How the Knowledge Base Privacy Access Gate Works

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base can display a privacy access gate before visitors open the main knowledge base.

The gate presents a short privacy notice and asks the visitor to accept it before continuing.

This can be useful when your knowledge base uses features such as anonymous search analytics, article view totals or helpful article feedback.

What is the privacy access gate?

The privacy access gate is a message shown before the knowledge base content becomes available.

It can contain:

• A heading
• A short privacy message
• A link to your privacy policy
• An acceptance button

Once the visitor accepts the notice, the knowledge base opens normally.

The acceptance is stored for the current browser session so the visitor is not asked again on every article or category page.

Enable the privacy access gate

To turn it on:

1. Sign in to your WordPress dashboard.
2. Open Knowledge Base > Settings.
3. Select the Privacy & SEO tab.
4. Find the Privacy Access Gate section.
5. Enable the privacy gate.
6. Enter the heading and message.
7. Add your privacy policy URL.
8. Change the button text if required.
9. Select Save Changes.

Open the public knowledge base in a private browser window to test it.

What visitors see

Before accessing the knowledge base, visitors see your saved privacy message.

For example:

Before You Continue

This knowledge base uses anonymous usage information to help us understand which articles and searches are most useful. Please review our Privacy Policy before continuing.

The visitor can then select a button such as:

Accept and Continue

After accepting, the knowledge base content becomes available.

Change the gate heading

The heading should explain why the message is being shown.

Suitable examples include:

• Before You Continue
• Privacy Notice
• Knowledge Base Privacy
• About Knowledge Base Analytics
• Please Review Our Privacy Notice

Keep it clear and reasonably short.

Avoid headings that make the gate sound like an error or security warning.

Change the privacy message

The message should briefly explain what the visitor is accepting.

For example:

We use anonymous knowledge base analytics, including article views, search terms and helpful feedback, to improve our documentation. Please read our Privacy Policy for more information.

Only describe features that are actually enabled on your website.

Do not claim that no information is collected if article views, searches or feedback are being recorded.

Keep the wording easy to understand

The gate should provide useful information without becoming a full legal document.

A short message is usually enough when it links to a complete privacy policy.

Try to explain:

• What information may be recorded
• Why it is used
• Where visitors can read more
• That they need to accept before continuing

Avoid technical language where plain wording will do.

Add the privacy policy URL

Enter the full address of your website privacy policy.

For example:

https://example.com/privacy-policy

The linked page should explain any knowledge base analytics or browser storage being used.

After saving the URL, test the link from the public gate.

Make sure it opens the correct live page rather than:

• A draft
• A preview URL
• An old website address
• A staging website
• A page that requires an account

Change the acceptance button text

The button should clearly explain what happens when it is selected.

Suitable options include:

• Accept and Continue
• Continue to Knowledge Base
• I Understand
• Agree and Continue
• Open Knowledge Base

Avoid vague wording such as:

• Submit
• Next
• Click Here
• Enter

The visitor should understand that selecting the button gives access to the knowledge base.

How acceptance is remembered

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base stores the visitor’s acceptance in browser session storage.

This means the acceptance normally lasts for the current browser session.

The visitor should not need to accept the notice again while continuing through articles, categories and search results in the same session.

When the browser session ends, the gate may appear again during a future visit.

What is browser session storage?

Session storage is a feature built into modern web browsers.

It allows a website to remember a small value while the current browsing session remains open.

For the privacy gate, it is used to remember that the visitor has accepted the notice.

It is not used by the gate to store:

• The visitor’s name
• Their email address
• Their home address
• A customer account password
• A written response

The stored value is only intended to control whether the gate should be shown again during that session.

Is the acceptance stored in WordPress?

The gate acceptance is handled in the visitor’s browser.

It is not intended to create a WordPress user account or save a named acceptance record in the WordPress database.

This keeps the gate simple and avoids asking visitors for personal details before reading documentation.

What happens if session storage is blocked?

If the browser blocks session storage, the gate may appear again when the visitor opens another knowledge base page or reloads the website.

The visitor may need to accept the notice more than once.

This can also happen when using:

• Strict privacy browser settings
• Private browsing
• Browser extensions that clear storage
• Security software that blocks website storage
• A browser that removes session data between pages

The knowledge base itself may still work after the visitor accepts the notice.

What happens when the browser is closed?

