Build a OneNote Wiki Knowledge Base: A Step-by-Step Guide

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Organize your company processes and team information in a helpful—not hurtful—way, with a OneNote knowledge base wiki.

This step-by-step playbook walks through the process of creating and organize your wiki in OneNote.

Playbook: OneNote Wiki

OneNote Wiki is a feature in Microsoft OneNote that allows you to create and manage wikis.
To build your OneNote Wiki, access OneNote, create a new notebook, organize sections, add pages, create content using Scribe, and collaborate.
OneNote offers search functionality, tagging, labeling and cross-linking features.
Learn best practices for organizing your OneNote Wiki.
Microsoft Teams Wiki is being retired. Learn how to export your Team Wiki to OneNote and tips for working with the exported wikis.
Use Scribe to quickly and easily create visual guides and documentation for your OneNote Wiki.

‎Wh‎at is Microsoft OneNote Wiki?

Microsoft OneNote Wiki is a feature that allows you to create and manage wikis using OneNote. It's not a dedicated wiki application, but it does offer some wiki-like features, such as the ability to create and edit pages, link between pages and create a hierarchy of pages.

OneNote Wiki is a good option for teams and individuals who want to create a simple wiki without learning a new application.

If your team already uses OneNote for other purposes, you can integrate it with your existing notes.

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Ho‎w to build your OneNote Wiki

Step 1: Access OneNote and Scribe

There are a few different ways you can access OneNote:

Web browser: You can access OneNote from any web browser by going to onenote.com and signing in with your Microsoft account.
OneNote desktop app: You can download and install the OneNote desktop app on your Windows or Mac computer.
OneNote mobile app: You can download and install the OneNote mobile app on your iOS or Android device.

Then download Scribe to capture step-by-step guides for all of your processes. Here's how to get started ➜

Use Scribe to automatically generate articles for your OneNote Wiki

‎Step 2: Create a new notebook

Open OneNote and click on "File" in the top-left corner.
Select "New" and choose "Notebook" from the drop-down menu.
Give your notebook a name and click "Create."

Step 3: Organize sections

Create and organize sections to act as categories in your OneNote Wiki.

Right-click on the notebook.
Select "Add Section" to create a new section.
Name it according to your desired category.
Repeat this step for each section you want to include.

Step 4: Add pages

Pages are where you store your content.

Right-click on a section and select "Add Page" to create a new page.
Give it a descriptive title and start adding content.

Step 5: Create OneNote wiki content

Use Scribe to build visual process documents that you can add to your team's knowledge base articles.

Scribe captures your screen to auto-generate step-by-step guides for any process, such as:

How to use your company's CRM system.
How to troubleshoot common problems.
How to use platforms or tools.

Easily capture and embed these guides to your OneNote Wiki pages, making sure that everyone on your team has access to the information they need.

Scribe is particularly useful for visualizing concepts and providing step-by-step instructions.

Capture any process with Scribe and add it to your OneNote Wiki

1. Install Scribe and navigate to the desired process you want to document. Click the Scribe icon in your Chrome toolbar to start.

2. Click the "Start Capture" button and walk through your usual process. Scribe automatically captures screenshots and text.

3. Click the "Stop Capture" button. In a few seconds, Scribe will generate a detailed, step-by-step guide.

4. Take a moment to review the guide, making sure to include all relevant information.

5. Ask the AI to add titles, descriptions, additional context, alerts, helpful tips, and more to customize your guide.

6. When your guide is finished, click "Share" and then "Embed".

7. Change your sharing settings need to be set to "Shareable with Link"

8. Select the size you'd like and then Click "Copy Embed Snippet" to copy the code.

9. Open the OneNote notebook and page where you want to embed the code snippet.

10. Click the Insert tab and then click the "Code Block" button.

11. Select the programming language for the code snippet.

12. Paste in the embed snippet from the Scribe you're looking to embed, click OK and your Scribe is now embedded!

Step 7. Insert other media

Once you've added your Scribes, you can enhance your OneNote Wiki by adding other media like images, videos and audio recordings.

