Quick Start Guide

Welcome to the Ace Strategies Knowledge Management System (KMS). This is your launchpad — below you'll find what the KMS is, how it's organized, and which guide to read next.

What Is the KMS?

The KMS is a git-backed content management system powering the internal knowledge base for Ace Strategies staff. Content is authored in Markdown, managed through the Sveltia CMS, and published to the staff portal at /staff/knowledge/.

Staff-Only Library

The Ace Strategies knowledge base at /staff/knowledge/ is strictly separate from the Invest Australia Alliance knowledge base at /alliance/members/knowledge/. Do not link across — each audience has its own library.

What It Replaces

Before the KMS, internal knowledge lived in shared drives, email threads, and personal Obsidian vaults — invisible to the team and impossible to search. The KMS centralises everything in one structured, searchable, access-controlled environment.

Key Principles

Principle What It Means
Write Freely New articles start as drafts. Nothing goes live until you publish it.
Structure Consistently Every article follows the same metadata schema — categories, tags, difficulty, content type.
Link Everything Wikilinks connect related articles. Related-article sections surface what to read next.
Review Before Publishing A four-stage workflow (Draft → Review → Published → Archived) keeps quality high.

Documentation Suite

The KMS documentation is organised into seven articles. Start at the top and work down, or jump to what you need:

# Article What You'll Learn
1 Quick Start Guide (this article) System overview, documentation map, core concepts
2 Write Your First Article Hands-on: create a real briefing note from scratch
3 Using the CMS Navigate Sveltia, use the editor, upload media, manage files
4 Review & Publish Workflow The full draft→review→publish→archive lifecycle
5 Glossary Every term, status, field, and concept defined
6 Content Templates & Examples Copy-paste real examples: briefing note, research report, case study
7 Style Guide Voice, tone, formatting, callout conventions, naming standards

First time here?

Read this Quick Start, then work through Write Your First Article. It takes about 20 minutes and you'll have a published article by the end.

Article Structure

Every KMS article has two parts: front matter (metadata that drives the system) and body (the content readers see).

Front Matter

The YAML block at the top of every .md file defines how the article behaves in the system:

---
title: Your Article Title
status: published         # draft | review | published | archived
date: 2026-04-30
author: Your Name
category: Government Relations
excerpt: One-sentence summary.
tags_list:
  - tag-one
  - tag-two
---

The status field is the most important — it controls whether your article appears on the live site. See the Glossary for every field definition.

Body

Standard Markdown with rich formatting:

  • Headings (H2, H3) structure your content and auto-generate the table of contents
  • Callouts (note, tip, warning, info, success, and 17 more types) highlight key information
  • Wikilinks ([[Article Title]]) connect articles together
  • Tables, code blocks, images, and lists work as expected

Table of Contents

Set table_of_contents: true in your front matter and the system auto-generates a TOC from your H2 and H3 headings.

The Content Workflow at a Glance

✏️ Draft          →   👁️ Review        →   ✅ Published       →   📦 Archived
In progress            Ready for check        Live on the site       Retired for reference
Not visible            Not visible            Visible to members     Hidden from index

For a detailed walkthrough with screenshots, read Review & Publish Workflow.

Categories at a Glance

Articles are organised into ten categories mirroring Ace Strategies' practice areas:

  • Government Relations — Political strategy, regulatory navigation
  • Strategic Communications — Messaging, narrative development
  • Stakeholder Engagement — Community consultation, partnerships
  • Media Management — Media relations, issues management
  • Market Entry & Growth — Australian market entry strategy
  • Polling & Research — Public opinion research, data analysis
  • Public Affairs — Policy advocacy, government liaison
  • KMS Operations — How the knowledge base works, editorial process, platform docs
  • Editorial Standards — Writing style, formatting conventions, content templates
  • Practice Playbooks — Repeatable workflows for client-facing practice areas
  • Onboarding — New-starter guides and induction checklists
  • Policy & Regulation — Legislative analysis, compliance
  • Industry Intelligence — Sector analysis, competitive landscape

Full definitions in the Glossary.

Content Types at a Glance

Type Use For Example
Briefing Note Concise executive summaries Pre-meeting briefing on a minister's portfolio
Research Report In-depth analysis with data SA state polling trend analysis
How-To Guide Step-by-step instructions This documentation suite
Policy Analysis Legislative impact assessment FIRB rule changes and market entry implications
Case Study Real engagement outcomes Aspen Medical government relations engagement
Reference Material Factual documents State government contact directory
Template Reusable frameworks Client engagement proposal template
Training Resource Onboarding materials New staff induction guide

See real examples with full markdown source in Content Templates & Examples.

Next Steps

  1. New to the KMS?Write Your First Article — hands-on tutorial
  2. Need to publish something?Review & Publish Workflow — the full lifecycle
  3. Looking for a definition?Glossary — every term explained
  4. Want writing standards?Style Guide — voice, tone, conventions
  5. Need a starting template?Content Templates & Examples — copy and adapt

You're Ready

The KMS is designed to be safe — you cannot accidentally publish. Write freely, explore the CMS, and refer back to these guides whenever you need them.