Knowledge bases aren’t exactly known for their looks. But that doesn’t mean they have to be bland.

If anything, just the opposite: Taking steps to improve the user experience on your knowledge base can pay dividends in the form of improved navigation, easier-to-find information, and fewer customers emailing or calling for hands-on help.

If you’re using native Confluence to power your knowledge base, you may be only scratching the surface of what’s possible in terms of customization and design. Apps like Refined Sites for Confluence from the Atlassian Marketplace give you the tools to build knowledge base sites that look and feel like modern websites, no code required. Done right, they can delight users with thoughtful design that makes help easy to find—all wrapped in a theme that matches your brand guidelines.

To prove our point, we rounded up three appealing Confluence-based sites. Each is built with Refined Sites for Confluence and each boasts an easy-to-navigate UI, a custom domain, and good looks to boot. Here they are:

1. Gruntify’s Help Center

Company: Newstead, Australia-based Gruntify makes software to help insurance and maintenance teams manage field inspections, reporting and logistics.

URL: help.gruntify.com

Built with: Refined Sites for Confluence; Refined Sites for Jira Service Management

What’s it for? Customer help center with knowledge base articles, FAQs, release notes, and support.

Why we love it:

• In a word: simplicity. Gruntify’s minimalist approach prevents the information overload symptomatic of more-crowded sites, and it’s achieved with a few strategic design decisions:
• Super-sized Search Highlight: The dominant element of Gruntify’s help center is an extra-tall Search Highlight module with a faded monochromatic background in the brand’s signature blue. Search Highlights, as you might guess, encourage users to search if they’re placed prominently on-page, and they can be customized with colors and gradients using built-in tools or your own imagery.
• A handful of custom-coded Navigation Highlights: Grunitfy’s show-stopping Navigation Highlight modules are large and easy to read, and they’ve been custom-coded to add shadows, rounded corners and brand fonts.
• Minimalist header and footer: Gruntify’s emphasis on simplicity carries through even to the header and the footer, which sports one of the cleanest, simplest designs we’ve seen on a Refined site.

2. SpotOn’s Help Center

Company: San Francisco-based SpotOn makes software and payment solutions for businesses.

URL: help.spoton.com

Built with: Refined Sites for Confluence

What’s it for? Customer help center with product instructions, onboarding guides, a bridge to product support, and other resources.

Why we love it:

• Branded Search Highlight: If you know the SpotOn brand — and presumably visitors do, as customers are the intended audience — you needn’t look further than the Search Highlight’s background to recognize it. Adding branded imagery is a simple and effective way of telling users they’ve come to the right place.
• Modules optimized for navigation: SpotOn went the simple route for their knowledge base home, with four Navigation Content modules placed prominently under the Search Highlight to help users get around. So that users know what’s behind every click, they’ve made full use of the modules, adding an image, a headline, explainer text and a button to each. (You can add as much or as little to the module as you’d like.)
• Design consistency site-wide: Landing pages share the layout of the site home—a Search Highlight with Navigation Content modules below—making for a consistent architecture site-wide.

"Adding branded imagery is a simple and effective way of telling users they’ve come to the right place."

3. Bridge’s Legal Help Center

Company: San Francisco-based Bridge’s platform and services help businesses manage the immigration process for employees.

URL: help.bridge.legal

Built with: Refined Sites for Confluence

What's it for? A place where customers can access critical immigration-related legal information as well as product instructions and updates.

Why we love it:

• News-centric feed: News and updates are the centerpiece of Bridge’s site, so they’ve stacked two News Modules on the site home.
• Quick access to key forms: Rather than layering key forms deeper into the site, Bridge dropped them right on the home page. Users can access key immigration forms from a Pages Module (set to list-style display) on the left-hand side.
• Custom-coded return-to-product button: A “Back to Dashboard” button for easy navigation back to the Bridge platform appears at the top of the site in the right-hand corner, bridging the gap between their product and their knowledge base.

Build a Knowledge Base You Love

Try Refined for free for 30 days at the Atlassian Marketplace.

Have you made a knowledge base you love? Send a link or screenshots to marketing@refined.com.