Inline images in Knowledge articles display as broken across all browsers

Issue symptoms

Inline images in knowledge base articles display as broken links for all users, or don't display for anonymous users or end users.

This problem occurs when an article contains inline image attachments from another article that is:

Restricted to a specific group of users

In draft status

In archived status

Due to any of these reasons, the image displays as a broken link, followed by the image name:

Resolution steps

To fix this issue, follow the step corresponding to the article status:

If the article is restricted to a specific group of users, update the restriction settings

If the article is in draft status, publish the article

If the article is in an archived status, restore the article

Alternatively, download the attachments and upload them individually to each article or use the knowledge media library. This is the recommended approach.

To identify the location of the attachment in the original article:

Inspect the individual element in the browser console and copy its unique numerical ID

Run the following API call for article attachments:

https://{{subdomain}}.zendesk.com/api/v2/help_center/articles/attachments/123456789.json

Replace subdomain with yoursubdomain and the unique ID value with that of the original article inline attachment.

You'll receive the following response that retrieves the original article source:

{
"article_attachment": {
"id": 123456789,
"url": "https://subdomain.zendesk.com/api/v2/help_center/articles/attachments/123456789",
"article_id": 360001328736,
"display_file_name": "Screen Shot 2020-02.png",
"file_name": "Screen_Shot_2020-02.png",
"content_url": "https://subdomain.zendesk.com/hc/article_attachments/1233456789/Screen_Shot_2020-02.png",
"relative_path": "/hc/article_attachments/123456789/Screen_Shot_2020-02.png",
"content_type": "image/png",
"size": 218402,
"inline": true,
"created_at": "2020-02-30T16:30:33Z",
"updated_at": "2020-02-30T16:45:03Z"
}
}

After you identify the article's unique ID, add it to any knowledge base article editor and this returns the article, for example:

https://{{subdomain}}.zendesk.com/knowledge/articles/360001328736/en-us?brand_id=3149466

For more information, see Working with articles in the knowledge base.