Overview
You'll customize your help center's appearance, navigation, contact options, and SEO settings to match your brand and provide an optimal user experience. This allows you to create a cohesive support experience that aligns with your company's identity.
Prerequisites
Admin or Owner role in your Ferndesk account
Access to your company logo and favicon files (if customizing branding)
Domain management access (if setting up a custom domain)
Compatibility
These instructions apply to all Ferndesk plans. Some advanced features like custom domains may require a paid plan.
Accessing Help Center Customization Settings
Navigate to your Ferndesk dashboard
Click on Help Center in the sidebar under the Workspace header
Select Customize from the submenu
Customizing Your Help Center
The customization interface is organized into several categories. You can preview all changes in real-time before saving.
Header Settings
Configure the top section of your help center:
Header Title: Set the text that appears at the top of your help center
Show Popular Articles: Toggle to display popular articles in the header
Header Text Color: Choose the color of text in the header
Background Settings: Customize the header background with colors or gradients
Pro tip: Keep your header title concise but descriptive. Consider using your company name or a clear descriptor like "Support Center" or "Help Portal."
Branding
Customize your help center to match your brand identity:
Logo: Upload your company logo (recommended size: 200x50 pixels)
Circular Logo: Toggle for circular logo display
Logo Text: Add text that appears next to your logo
Primary Color: Set the main color for links and buttons
Favicon: Upload a browser tab icon (recommended size: 16x16 pixels)
For best results, use the recommended image dimensions. Images that are too large may affect loading times, while images that are too small may appear pixelated.
Navigation
Set up navigation links for your help center:
Header Links: Add up to 3 links in the header navigation
Footer Links: Add up to 3 links in the footer navigation
Contact Configuration
Configure how users can reach your support team:
Contact Method: Choose between email or link
Support Email: Enter your support email address
Contact Link: Add a URL to your contact page
Contact CTA: Customize the text on the contact button (e.g., "Contact us")
SEO Settings
Optimize your help center for search engines:
Page Title: Set the browser tab and search result title (50-60 characters recommended)
Meta Description: Write a description that appears in search results
SEO Image: Upload a social sharing image (recommended size: 1200x630 pixels)
Keep your SEO title between 50-60 characters for optimal display in search results. Write a compelling meta description that accurately describes your help center's content.
Custom Domain
Connect a custom subdomain to your help center:
Domain Setup: Configure a subdomain (e.g., help.yourcompany.com)
DNS Configuration: Set up a CNAME record with verification
Custom domains require DNS configuration. You'll need access to your domain's DNS settings to add a CNAME record. Note that only subdomains are supported (not apex domains).
Saving Your Changes
After making your desired customizations, click Save changes
Your changes will be applied immediately
You can always return to make further adjustments
After saving, your help center will reflect all your customizations. You can visit your help center directly to see how the changes look to your users.
Troubleshooting
Symptom | Likely Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
Logo or favicon not displaying correctly | Image dimensions or format issues | Ensure images meet recommended dimensions (200x50 for logo, 16x16 for favicon) and are in common web formats (PNG, JPEG, GIF) |
Custom domain not working | Incorrect DNS configuration | Verify your CNAME record is correctly set up and propagated. DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to fully propagate. |
Contact form not working | Invalid email address or URL | Verify that your email address is correctly formatted or that your contact link is a valid URL. |
Limitations
Limited to 3 header links and 3 footer links
Requires a subdomain for custom domains (no apex domain support)
SEO title should be 50-60 characters for optimal display
Recommended image dimensions must be followed for best results
What's Next
Learn about help center audits to monitor your help center's performance
Explore how to create and edit articles to populate your help center with content
Getting Help
If you encounter issues with help center customization:
Check that your image files meet the recommended dimensions
Verify DNS configuration for custom domains
Ensure contact information is correctly formatted
Contact support with details about the issue, including screenshots if possible