Create or modify a knowledge block to define a reusable piece of content that can be inserted into knowledge articles in a knowledge base. The knowledge block is secured by user criteria, which controls what users, groups, roles, companies, locations, or departments can read or not read the content in an article or search, enabling users to more easily view content that is relevant to them.

Before you begin

Activate knowledge blocks

Role required: user must have contributor access to the knowledge base.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to All > Knowledge > Knowledge Blocks > Create New.
  2. Click New or open a record.
  3. Fill in the fields on the form.
    Table 1. Knowledge Block form
    FieldDescription
    Number This field is automatically set to a knowledge block number.
    Knowledge base Name of the knowledge base.

    The knowledge blocks feature must be enabled for each knowledge base that you plan to create blocks. See Enable knowledge blocks for each knowledge base.
    Category Name of the knowledge category or subcategory.
    Ownership Group Ownership group for the knowledge block. This field appears when the ownership groups feature is enabled.

    Knowledge blocks can be used with or without the ownership groups feature. To learn more about ownership groups, including how to enable the feature, see Ownership groups.
    Can read User criteria to apply for read access at the knowledge block level.

    User criteria set at the knowledge base and knowledge block level controls which users can read or not read block content within an article. To learn more about selecting user criteria for a knowledge block, see Select user criteria for a knowledge block.
    Cannot read User criteria to apply for cannot read access at the knowledge block level.

    User criteria set at the knowledge base and knowledge block level controls which users can read or not read block content within an article. To learn more about selecting user criteria for a knowledge block, see Select user criteria for a knowledge block.
    Valid to Date that the knowledge block expires. After the valid to date:
    • Knowledge article viewer will no longer display expired knowledge block content in the associated knowledge article.
    • Search will no longer return knowledge articles if the keywords are contained in the expired blocks.
    Short Description Description of the knowledge block.
    Text Text of the knowledge block.
    Version This field is automatically set to a version number when the article versioning feature is enabled.

    Knowledge blocks can be used with or without the article versioning feature. To learn more about article versioning, including how to disable the feature, see Article versioning.
    Article type This field is automatically set to HTML.
    Note: Knowledge blocks are only supported with HTML knowledge articles.
    Workflow This field is automatically set to the publication state of the block, such as Draft, Published, or Retired.
    Source task Not applicable.
  4. Click Save or Update to create or update the block.
  5. Click Publish to publish the block.
    Note: Any additional steps required to publish the knowledge block, such as approvals, depend on the publishing workflow for the knowledge base. See Knowledge workflows for more information.

What to do next

After the knowledge block is published, you can add the block to an article within the knowledge base.