Because the acceptance is stored for the browser session, closing the browser may remove it.

The privacy gate can then appear again during the visitor’s next session.

This is different from a long-term cookie that remains saved for days or months.

Does the gate block every knowledge base page?

The gate is intended to protect access to the SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base content.

A visitor opening the main knowledge base, an article or a category may need to accept the notice before the normal content is shown.

After acceptance, they can continue browsing within the same session.

The exact entry point may depend on how they reached the knowledge base.

Direct article links

A visitor may arrive directly at an article from:

• A search engine
• An email
• A support reply
• A social media post
• A saved bookmark

When the privacy gate is enabled, they may still be asked to accept the notice before reading the article.

They do not need to begin on the main knowledge base homepage.

Search engine access

The privacy gate is designed for human visitors.

Be careful when using any access gate on publicly indexed documentation because it can affect how visitors and search engines reach the content.

Check your public article pages after enabling it and make sure your website SEO setup continues working as intended.

If your knowledge base is intended to attract visitors through search engines, keep the notice short and easy to complete.

Privacy gate and anonymous analytics

The gate is particularly relevant when you enable features such as:

• Knowledge base search analytics
• Article view totals
• Helpful Yes and No feedback
• Search result counts
• Popular Articles based on views

These features are designed to work without requiring visitors to create accounts or submit names and email addresses.

Your privacy policy should still explain what information the website records and why.

Privacy gate and Search Analytics

Search Analytics can record information such as:

• The words visitors search for
• How often a search term is used
• Whether results were found
• When the term was last searched

This helps you identify missing documentation and common support topics.

Avoid encouraging visitors to enter personal, confidential or account-specific information into the knowledge base search box.

You can mention this in your privacy notice or search guidance if needed.

Privacy gate and article views

Article view tracking records totals that help identify frequently read guides.

The feature is intended to count article visits rather than build named visitor profiles.

Your privacy policy should explain that article usage totals may be collected to improve the documentation.

Privacy gate and helpful feedback

Helpful feedback records whether visitors select Yes or No on an article.

It does not require them to enter their name or email address.

The totals help you see which articles may need to be reviewed.

Explain this in your privacy policy if the feature is enabled.

The gate is not a full consent management system

The SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base privacy access gate is a simple access notice for the knowledge base.

It is not intended to replace a full website cookie or consent management system.

Your wider website may use other services such as:

• Website analytics
• Advertising
• Embedded videos
• Payment services
• Live chat
• Marketing forms

Those services may require their own notices or consent controls.

The knowledge base gate only controls access to SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base content.

Review your legal requirements

Privacy and cookie requirements depend on:

• Your country
• Where your visitors are located
• The information your website collects
• The services your website uses
• Your organisation’s policies

The plugin gives you tools for displaying a notice, but you remain responsible for deciding what wording and privacy controls your website requires.

Seek appropriate professional advice if you are unsure about your obligations.

Keep your privacy policy accurate

Your privacy policy should match the features currently enabled.

Review it when you:

• Enable Search Analytics
• Enable article view tracking
• Enable article feedback
• Add new website analytics
• Change browser storage behaviour
• Add a new contact or support system
• Change how long information is retained

Do not copy wording that describes features your website does not use.

Example privacy gate wording

You could use wording such as:

Heading

Before You Continue

Message

We use anonymous knowledge base analytics, including article views, search terms and helpful feedback, to understand how our documentation is used and improve the help we provide. Please read our Privacy Policy before continuing.

Button

Accept and Continue

Adjust the wording so it matches your own website and enabled settings.

A shorter example

For a simpler notice:

Heading

Privacy Notice

Message

This knowledge base uses anonymous usage information to help us improve our articles and search results. Please review our Privacy Policy before continuing.

Button

Continue to Knowledge Base

The full details can remain on your privacy policy page.

Avoid overly reassuring claims

Do not use wording such as:

• We collect absolutely no data
• Nothing is stored
• This is completely anonymous in every situation
• No third parties are involved

unless you have checked the full website and can support those statements.

The knowledge base may be only one part of the page.

Your theme, hosting, security tools or other website services may process additional technical information.

Avoid frightening wording

The gate should inform visitors without making the knowledge base look unsafe.

Avoid messages such as:

• Warning: Your activity is being tracked
• We monitor everything you do
• You must surrender your data to continue

Use calm, factual wording that explains the purpose of the enabled features.

