This section of the user guide is focused on understanding how to generate and create knowledge base responses. To help you navigate the article we have broken it down into the following sections:

Question Response Overview

The response field is what will display to the chatbot user when asked the question or another variation of the question. There are many ways a student may ask a question that will result in the response you are providing.  Refrain from using yes/no responses or responses that don't provide context to the question being answered. 


Additionally, the way a question is asked may be applicable to multiple offices. Review the question to see all of the ways it may be applicable on your campus, and adjust your response to accommodate all options. You may want to consider if the response should have all responses within the one response field, or if a clarifying question should be used.


For information on clarifying questions, review the Creating Clarifying Questions article.


To help you generate a response we provide you with a content generator to assist you in crafting a response and variables to help you maintain your content efficiently. 


Content Generator

What is the Content Generator?

The Content Generator is a cutting-edge tool powered by ChatGPT API to help institutions efficiently create, edit, and update their knowledge base content responses for their chatbot. 


The tool also allows for the use of spiders to search a predefined set of web pages belonging to the institution, providing a wider range of information and sources for generating responses.


Who can use the Content Generator?

Chatbot - Administrator and Chatbot - Standard users can use the tool to create and edit responses.


How to use the Content Generator?

Under the Chatbot Knowledge base section, select a question from General Library, Custom Questions, Question Templates, or Awaiting Review, or select Create Question to access the content editing screen.


Under the Response section, select the Speed up your content creation with our Content Generator powered by GPT toggle. 


In the Content Generator, there are four parameter options:

  • Verbosity: this setting affects the length of the generated response. Moving the slider left generates a shorter and more concise response. Moving the slider to the right generates a longer, more wordy response.
  • Creativity: this setting controls the confidence level of responses generated. The lower setting on the left yields more predictable responses and the right yields more creative responses that may not be as accurate.
  • Spiders: When spiders are configured and the setting is on, then the tool searches the question and matches it with the headers found on the webpages when spidering and then utilizes the data scraped from those webpages to generate the response. If the tool cannot find matching headers/titles from the spidered data, then it relies on GPT to generate a response.

    This setting defaults to toggled on unless spiders are not configured in the bot. If spiders are not configured, then a warning message displays.

    Note: The content generator leverages spider content to generate a response. The spider data used by the Content Generator is the same data used for suggested links. Therefore, if a domain is removed, then it will no longer be used for the link suggestion function or the Content Generator.

  • Existing Response: A toggle to indicate if the current answer should be utilized as a starting point or not.

Parameter settings are preserved per user session.


At the bottom of the Parameters section, select Generate Response to generate a response based on the selected parameters. Selecting Generate Response again will generate a different response. Adjust the parameters as necessary to generate the desired response. 


Although the tool prioritizes content harvested from spider crawls, GPT may generate responses from a large non-institution specific data set.


Therefore, when the tool is used, it is best practice to proofread and iterate on the response to ensure the response accurately reflects the school's practices and policies. 


Note: Be sure to review any links to verify their accuracy. Once verified, remove the following tag from the response:  - {Link might not be working, confirm or replace} or you may need to update the text to reflect the link being used.


Additionally, review the response for any information that could be replaced by a variable. This will help you maintain your content more efficiently.


For information on using variables within a response, review the Variables section of the Creating a Knowledge Base article.


The user can manually make changes to the response in the text editor. In the Response text editor, select Undo to revert to a previous version of the response within the same session.


For best practices when using the content generator feature, review the Content Generator Best Practices article.


Hyperlinking within a response

  • URL

    • If you paste the URL directly into the Response field, the URL will not be hyperlinked (or "clickable") within the chatbot. To hyperlink a URL, complete the following steps:
      1. Within the Response field, select the insert URL icon on the text editor.
      2. Insert the URL into the Link URL field and select the checkmark.
      3. The URL will now be underlined and in blue text. 

  • Email

    • In order to hyperlink an email, enter “mailto:” before the email address (no space in between “mailto:” and the email address).

  • Phone number

    • In order to hyperlink a phone number (to allow mobile users to make a direct call by clicking on that number), use “tel:” before a phone number (no space in between “tel:” and the phone number).

Variables

How Variables Are Used


Variables are used in the responses to general library questions to ensure that whenever possible, your custom terms and URLs flow throughout the general library knowledge base, thus reducing the need for further customization.


When creating responses from scratch or using the content generator, you may want to update terms or web pages with variables to make them easier to maintain. 


On the Edit Question page, variables are identified by an exclamation point as the first character of the text.


Link variables have to be used as a hyperlink within a response. A link variable can be used to hyperlink to text or can be combined with a text variable.


