Product documentation Docs
    • English
    • Deutsch
    • 日本語
    • 한국어
    • Français
  • More Sites
    • Now Community
    • Developer Site
    • Knowledge Base
    • Product Information
    • ServiceNow.com
    • Training
    • Customer Success Center
    • ServiceNow Support Videos
  • Log in

Product documentation

  • Home
How search works:
  • Punctuation and capital letters are ignored
  • Special characters like underscores (_) are removed
  • Known synonyms are applied
  • The most relevant topics (based on weighting and matching to search terms) are listed first in search results
Topics are ranked in search results by how closely they match your search terms
  • A match on the entire phrase you typed
  • A match on part of the phrase you typed
  • A match on ALL of the terms in the phrase you typed
  • A match on ANY of the terms in the phrase you typed

Note: Matches in titles are always highly ranked.

  • Release version
    Table of Contents
    • Now Platform capabilities
Table of Contents
Choose your release version
    Home Orlando Now Platform Capabilities Now Platform capabilities Knowledge Management Configure Knowledge Management Create a knowledge base

    Create a knowledge base

    • Save as PDF Selected topic Topic & subtopics All topics in contents
    • Unsubscribe Log in to subscribe to topics and get notified when content changes.
    • Share this page

    Create a knowledge base

    Create a knowledge base to provide a self-service platform for users to store, share, and manage content. Configure knowledge bases into product or service categories and manage user access based on permissions. Customize workflows for publishing and retiring articles in the knowledge base.

    Before you begin

    Understand the requirements for setting up a knowledge base.

    Role required: knowledge_admin or admin

    Procedure

    1. Navigate to Knowledge > Administration > Knowledge bases.
    2. In the Knowledge Bases list, click New.
    3. On the Knowledge base form, fill in the following fields as appropriate:
      Table 1. Knowledge base form
      Field Description
      Title Unique name for the knowledge base.
      Article Validity Number of default days articles will be valid for after their created date.
      Note: The Article Validity field is configured to set the Valid to date for an article. The Valid to date is the date this knowledge article expires. When you create an article within a knowledge base, the date value in the Valid to field of the article is calculated as follows: Created (sys_created_on) + Article Validity (in days). An article author or editor can select whether to keep or change the Valid to date  (see Create a knowledge article). If the Article Validity field is blank, the date in the Valid to field date is set to  January 1, 2100.
      Icon An image that provides a visual reference to describe the knowledge base. This image is displayed next to all articles from this knowledge base in the article search results page.
      Disable commenting Option to disable commenting. If selected, users cannot comment on articles in the knowledge base.
      Disable suggesting Option to disable edit suggestions. If selected, users cannot suggest edits to articles in the knowledge base.
      Disable category editing Option to disable editing of knowledge categories. If selected, only knowledge managers can add or edit knowledge categories for the knowledge base.
      Enable blocks Option to enable the knowledge blocks feature. If selected, you can create knowledge blocks to add to knowledge articles within a knowledge base.
      Checklist Checklist to evaluate the quality of articles in the knowledge base.
      Application Application scope of the knowledge base.
      Note: This field is automatically set to the application selected in the application picker. For information about a scoped knowledge base, see Scoped knowledge bases.
      Owner The user responsible for the knowledge base. A knowledge base owner can assign other roles to the knowledge base.
      Managers Users who perform administrative functions on the knowledge base.
      Publish workflow The workflow for publishing the articles in the knowledge base.
      • Knowledge - Instant Publish: publishes articles in the knowledge base without requiring an approval.
      • Knowledge - Approval Publish: requests approval from the manager of the knowledge base before moving the articles to the published state.
      Retire workflow The workflow for retiring the articles in the knowledge base.
      • Knowledge - Instant Retire: retires articles in the knowledge base without requiring an approval.
      • Knowledge - Approval Retire: requests approval from the manager of the knowledge base before moving the articles to the retired state.
      Active Option to indicate that the knowledge base is active. If not selected, only users with the admin role can create or view its articles.
      Enable social questions and answers Option to enable social Q&A for articles in the knowledge base.
      Description A short description to describe the knowledge base.
      Set default knowledge field values Default configuration settings for the knowledge base.
      Related products List of products related to the knowledge base content.
      Auto-create translation tasks Option to enable creating translation tasks automatically after an article is published. If selected, when a knowledge article is published in this knowledge base, translation tasks are automatically created for the configured languages.

      This field appears only when the translation management feature and glide.knowman.translation.enable_translation_task property are enabled. For more information, see Translation management and Knowledge properties.

      Languages Languages enabled for the knowledge articles in this knowledge base.

