# HelpCenter.io glossary

_Category: Getting started_

The terms you'll meet in HelpCenter.io and in this help center, in plain words. Each one links to the article that explains it in full.

## A

**Admin.** A team role for people who run a help center with you: its content, design, settings and team. See [Roles and permissions](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/roles-and-permissions).

**AI agents connector.** Connects Claude, ChatGPT and other AI agents to your help center, so they can work with your articles and statistics with the permissions you give them. Growth and Catalyst plans. See [Connect Claude, ChatGPT and other AI agents](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/connect-ai-agents).

**AI Answers.** Answers readers' questions in your help center and in the widget, written only from your published articles, with links to the sources. Included in Catalyst, or as an add-on on Bootstrap and Growth. See [Turn on AI Answers](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/ai-answers).

**API key.** A secret that lets your own code and tools use the HelpCenter.io API, with read-only or read and write access. You create keys under **Settings** → **API keys**. See [Create an API key](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/create-an-api-key).

**Article.** A page of help content with a title, a body and a category. An article is either a long-form guide or a short FAQ. See [Get to know the article editor](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/article-editor).

## C

**Category.** A group of related articles. Categories shape your help center's home page and navigation. See [Create and organize categories](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/organize-categories).

**Change set.** A bundle of changes, such as edits to live articles and new articles, that you publish together, either right away or at a time you schedule. Catalyst plan, as an early preview. See [Release many changes together with change sets](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/change-sets).

**Component.** A building block of a page in the template editor, such as the search bar, a category grid or the footer. See [Add, move and remove components](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/components).

**Custom domain.** Your own address for your help center, such as help.yourcompany.com, instead of your HelpCenter.io subdomain. Every plan, with free SSL. See [Use your own domain](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/custom-domain).

## D

**Dashboard.** The part of HelpCenter.io where your team writes articles, designs your help center and manages its settings. See [Find your way around the dashboard](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/dashboard-tour).

**Draft.** An article that isn't published. Only your team can see it. See [Publish an article](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/publish-an-article).

## E

**Editor.** A team role for people who write, edit and publish articles. See [Roles and permissions](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/roles-and-permissions).

**Embedding origins.** The list of websites allowed to show your widget or your embedded help center. While the list is empty, embedding is blocked everywhere. See [Choose which websites can show the widget](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/embedding-origins).

## F

**FAQ.** A short question and answer, up to 600 characters. FAQs can appear next to articles, on your help center's pages and in FAQ sections on your website. See [Write FAQs and add them to articles](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/write-faqs).

**FAQ section.** A block of FAQs you place on your own website, in one of 27 designs: all your FAQs by category, or only the ones you pick. See [Embed FAQ sections on your website](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/faq-sections).

## I

**Interface translations.** The built-in texts on your help center, such as buttons, labels and "On this page", in your other languages. You edit them under **Localization**. See [Translate buttons and labels](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/interface-translations).

## J

**JWT SSO.** Single sign-on for readers: people sign in to your private help center with your own company login, which passes HelpCenter.io a signed token (a JWT). Catalyst plan. See [Sign readers in with your own login (JWT SSO)](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/jwt-sso).

## O

**Owner.** The person who created the help center. The owner can do everything, including deleting the help center and managing billing. See [Roles and permissions](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/roles-and-permissions).

## P

**Page.** One of the six page types you design in the template editor: Home, Category, Article, Search, Contact and Not found. See [Pages, regions and shared headers explained](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/pages-and-regions).

**Proactive message.** A short message from the widget that invites visitors to get help, shown by rules such as the page they're on or how long they've been there. See [Invite visitors with proactive messages](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/proactive-messages).

**Public MCP server.** A read-only connection that lets readers use your help center inside their own AI assistant, such as Claude or ChatGPT. Every plan, and on by default for public help centers. See [Let readers use your help center in their AI assistant](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/public-mcp-server).

**Published.** An article that's live on your help center, where readers can browse to it and find it in search. See [Publish an article](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/publish-an-article).

## R

**Region.** An area of a page in the template editor that holds components: Header, Hero, Sidebar, Main, Footer or Utility. See [Pages, regions and shared headers explained](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/pages-and-regions).

**Release.** Making a translation of an article visible to readers. Until you release it, the translation stays hidden. See [Release translations and change your default language](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/manage-languages).

## S

**Staged changes.** Edits to a live article that are saved to a separate copy. Readers keep seeing the live version until you publish the changes. Catalyst plan, as an early preview. See [Edit live articles safely with staged changes](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/staged-changes).

**Subcategory.** A category inside another category. See [Create and organize categories](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/organize-categories).

**Subdomain.** Your help center's HelpCenter.io address, such as yourcompany.helpcenter.io. You choose it when you sign up. See [Change your help center's address](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/change-your-subdomain).

## T

**Template editor.** Where you design your help center: its theme, brand, colors, fonts, pages and navigation. Your changes stay a draft until you publish them. See [Get started with the template editor](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/template-editor).

**Theme.** A ready-made design from the Theme gallery. Applying one restyles your help center without touching your articles. You fine-tune colors and fonts on the **Theme** tab. See [Choose a theme](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/choose-a-theme).

**Translator.** A team role for people who translate existing articles into your other languages. See [Roles and permissions](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/roles-and-permissions).

**Trash.** Where deleted articles go. You can restore them from there, and Owners and Admins can delete them for good. See [Delete and restore articles](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/delete-and-restore-articles).

## U

**Unpublished.** An article that was live and has been taken down. It's a draft again, and readers can no longer open it. See [Unpublish an article](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/unpublish-an-article).

## V

**Version history.** The saved versions of an article, showing who changed what and when. You can compare versions and restore one. How far back it goes depends on your plan. It's all explained in [See and restore earlier versions of an article](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/article-versions).

**Viewer.** A team role for people who only need to read a private help center. Viewers don't use the dashboard. See [Roles and permissions](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/roles-and-permissions).

**Visibility.** Who can read your help center (**Public**, **Private** or **Password**) or a single article (**Public**, **Anyone with the link** or **Private**). See [Control who can see your help center](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/who-can-see-your-help-center) and [Choose who can read an article](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/article-access).

## W

**Webhook.** A message HelpCenter.io sends to your server when something changes, such as an article being published. You set webhooks up through the API. See [Webhooks](https://developers.helpcenter.io/content/webhooks) on the developer portal.

**Widget.** A help panel you add to your website or app, where visitors search and read your articles without leaving the page. Every plan. See [Add the widget to your website](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/install-the-widget).

## Related articles

- [Find your way around the dashboard](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/dashboard-tour)
- [Pages, regions and shared headers explained](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/pages-and-regions)
- [Edit live articles safely with staged changes](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/staged-changes)