Merge Tags

 

A merge tag is a small placeholder tag, that may consist of a few words or strings of text, which you can add to any page on your help site. The text you add to the page is not formatted and is stored as plain-text on publishing the page.

 

Merge tags are flexible and reusable, making it simple to make site-wide changes by editing the merge tag source instead of having to modify many pages, separately.

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Types of Merge Tags

There are two kinds of merge tags:

1. System merge tags - These are pre-defined tags that you can re-use to quickly update a page’s content. You cannot alter or edit these tags. 
   
2. Custom merge tags - You can also create custom merge tags and add them to pages on your help site. 
   

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Inserting a Merge Tag Into a Page

Create a system merge tag:

Step 1. Select “Merge Tag” From the “Insert” function drop down on the editor.

 

 

Step 2. Select the system merge tag you want and then click on “Insert” to add it to the page.

 

 

Create a custom merge tag:

Click on  “Create your own” and then add the “Merge Tag” and its “Value.” Click on "Update" once you are done and then on "Insert."

 

When to Use System Merge Tags

ProProfs Knowledge Base offers a library of different system merge tags that you can use at a click. Though you cannot directly edit them, some merge tags will have additional settings which you can customize. 

 

Here are some scenarios, where you can use system merge tags:

1) User identification - Use these tags to identify the profile of the author or editor who created or made changes/edits to a particular page on your help site.

 

User identification merge tags include:  

• user.first_name 
• user.last_name 
• user.role
• user.language
• user.timezone
• user.last_login_time

                                                                                                                                                                                        Screenshot of system merge tags 1.0

2) Page identification -  Use these tags to identify the attributes of a page such as its title, id, status, etc.

 

Page identification merge tags include: 

• page.id
• page.type
• page.title
• page.status
• page.toc_name
• page.url
• page.created_at
• page.created_by
• page.last_modified_at
• page.last_modified_by                                                                                                                                   Screenshot of system merge tags 1.1 
• page.published_at
• page.published_by

 

 

3) Navigation - Use these tags to add navigation menus to a page such as "Next" or "Previous" link, breadcrumbs,  inline to and more. 

 

Navigation merge tags include: 

• page.next_page
• page.next_page_url
• page.previous_page
• page.previous_page_url
• page.breadcrumb
• page.pages_in_folder
• page.folder_name
• page.children_pages                                                                                             Screenshot of system merge tags 1.2
• page.inline_toc
• page_embed_page

 

4) Additional information - Use these tags to give additional information about your company, website, recently published pages in your knowledge base and more. 

 

Additional information merge tags include 

• site.name
• site.url
• site.language
• site.recently_published_pages                                                                                      
• company.name                                                                                                                                                Screenshot of system merge tags 1.3
• company.website

 

Suggested Reading: Sync Page