Click on the "Insert" tab and choose the appropriate media type.

Step 8: Format your content

Use headings, bullet points and numbering to structure your information effectively and make it and easy to read.

Step 9: Collaborate with others

OneNote allows multiple users to work on the same notebook simultaneously. This feature is especially beneficial for teams working on a shared knowledge base wiki.

Click on the "Share" button in the top-right corner and invite collaborators via email.

On‎eNote Wiki features

OneNote offers several features that make it an ideal platform for building a Wiki:

Search functionality: OneNote's powerful search feature allows you to quickly find specific information within your Wiki, saving you valuable time.
Tagging and labeling: You can tag and label your content in OneNote, making it easier to categorize and retrieve information later.
Cross-linking: OneNote enables you to create hyperlinks between pages, sections and even notebooks, facilitating seamless navigation within your Wiki.

Th‎e benefits of building a OneNote Wiki

Building a Wiki in OneNote offers numerous benefits:

Centralized information: All your knowledge is stored in one place, making it easily accessible to you and your team.
Collaboration: OneNote's collaborative features allow multiple users to contribute and edit the Wiki simultaneously, fostering teamwork and knowledge sharing.
Flexibility: OneNote's flexible structure allows you to adapt and reorganize your Wiki as your knowledge grows and evolves.
Comments and tagging: With the Wiki, users can easily comment on any content and tag other users using the "@" symbol. This feature enhances collaboration and communication within the Wiki platform.
Offline access: OneNote allows you to access your Wiki even when you're offline, ensuring uninterrupted productivity.

Wh‎y use Scribe to build your OneNote Wiki?

Scribe works instantly with any and all tools your team uses. Scribe can be used to create OneNote guides that help your team to be more efficient.

Create visual guides and documentation: Scribe automatically generates step-by-step visual guides with screenshots and text, which can be helpful for creating documentation for complex processes or procedures. You can then add these visual guides to your OneNote Wiki pages.
Keep your wiki up-to-date: Scribe can automatically update your guides when you make changes to your processes or procedures. This can help you ensure that your documentation is always accurate and up-to-date.
Enhanced collaboration: Scribe makes it easy to share your knowledge with the team. Share as a link, or export it to a variety of formats, such as PDF, Word, and HTML. This can be helpful for collaborating with team members or clients.

By creating OneNote guides with Scribe, you can help your team learn new skills, save time, and be more productive.

Or‎ganizing your OneNote Wiki

OneNote is a powerful tool for organizing and structuring information, but it can quickly become overwhelming and difficult to navigate. Follow these best practices for organizing and structuring your OneNote wiki to improve searchability and navigation.

Step 1. Create a clear hierarchy

One of the first steps in organizing your OneNote wiki is to establish a clear hierarchy by creating sections and subsections. For example, if you are creating a wiki for a project, you might have sections for "Overview," "Tasks," "Meetings," and "Resources."

You can further divide the content into subsections within each section as needed. This hierarchy will make locating specific information easier and navigating through your wiki.

To create a new section in OneNote:

Right-click on the notebook
Select "New Section."
Right-click on the section.
Choose "New Section Group" or "New Section."

Step 2. Use descriptive page titles

Page titles are crucial in making your OneNote wiki searchable and easy to navigate. Instead of using generic titles like "Notes" or "Meeting Minutes," opt for more descriptive titles that accurately reflect the page's content.

For example, instead of "Meeting Minutes - 01/01/2022," use a title like "Marketing Team Meeting Minutes - January 1st, 2022." This will make it easier to find specific information when using the search function or browsing through your wiki.

To change the page title in OneNote, click on the existing title and start typing the new title.

3. Use tags and labels

Tags and labels are OneNote tools that can help you categorize and organize your information. By assigning relevant tags to your pages or sections, you can quickly identify and filter specific types of content.

For example, you can create tags for "Important," "To-Do," or "Reference." You can also create custom tags to suit your specific needs.

