Note: This feature is available only in the Enterprise Editions of PHPKB software.
Anti-Concurrent Editing of Knowledge Base Articles
PHPKB 9 introduces a new article locking feature to prevent concurrent editing of an article by more than one user. When a user is editing an article, and any other user attempts to edit the same article, he will be blocked from accessing the article and notified that the content is already being edited. That means under no circumstances a user is allowed to edit an article that another user is already editing. The superuser can forcefully release the lock anytime to edit an article. The article lock feature is available only in the enterprise edition of PHPKB knowledge base software.
When is an article lock acquired?
As soon as the user opens an article for editing, the system grants the lock if the article is free for editing and no one is currently editing the article.
For what duration is an article locked for editing?
The default locking interval is 15 minutes; however, this time interval can be configured in the settings section of the admin control panel.
What happens when an article lock is about to expire?
The user is presented with an alert 5 minutes before the lock expiry as shown below. The user can save the work in progress before lock expiry to avoid losing any changes made to the article. If a user needs more time to finish editing, he can click the "Extend Lock Duration" button on the alert dialog to increase the duration of lock.
What happens when an article lock is expired?
The user is presented with an alert informing about expired lock as shown below. If the user has not saved the changes or need more time to finish editing, he needs to re-acquire the lock. He can click the "Acquire Lock" button on the alert dialogue to re-acquire the lock; however, it is only possible if the article is currently free and not locked by any other user for editing.
If the article is currently not locked, the user will acquire the lock again (shown below).
On the other hand, in the meantime, if the lock on the article is acquired by another user, then the user will not be able to extend/acquire the lock again (shown below).
When is an article lock released?
The lock is released once the user has finished editing and saved the article, or it is automatically released after a certain time of inactivity.
What happens if a user forgets to release the lock on an article?
If a user has acquired the lock on an article and forgets to release the lock, then the lock will be auto-released after a certain time of inactivity.