      If your system has more languages, use this option to select only those languages in which you want to translate knowledge articles in this knowledge base.

      You can add more languages later. However, you can remove languages only when no knowledge articles exist in that language.

      This field appears only when the translation management feature and glide.knowman.translation.enable_translation_task property are enabled. For more information, see Translation management and Knowledge properties.

    4. Right-click the form header and click Save.
    5. In the related list section, view or configure the following items related to the knowledge base:
      Name Description
      Knowledge List of knowledge articles stored in this knowledge base.
      Questions List of Social Q&A questions stored in this knowledge base.
      Can Read List of user criteria that grants read access and enables user matching the criteria to read articles in a knowledge base.
      Note: It is recommended to assign appropriate user criteria to secure read access. See, Select user criteria for a knowledge base.
      Can Contribute List of user criteria that grants contribute access and enables user matching the criteria to create and modify articles in a knowledge base.
      Note: It is recommended to assign appropriate user criteria to secure contribute access. See, Select user criteria for a knowledge base.
      Article Templates If you have activated the Knowledge Management Advanced (com.snc.knowledge_advanced) plugin, the Article Templates related list is displayed.

      If there are article templates in the related list, articles in that knowledge base can only be created using one of the article templates listed.

      If the Article Templates related list is empty, articles can be created using any article template.

      Click Edit to map article templates to the knowledge base.
      Note: Admins, knowledge admins, and knowledge managers can edit the article templates for the knowledge base.
      Featured Content List of knowledge articles that appear in the homepage Featured Content section based on the corresponding keyword search set for each article.
      Knowledge Categories List of knowledge categories associated with this knowledge base.
    6. Click Submit.
    Related tasks
    • Control access at the knowledge base level through user criteria
    • Enable social Q&A for a knowledge base
    • Create a custom knowledge homepage
    Related concepts
    • I18N - Knowledge internationalization
    Related reference
    • Knowledge workflows
    • Knowledge properties
    Related topics
    • Explicit roles

    Tags:

    Feedback
    On this page

    Previous topic

    Next topic

    • Contact Us
    • Careers
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Statement
    • Sitemap
    • © ServiceNow. All rights reserved.

    Release version
    Choose your release version

      Create a knowledge base

      • Save as PDF Selected topic Topic & subtopics All topics in contents
      • Unsubscribe Log in to subscribe to topics and get notified when content changes.
      • Share this page

      Create a knowledge base

      Create a knowledge base to provide a self-service platform for users to store, share, and manage content. Configure knowledge bases into product or service categories and manage user access based on permissions. Customize workflows for publishing and retiring articles in the knowledge base.

      Before you begin

      Understand the requirements for setting up a knowledge base.

      Role required: knowledge_admin or admin

      Procedure

      1. Navigate to Knowledge > Administration > Knowledge bases.
      2. In the Knowledge Bases list, click New.
      3. On the Knowledge base form, fill in the following fields as appropriate:
        Table 1. Knowledge base form
        Field Description
        Title Unique name for the knowledge base.
        Article Validity Number of default days articles will be valid for after their created date.
        Note: The Article Validity field is configured to set the Valid to date for an article. The Valid to date is the date this knowledge article expires. When you create an article within a knowledge base, the date value in the Valid to field of the article is calculated as follows: Created (sys_created_on) + Article Validity (in days). An article author or editor can select whether to keep or change the Valid to date  (see Create a knowledge article). If the Article Validity field is blank, the date in the Valid to field date is set to  January 1, 2100.
        Icon An image that provides a visual reference to describe the knowledge base. This image is displayed next to all articles from this knowledge base in the article search results page.
        Disable commenting Option to disable commenting. If selected, users cannot comment on articles in the knowledge base.
        Disable suggesting Option to disable edit suggestions. If selected, users cannot suggest edits to articles in the knowledge base.
        Disable category editing Option to disable editing of knowledge categories. If selected, only knowledge managers can add or edit knowledge categories for the knowledge base.
        Enable blocks Option to enable the knowledge blocks feature. If selected, you can create knowledge blocks to add to knowledge articles within a knowledge base.
        Checklist Checklist to evaluate the quality of articles in the knowledge base.
        Application Application scope of the knowledge base.
        Note: This field is automatically set to the application selected in the application picker. For information about a scoped knowledge base, see Scoped knowledge bases.
        Owner The user responsible for the knowledge base. A knowledge base owner can assign other roles to the knowledge base.
        Managers Users who perform administrative functions on the knowledge base.
        Publish workflow The workflow for publishing the articles in the knowledge base.
        • Knowledge - Instant Publish: publishes articles in the knowledge base without requiring an approval.
        • Knowledge - Approval Publish: requests approval from the manager of the knowledge base before moving the articles to the published state.
        Retire workflow The workflow for retiring the articles in the knowledge base.
        • Knowledge - Instant Retire: retires articles in the knowledge base without requiring an approval.
        • Knowledge - Approval Retire: requests approval from the manager of the knowledge base before moving the articles to the retired state.
        Active Option to indicate that the knowledge base is active. If not selected, only users with the admin role can create or view its articles.
        Enable social questions and answers Option to enable social Q&A for articles in the knowledge base.
        Description A short description to describe the knowledge base.
        Set default knowledge field values Default configuration settings for the knowledge base.
        Related products List of products related to the knowledge base content.
        Auto-create translation tasks Option to enable creating translation tasks automatically after an article is published. If selected, when a knowledge article is published in this knowledge base, translation tasks are automatically created for the configured languages.