To add tags in OneNote:

Select the desired content.
Click on the "Tags" button in the toolbar.
Choose the appropriate tag from the list or create a custom tag.

4. Create a table of contents

A table of contents is an excellent way to provide an overview of your OneNote wiki and facilitate easy navigation. You can create a table of contents by linking to important pages or sections within your wiki.

To create a table of contents:

Create a new page
List the links to the relevant content.
Update the table of contents periodically to reflect any changes or additions to your wiki.

To create a link in OneNote:

Select the text or object you want to link
Right-click and choose "Link."
Select the destination page or section.

5. Use search and filter functions

OneNote offers robust search and filter functions to help you quickly locate specific information within your wiki. Use these features by using relevant keywords, tags or page titles when searching for content.

You can also use the filter function to narrow your search results based on specific criteria, such as tags or dates.

To search in OneNote:

Type your query in the search bar at the top of the application.
To apply filters, click on the "Filter" button next to the search bar.
Choose the desired criteria.

Th‎e Microsoft Teams Wiki

If you're already using the Microsoft Teams Wiki feature, you should know that Microsoft has announced that the wiki page will be retiring in January 2024.

Microsoft announced in July 2022 that support for Teams Wiki will be discontinued. This will happen in stages, with users losing the ability to create new wikis and eventually losing access to Wiki tabs and the Wiki app in Teams. Teams Wikis will be inaccessible in January 2024.

After migration, the wiki content becomes read-only and a copy is stored in the OneNote notebook.

‎Ho‎w to export a Microsoft Teams Wiki to OneNote

Leverage Microsoft's built-in Wiki feature and export it to OneNote seamlessly.

To export a Microsoft Teams wiki to OneNote, follow these steps:

Step 1. Access the Microsoft Teams Wiki

Open Microsoft Teams and navigate to the desired team.
Click on the "Wiki" tab to access the Wiki feature.

Step 2. Export to OneNote

Within the Microsoft Teams Wiki, click on the ellipsis (...) next to the Wiki name.
Click the Wiki tab.
Click the Get Details button.
Click Export to Notes.
Click Finish.

OneNote will create a new notebook for the wiki, with a section for each tab in the wiki and a page for each wiki page.

Step 3: Remove the Wiki tab (optional)

If you want to remove the Wiki tab:

Navigate to the desired channel.
Hover over the Wiki Tab and choose Remove.
A confirmation pop-up will appear, and upon clicking "Remove", the Wiki tab will be permanently deleted.

It's important to note that this action is not recoverable, so exercise caution when removing the Wiki tab. You may want to leave it until you're sure your team will no longer need to access it.

Ti‎ps for working with Microsoft Teams Wikis in OneNote

Here are some things to keep in mind when exporting a Microsoft Teams wiki to OneNote:

You can only export wikis from standard channels.
Private channels with wikis will need to be manually moved to OneNote.
Some changes to formatting, such as font style and spacing, may occur during the export process.
It's best to keep a read-only version of your content in the Wiki app for reference.

OneNote Wiki FA‎Qs

Can I access my OneNote Wiki on multiple devices?

Yes, OneNote syncs across devices, allowing you to access your Wiki on your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

Can I password-protect my OneNote Wiki?

Yes, OneNote allows you to password-protect sections or entire notebooks, ensuring the security of your sensitive information.

Can I export my OneNote Wiki to other formats?

Yes, OneNote provides options to export your Wiki as a PDF, Word document, or even a webpage, making it easy to share your knowledge with others.

Can I integrate my OneNote Wiki with other applications?

Yes, OneNote integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft applications, such as Outlook and SharePoint, allowing you to streamline your workflow and enhance productivity.

Co‎nclusion

Creating a knowledge base wiki in OneNote is a powerful way to organize and access information efficiently.

By following the step-by-step tutorial provided in this blog post, you can build your own OneNote Wiki and use Scribe to enhance collaboration and knowledge sharing within your team.

Save 20+ hours a month explaining, training & answering quick questions. Send a Scribe instead.

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