Help center editor errors
Messages in your own help center editor: collections, article addresses, pictures, videos, publishing, review and restoring earlier versions.
Last updated 4 min readPreview
These messages appear in your own help center editor, while you organise collections, write and publish articles, and restore earlier versions.
Before you start
- Who this is for: everyone who writes or publishes help center articles.
- What you need: the exact message you saw.
Step by step
- Note where you saw the message, for example on Settings > Help center or in the article editor.
- Find it in the list below; messages are grouped by task and quoted word for word.
- Follow the fix, or open the linked guide for the full steps.
What happens next
Most fixes take effect straight away. If the same message comes back after the fix, refresh the page once, then contact us with the message and the page you were on.
Tips
- Agents: if you cannot publish, press Send for review. An owner or admin publishes.
- Pick article addresses before you share links; renaming one breaks old links.
Troubleshooting
Settings and collections
"Only owners and admins can change the help center settings"
Agents can write articles but not switch the help center on. Ask an owner or admin. See Set up your own help center.
"Open a workspace first"
You are signed in without a workspace selected. Pick one from the account menu. See Set up your own help center.
"This workspace has no store yet"
The help center belongs to your store. Add your store details first in Settings > Store. See Set up your own help center.
"Name the collection"
The name is empty. Type a name. See Organise articles into collections.
"Use lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens for the address"
The address can only contain a to z, 0 to 9 and hyphens, for example returns-and-exchanges. See Organise articles into collections.
"That address is reserved. Pick another one."
search and general are used by the help center itself. Pick another address. See Organise articles into collections.
"Another collection already uses this address"
Each collection needs its own address. Change it, for example shipping-uk. See Organise articles into collections.
"Collections nest one level deep: pick a top-level parent"
You chose a sub-collection under Inside. Pick a top-level collection instead. See Organise articles into collections.
"Only owners and admins can change collections"
Agents can write articles but not change collections. Ask an owner or admin. See Organise articles into collections.
Writing
"Give the article a title"
The title is empty. Type one before saving. See Write a help article.
"Keep the title under 200 characters"
Shorten the title. Under 60 characters works best in search results. See Help article SEO, summaries and FAQs.
"Keep the summary under 400 characters"
Shorten the summary to one or two sentences. See Help article SEO, summaries and FAQs.
"The article is too long"
Split very long articles into several shorter ones. See Write a help article.
"Another article already uses this address. Change the slug."
Two articles cannot share an address. Change the Address in Details. See Help article SEO, summaries and FAQs.
"That picture is over 1.5 MB. Try a smaller one."
Even after shrinking, the file is too large. Crop it or save it at a lower quality. See Write a help article.
"Use a JPG, PNG or WebP picture"
The file is not a supported picture. Save it as JPG, PNG or WebP. See Write a help article.
"The picture did not upload. Try again."
The upload was interrupted. Check your connection and press Picture again. See Write a help article.
"Paste a YouTube or Vimeo link"
Only YouTube and Vimeo videos can be embedded. Copy the video's address from one of them. See Write a help article.
"Use a full https:// address, a /page on this site or mailto:"
A link must start with https://, / or mailto:. See Write a help article.
"Viewers can read the help center but not edit it. Ask an admin for agent access."
Viewers cannot write articles. Ask an owner or admin to make you an agent. See Write a help article.
Publishing and history
"Only owners and admins can publish. Save it and send it for review."
You are an agent. Press Send for review instead of Publish. See Publish, review and restore articles.
"Write the article before publishing it"
The body is empty. Add the answer, then publish. See Publish, review and restore articles.
"Only owners and admins can delete articles"
Ask an owner or admin, or ask them to unpublish it. See Publish, review and restore articles.
"Another article now uses that version’s address. Change the slug first."
The version you want to restore had an address another article uses now. Change one of them first. See Publish, review and restore articles.
"Version not found"
That version is no longer available. Refresh the page and pick another one. See Publish, review and restore articles.
"Article not found"
The article was deleted, or belongs to another help center. Go back to the list. See Publish, review and restore articles.
Frequently asked questions
Why can I not publish my help article?
Only owners and admins publish help center articles. If you are an agent, press Send for review and an owner or admin publishes it. If you are an owner or admin, check the article has a body: an empty article cannot be published, and Hushdesk asks you to write it first.
Why is my article address already taken?
Every article in your help center needs its own address, the part of the link after the collection. Another article, perhaps an old draft, already uses it. Change the Address in the Details panel to something more specific, or rename or delete the older article first.
Why can I not restore an earlier version of my article?
The version you picked used an address that another article uses now, or the version no longer exists. Hushdesk asks you to change one of the addresses first, or to pick another version. Restoring never deletes anything: the current version stays in the history.
Why is my help article picture refused?
Pictures must be JPG, PNG or WebP, and under 1.5 MB after Hushdesk shrinks them to 1,600 pixels wide. Very detailed screenshots can still be too large. Crop the picture to the part that matters, or save it at a lower quality, and upload it again.
Why can I not delete a help center collection?
Changing and deleting collections is for owners and admins. Agents can write articles and pick a collection for them, but not change the collections themselves. Deleting a collection keeps its articles; they stay in your help center without a collection.
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Related articles
- Write a help articlePreviewUse the help center editor to write clear answers with headings, steps, pictures, videos, tables, callouts and click paths, then save a draft as you go.
- Publish, review and restore articlesPreviewTake a help article from draft to review to published, edit a live article safely, unpublish or delete it, and restore any earlier version from History.
- Organise articles into collectionsPreviewGroup your help articles into collections such as Shipping or Returns, with an icon, a short description, one level of sub-collections and team-only topics.
- Set up your own help centerPreviewPublish a help center for your customers at your own Hushdesk address, with a title, a tagline, collections and articles they can search on their own.
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