Example: When you add a link variable to a response, enter the link variable (in this case, “!grant-link” and then use the hyperlink tool to link the text variable to the link variable:



Office Contact Variables


The only variables that are not visible and editable in the admin portal are the office contact variables. 


Please contact your Client Success Manager or open an Ocelot Support Ticket to adjust any of your office contact variable values.


There are two types of office contact variables:


  • Office-clarifiers

    • Office-clarifier variables will drive the bot to ask which office the user would like to engage in before displaying the chosen office’s information. 
    • Office-clarifier variables have the "fancy-bracket" prefix !{office}.
    • The variables below are the office-clarifier variables:
      • !{office}-office - Displays the office name based on which office the user chooses.
      • !{office}office-hours - Displays the office’s hours of operation based on which office the user chooses.
      • !{office}contact-number - Displays the office’s phone number based on which office the user chooses.
      • !{office}contact-location - Displays the office’s address based on which office the user chooses.
      • !{office}contact-link - Displays the office's email based on which office the user chooses.
    • In the general library, this variable is often "hidden" behind the word "email" as the email's hyperlink:  


Alert: Since the functionality of these variables affects all offices using the bot, office variables should not be deleted when customizing your response. 

If they are deleted during the customization process, Ocelot will not be able to make the question live and will work with you to provide a better response.

We recommend having an Administrative-level user lock the questions that contain these variables.

For more information on how to lock knowledge base responses, review the Content Locking article. 


  • On the General Library page, search "!{office}" to find the applicable questions that contain these variables:


  • Office-specific

    • Office-specific variables will display the office’s contact information to the user.
    • Office-specific variables have an acronym for each office as the prefix.  
      Example: "FA" is the Financial Aid prefix, which will display like: “!FA-OFFICE”


    • In the general library, the contact-link variable is often "hidden" behind the word "email" as the email's hyperlink.
    • If the office you are looking for is not listed, it is likely because there are no distinct variables for that specific office.

 The following chart outlines all office-specific variables:


OFFICE*PREFIXVARIABLEDEFINITION

Academic Advising

ACADV!ACADV-officeOffice Name
!ACADVoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!ACADVcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!ACADVcontact-locationOffice Address
!ACADVcontact-linkOffice Email**

Admissions

ADM!ADM-officeOffice Name
!ADMoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!ADMcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!ADMcontact-locationOffice Address
!ADMcontact-linkOffice Email**

Alumni

ALUMNI!Alumni-office
Office Name
!Alumnioffice-hours
Office Hours
!Alumnicontact-number
Office Phone Number
!Alumnicontact-location
Office Address
!Alumnicontact-link
Office Email**

Athletics

ATHLETE!Athlete-officeOffice Name
!Athleteoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!Athletecontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!Athletecontact-locationOffice Address
!Athletecontact-linkOffice Email**

Basic Needs

BASIC!Basic-officeOffice Name
!Basicoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!Basiccontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!Basiccontact-locationOffice Address
!Basiccontact-linkOffice Email**

Billing / Student Accounts / Bursar

BILL!BILL-officeOffice Name
!BILLoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!BILLcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!BILLcontact-locationOffice Address
!BILLcontact-linkOffice Email**

Bookstore

BOOK!BOOK-officeOffice Name
!BOOKoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!BOOKcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!BOOKcontact-locationOffice Address
!BOOKcontact-linkOffice Email**

CalWORKs

CalWORKs!CalWORKs-officeOffice Name
!CalWORKsoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!CalWORKscontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!CalWORKscontact-locationOffice Address
!CalWORKscontact-linkOffice Email**

Career Services

CAREER!CAREER-officeOffice Name
!CAREERoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!CAREERcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!CAREERcontact-locationOffice Address
!CAREERcontact-linkOffice Email**

Counseling Services

COUNS!COUNS-officeOffice Name
!COUNSoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!COUNScontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!COUNScontact-locationOffice Address
!COUNScontact-linkOffice Email**

Disability Services

DIS!DIS-officeOffice Name
!DISoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!DIScontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!DIScontact-locationOffice Address
!DIScontact-linkOffice Email**

Diversity

DIV!DIV-officeOffice Name
!DIVoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!DIVcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!DIVcontact-locationOffice Address
!DIVcontact-linkOffice Email**

EOPS/CARE

EOPS!EOPS-officeOffice Name
!EOPSoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!EOPScontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!EOPScontact-locationOffice Address
!EOPScontact-linkOffice Email**

Financial Aid

FA!FA-officeOffice Name
!FAoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!FAcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!FAcontact-locationOffice Address
!FAcontact-linkOffice Email**