        This field appears only when the translation management feature and glide.knowman.translation.enable_translation_task property are enabled. For more information, see Translation management and Knowledge properties.

        Languages Languages enabled for the knowledge articles in this knowledge base.

        If your system has more languages, use this option to select only those languages in which you want to translate knowledge articles in this knowledge base.

        You can add more languages later. However, you can remove languages only when no knowledge articles exist in that language.

        This field appears only when the translation management feature and glide.knowman.translation.enable_translation_task property are enabled. For more information, see Translation management and Knowledge properties.

      4. Right-click the form header and click Save.
      5. In the related list section, view or configure the following items related to the knowledge base:
        Name Description
        Knowledge List of knowledge articles stored in this knowledge base.
        Questions List of Social Q&A questions stored in this knowledge base.
        Can Read List of user criteria that grants read access and enables user matching the criteria to read articles in a knowledge base.
        Note: It is recommended to assign appropriate user criteria to secure read access. See, Select user criteria for a knowledge base.
        Can Contribute List of user criteria that grants contribute access and enables user matching the criteria to create and modify articles in a knowledge base.
        Note: It is recommended to assign appropriate user criteria to secure contribute access. See, Select user criteria for a knowledge base.
        Article Templates If you have activated the Knowledge Management Advanced (com.snc.knowledge_advanced) plugin, the Article Templates related list is displayed.

        If there are article templates in the related list, articles in that knowledge base can only be created using one of the article templates listed.

        If the Article Templates related list is empty, articles can be created using any article template.

        Click Edit to map article templates to the knowledge base.
        Note: Admins, knowledge admins, and knowledge managers can edit the article templates for the knowledge base.
        Featured Content List of knowledge articles that appear in the homepage Featured Content section based on the corresponding keyword search set for each article.
        Knowledge Categories List of knowledge categories associated with this knowledge base.
      6. Click Submit.
      Related tasks
      • Control access at the knowledge base level through user criteria
      • Enable social Q&A for a knowledge base
      • Create a custom knowledge homepage
      Related concepts
      • I18N - Knowledge internationalization
      Related reference
      • Knowledge workflows
      • Knowledge properties
      Related topics
      • Explicit roles

      Tags:

      Feedback

          Share this page

          Got it! Feel free to add a comment
          To share your product suggestions, visit the Idea Portal.
          Please let us know how to improve this content

          Check any that apply

          To share your product suggestions, visit the Idea Portal.
          Confirm

          We were unable to find "Coaching" in Jakarta. Would you like to search instead?

          No Yes
          • Contact Us
          • Careers
          • Terms of Use
          • Privacy Statement
          • Sitemap
          • © ServiceNow. All rights reserved.

          Subscribe Subscribed Unsubscribe Last updated: Tags: January February March April May June July August September October November December No Results Found Versions Search preferences successfully updated My release version successfully updated My release version successfully deleted An error has occurred. Please try again later. You have been unsubscribed from all topics. You are now subscribed to and will receive notifications if any changes are made to this page. You have been unsubscribed from this content Thank you for your feedback. Form temporarily unavailable. Please try again or contact  docfeedback@servicenow.com  to submit your comments. The topic you requested does not exist in the release. You were redirected to a related topic instead. The available release versions for this topic are listed There is no specific version for this documentation. Explore products Click to go to the page. Release notes and upgrades Click to open the dropdown menu. Delete Remove No selected version Reset This field is required You are already subscribed to this topic Attach screenshot The file you uploaded exceeds the allowed file size of 20MB. Please try again with a smaller file. Please complete the reCAPTCHA step to attach a screenshot
          Log in to personalize your search results and subscribe to topics
          No, thanks Login