.com).

Step 2: From your dashboard, click “Create New Site” and select Private visibility. You can host multiple sites (public or private) under one account, ideal for companies that need internal wikis and customer help centers.

Step 3: Secure with authentication

HelpSite supports multiple private access options:

• Password-protected sites (fastest setup)
  
  
• Invite-only access (per-user emails)
  
  
• JWT-based SSO (for enterprise-grade control)
  
  

For most IT teams, JWT SSO is the gold standard—it connects your knowledge base to your existing identity provider.

‍‍Learn how to manage access settings →.

Step 4: Organize by department or topic

Use clear categories like “IT Support,” “HR & Benefits,” or “Engineering Playbook.” This keeps your content scannable and easy to maintain.

Step 5: Publish and permission

Draft your articles, assign visibility (private/public), and hit publish. HelpSite’s clean WYSIWYG editor makes it easy for any team member to contribute.

4 Security Best Practices for Internal Knowledge Bases

Keeping your internal knowledge safe doesn’t stop at setting a password. Follow these five tips to make your private KB truly secure.

1. Use SSO (Single Sign-On) over passwords

Passwords can be shared. With JWT SSO, only authenticated employees can access your KB—no extra logins required.

2. Limit user access with roles

Avoid the “everyone’s an admin” trap. Assign roles like:

• View-only (for most staff)
• Editor (for contributors)
• Admin (for IT/ops)
  
  

This reduces the risk of accidental changes—or malicious edits.

3. Enable SSL and use custom domains

SSL (https://) encrypts your traffic—especially important if you’re sharing HR or finance data. HelpSite includes SSL even on free plans, and supports fully branded custom domains like internal.yourcompany.com.

4. Keep content evergreen with review cycles

Stale docs can be just as risky as none. Set calendar reminders to review critical articles (e.g., security policies) every quarter.

Bonus: When to Use Multiple Private Knowledge Bases

If you support multiple internal teams (like HR, Ops, and Engineering) or brands, you might want to spin up separate private sites. HelpSite makes this easy—each site can have its own logo, theme, and access rules.

‍Example: An HR team uses one private site for policy docs; Engineering uses another for internal APIs. Both are managed from a shared dashboard.

Is a Private Knowledge Base Right for You?

If your team answers the same questions over Slack, struggles to onboard new hires, or needs to formalize internal processes, the answer is likely yes.

Think of a private KB as your company’s brain. When it’s secure and searchable, your team moves faster—and your support load shrinks.

And with a tool like HelpSite, you don’t need a six-month rollout or an IT ticket. Just write, protect, and publish.

Start your free HelpSite trial Now!

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