About Labels

Owned by Deb Chatigny (Deactivated)
Last updated: Apr 03, 2023 by Feanil Patel

Labels (similar to tags) are single- or multi-word phrases you can add to the default language version of a help center article. Labels are used to influence search relevance, to help Answer Bot's suggested article pool, and to create a list of related articles based on labels associated with the articles.  The edX Support Team also uses labels to associate help articles with macros they create to help streamline ticket response and resolution.

To add labels to an article

  1. In Help Center, create a new article or edit an existing article.
  2. In Labels in the right sidebar, begin typing the label in the label field.  A list of existing labels appears for you to choose from. You can also add a new label by selecting Add as new label... or pressing Enter.

    See Best practices for adding labels.

    Labels live on the default language article and not on translations of the article. If you have translations, you can add labels in multiple languages to the default article.

  3. Add multiple labels as needed.
  4. Click Save.

Best practices for adding labels

You must manage labels on each individual article or using the API. There is no global management for article labels.

Labels can help boost the search relevance of an article. However, you should use labels carefully and sparingly. It's more important to make sure the article title and body contain the relevant keywords. 

  • Use single word labels where possible, instead of multi-word phrases

    It is possible to add labels as single words or as multiple words or phrases. In general, it's better to use single word labels, unless you have a phrase that carries a specific meaning for the words together. For example, "Help Center" has a specific meaning, where "Help" and "Center" have different meanings separately.

    Avoid using long phrases as labels to boost an article's ranking with respect to a query. For example, "Can I return something I ordered online to my local store." Instead, you should modify the article's title or content to make it literally relevant to the query.

  • Do not include variations of the same word, including different tenses or plural forms

    You do not need to include multiple labels for variations of a word. For example you do not need a label for "return" and "returns" or "update" and "updated." Search stemming allows different forms of the same word to match. In particular, the singular and plural forms of a word will generally match.

  • Use a limited number of labels, instead of overloading an article with labels

    Use labels sparingly. Adding lots of labels might actually diminish any matches on labels. This is because it is assumed that matches with a fewer number of labels beats matches with more labels. And too many labels might outweigh the relevance of the title and body.

    Your best bet is to look at the top ranked search queries and make sure that they exist in either (but not both) the title or the labels. You don't give content an extra boost if you match a term across the title, body, labels, and comments.

(add related labels macro??)

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