Foster Youth

FOSTER!FOSTER-officeOffice Name
!FOSTERoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!FOSTERcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!FOSTERcontact-locationOffice Address
!FOSTERcontact-linkOffice Email**

Health Services

HEALTH!HEALTH-officeOffice Name
!HEALTHoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!HEALTHcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!HEALTHcontact-locationOffice Address
!HEALTHcontact-linkOffice Email**

Housing

HOUS!HOUS-officeOffice Name
!HOUSoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!HOUScontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!HOUScontact-locationOffice Address
!HOUScontact-linkOffice Email**

Human Resources

HR!HR-officeOffice Name
!HRoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!HRcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!HRcontact-locationOffice Address
!HRcontact-linkOffice Email**

Information Technology

IT!IT-officeOffice Name
!IToffice-hoursOffice Hours
!ITcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!ITcontact-locationOffice Address
!ITcontact-linkOffice Email**

International Programs

OIP!OIP-officeOffice Name
!OIPoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!OIPcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!OIPcontact-locationOffice Address
!OIPcontact-linkOffice Email**

Libraries

LIB!LIB-officeOffice Name
!LIBoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!LIBcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!LIBcontact-locationOffice Address
!LIBcontact-linkOffice Email**

Mailing Services

MAIL!MAIL-officeOffice Name
!MAILoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!MAILcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!MAILcontact-locationOffice Address
!MAILcontact-linkOffice Email**

Orientation

ORI!ORI-officeOffice Name
!ORIoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!ORIcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!ORIcontact-locationOffice Address
!ORIcontact-linkOffice Email**

Outreach

OUTREACH!OUTREACH-officeOffice Name
!OUTREACHoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!OUTREACHcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!OUTREACHcontact-locationOffice Address
!OUTREACHcontact-linkOffice Email**

Parking & Transportation

PARK!PARK-officeOffice Name
!PARKoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!PARKcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!PARKcontact-locationOffice Address
!PARKcontact-linkOffice Email**

Recreational Center

REC!REC-officeOffice Name
!RECoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!RECcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!RECcontact-locationOffice Address
!RECcontact-linkOffice Email**

Registration / Registrar / Records

REG!REG-officeOffice Name
!REGoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!REGcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!REGcontact-locationOffice Address
!REGcontact-linkOffice Email**

Student Employment

StuEmploy!StuEmploy-officeOffice Name
!StuEmployoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!StuEmploycontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!StuEmploycontact-locationOffice Address
!StuEmploycontact-linkOffice Email**

Student Life

SLLA!SLLA-officeOffice Name
!SLLAoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!SLLAcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!SLLAcontact-locationOffice Address
!SLLAcontact-linkOffice Email**

Study Abroad

SA!SA-officeOffice Name
!SAoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!SAcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!SAcontact-locationOffice Address
!SAcontact-linkOffice Email**

Testing Services

TEST!TEST-officeOffice Name
!TESToffice-hoursOffice Hours
!TESTcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!TESTcontact-locationOffice Address
!TESTcontact-linkOffice Email**

Title IX

TitleIX!TitleIX-officeOffice Name
!TitleIXoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!TitleIXcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!TitleIXcontact-locationOffice Address
!TitleIXcontact-linkOffice Email**

TRIO SSS

SSS!SSS-officeOffice Name
!SSSoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!SSScontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!SSScontact-locationOffice Address
!SSScontact-linkOffice Email**

TRIO Upward Bound

UPBOUND!UPBOUND-officeOffice Name
!UPBOUNDoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!UPBOUNDcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!UPBOUNDcontact-locationOffice Address
!UPBOUNDcontact-linkOffice Email**

Transfer

TRA!TRA-officeOffice Name
!TRAoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!TRAcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!TRAcontact-locationOffice Address
!TRAcontact-linkOffice Email**

Tutoring

TUTOR!TUTOR-officeOffice Name
!TUTORoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!TUTORcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!TUTORcontact-locationOffice Address
!TUTORcontact-linkOffice Email**

Veterans

VET!VET-officeOffice Name
!VEToffice-hoursOffice Hours
!VETcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!VETcontact-locationOffice Address
!VETcontact-linkOffice Email**

Workforce Development

WORKFORCEDEV!WORKFORCEDEV-officeOffice Name
!WORKFORCEDEVoffice-hoursOffice Hours
!WORKFORCEDEVcontact-numberOffice Phone Number
!WORKFORCEDEVcontact-locationOffice Address
!WORKFORCEDEVcontact-linkOffice Email**