Check the privacy policy link

After saving the gate:

1. Open the knowledge base in a private browser window.
2. Select the Privacy Policy link.
3. Confirm that the correct page opens.
4. Return to the knowledge base.
5. Accept the notice.
6. Check that the knowledge base becomes available.

Also test the link on mobile.

Test acceptance across pages

After accepting the gate:

1. Open a category.
2. Open an article.
3. Use the search box.
4. Return to the main knowledge base.
5. Open another article.

The gate should not repeatedly interrupt normal browsing during the same session.

Test a new browser session

To confirm the session behaviour:

1. Close the private browser window.
2. Open a new private window.
3. Visit the knowledge base again.
4. Check whether the privacy gate returns.

This helps confirm that the acceptance is being stored for the current session rather than permanently.

The privacy gate is not showing

If the gate does not appear, check that:

• The privacy gate is enabled
• The settings were saved
• A heading and message have been entered
• You are viewing a public knowledge base page
• Your SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base licence is active
• The website cache has been cleared
• Your browser has not already accepted it during the current session

Open a new private browser window to test it properly.

The gate appears on every page

If the visitor must accept it repeatedly, browser session storage may not be working.

Check whether:

• Private browsing is clearing storage
• A browser extension is blocking session storage
• A website security policy blocks browser storage
• Different versions of the domain are being used
• One page uses www and another does not
• One page uses HTTP and another uses HTTPS
• The website is redirecting between domains

Use one consistent website address throughout the knowledge base.

The Accept button does nothing

If selecting the button does not open the knowledge base:

1. Reload the page.
2. Clear the website cache.
3. Test in another browser.
4. Temporarily disable script delay or optimisation.
5. Check the browser console for JavaScript errors.
6. Test while signed out of WordPress.

The gate requires JavaScript to remember the acceptance and reveal the content.

A script error elsewhere on the page may stop it from working.

The privacy policy link is missing

Check that a valid privacy policy URL has been entered.

Use the complete address, including:

https://

For example:

https://example.com/privacy-policy

Save the settings and clear the page cache.

The wrong privacy policy opens

Open the Privacy & SEO settings and review the saved URL.

Make sure it does not point to:

• An old domain
• A staging website
• A draft page
• A deleted page
• A different organisation’s privacy policy

Update the URL and test again.

The knowledge base briefly appears before the gate

A brief flash of the knowledge base content may be caused by:

• Page caching
• Delayed CSS
• Delayed JavaScript
• Script optimisation
• Theme loading behaviour

Clear optimisation caches and test without delayed JavaScript.

Also check that the gate styles and scripts are not being moved to the bottom of the page by another website feature.

The gate design does not match the website

Review the SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base Design settings.

Depending on the current version, the gate may use colours from:

• The primary knowledge base colour
• Button colours
• Heading colours
• Main text colours
• Background settings

Choose colours that match your website while keeping the notice easy to read.

Check colour contrast

Make sure that:

• The heading is readable
• The message has enough contrast
• The privacy policy link looks clickable
• The acceptance button is easy to see
• Button text contrasts with the button background

Test the gate in both light and dark areas of your theme if the page design changes between devices.

Check the gate on mobile

On a phone or tablet, make sure that:

• The full message is visible
• The text is not too small
• The privacy policy link is easy to tap
• The acceptance button fits the screen
• The gate does not extend beyond the page width
• The page can scroll if the message is long
• The knowledge base opens after acceptance

Keep the message reasonably short so the button is easy to reach.

Disable the privacy gate

To remove it:

1. Open Knowledge Base > Settings.
2. Select Privacy & SEO.
3. Disable the Privacy Access Gate.
4. Select Save Changes.
5. Clear the website cache.

Visitors will then be able to open the knowledge base without accepting the gate.

Disabling it does not automatically disable analytics features.

Review your privacy policy and analytics settings separately.

Privacy access gate checklist

Before finishing, check that:

• The privacy access gate is enabled
• The heading is clear
• The message matches the features being used
• The privacy policy URL is correct
• The acceptance button wording is clear
• The gate works while signed out
• Acceptance is remembered during the browser session
• Direct article links are tested
• The gate does not repeatedly appear between pages
• Search, article views and feedback are described accurately
• The wider website privacy controls have been considered
• The design works on desktop and mobile

The privacy access gate is now ready to explain your knowledge base privacy settings before visitors continue.