Create and manage knowledge articles

Turn your customer questions, issues, and feedback into knowledge articles, so that agents can benefit from them. Add images and videos to your articles to explain things better and make the articles engaging. You can author, edit, search, publish, and translate the knowledge articles in the Customer Service Hub.

Knowledge articles can address any number of issues your customers encounter while using your organization's product or services. Types of knowledge articles can include solutions to common issues, product or feature documentation, answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ), product briefs, and more.

Make sure that you have Create and Read permissions on the Knowledge Article entity. By default, these permissions are added to the roles of knowledge manager, customer service manager, or customer service representative. Perform the following steps:

1. In the Customer Service Hub site map, go to Service > Knowledge Articles.

2. Select New. The New Knowledge Article page appears.

3. On the Content tab, Article Content section, fill in the following details:

   • Title: Type a descriptive title that communicates the subject and purpose of the article in a concise manner.

   • Keywords: Type or select keywords for the article. These keywords are used to search the knowledge base for articles. Separate keywords with commas.

   • Description: Type or select a short description of the article. The description appears in the search results and is used for search engine optimization.

     

4. In the CONTENT section, add the content for your knowledge article.

   Note

   As soon as you click within the editor space, the rich text editor command bar appears. Use the rich text editor command bar options to format and style your content. If you can't use the features, it means that your editing space is too small. You need to resize to a larger space. More information: Use the rich text editor to create knowledge articles and emails

5. Select Save.

   After the article is saved, the Business Process flow bar appears for the article. The stages are New Process, Author, Review, and Publish. The Business Process flow bar guides you to drive the article toward completeness. You can customize the stages in the Business Process flow to suit your requirements.

6. On the Business Process flow bar, select Author.

7. In the Set Keywords text box, add keywords for your article.

8. In the Article Subject dropdown list, choose the subject of the article to help with article searches.

9. In the Assign Primary Author dropdown list, choose a person who is responsible for maintaining the article content. By default, the user who creates the article is the primary author.

   Once a new article is created, the author value is replicated to Primary author if it's a system user but not a team. The knowledge article author must be a single user (not a team) in order for it to be searchable and to load properly.

   You can mark the article complete by selecting Mark Complete from the Mark for Review dropdown list at this stage.

Posts about knowledge article-related activities begin to appear in the Timeline section.

Use AI-suggested article keywords and descriptions

If your administrator enabled keywords and description suggestions, you can select and enter your preferred keywords and descriptions when authoring or updating knowledge articles. More information: Configure AI suggestions for article keywords and description

However, either the Title or Content fields—or any other corresponding mapped fields set by the administrator—must contain some value for suggestions to be generated. If any of the fields that the model uses to generate suggestions are empty, you see messages such as "There was a problem finding suggested keywords" or "There was a problem finding a suggested description."

1. In the article Content section, add the content for your knowledge article and then select Save. The View suggested keywords and description link appears.

2. Select the View suggested keywords and description link.

   

3. In the Suggested keywords and description dialog, perform the following steps:

   • Select the keywords that you want to add to your keywords list or select the Insert all keywords link to insert all the suggested keywords to the Keywords field. You can enter a keyword in the Keywords field to add to existing list.

   • Select Insert suggested description to add the description to the Description field.

     

4. Select Apply Changes.

The selected keywords and description appear in the Keywords and Description fields of the knowledge article form.

Create knowledge articles using templates

Authors can use the templates to create knowledge articles quickly because the fields for the knowledge article are prepopulated according to the selected template. To create knowledge articles using templates:

Make sure that you have Create and Read permissions on the Knowledge Article entity. By default, these permissions are added to the roles of knowledge manager, customer service manager, or customer service representative.

1. In the Customer Service Hub site map, go to Service > Knowledge Articles.

   A list of available articles appear.

2. To create an article from a template, select + New From Template.

3. In the Select Knowledge Article Template dialog, select the template to use as a base on which you author the article and select OK. In this example, we're selecting the template as Getting Started With Template.

   

   You observe that some fields are prepopulated as defined in the template.

4. In the New Knowledge Article page, edit the fields as required.

   

5. Select Save.

   The article is saved, and you can take it to the next stage to approve and publish the article to make it available for users.

Use the rich text editor to create knowledge articles and emails

Create rich and well-formatted content for emails or knowledge articles using the new rich text editor in the Customer Service Hub. The editor brings common word processor features like advanced styling, linking, find and replace, and insert images and tables.

The Content editor panel consists of three tabs:

• Designer: Author and edit the article here. Benefit from the enhanced and rich text editing capabilities.
• HTML: View the HTML preview of the content here. You can author or edit the article in the HTML tab also.
• Preview: See how your content would look on devices like desktop, tablet, or mobile.

Additionally, you can perform Undo, Redo, and Full Screen in the Content editor panel.

Designer

You can choose a specific format or style for the content you’re writing. The following table outlines the different formatting options of the rich text editor.

Icon	Name	Shortcut key	Description
	Format Painter	Ctrl+Shift+C, Ctrl+Shift+V	Apply the look of a particular section to another section. Note: Copy formatting only works with inline styles, and doesn't copy or apply block-level styles.
	Formatting Styles		Apply predefined sets of formatting features to make it easier to keep the presentation of the text consistent. To make the choice easier, the style names are displayed in a style that they represent, giving you a preview of what the text looks like. Note: This option is available in the expanded mode only.
	Paragraph Format		Apply predefined block-level combinations of formatting options. A paragraph format can only be applied to a block-level element, like a paragraph or a div element. Note: This option is available in the expanded mode only.
	Font	Ctrl+Shift+F	Select your desired font. The default font is Segoe UI. Note: When you select any formatted content, the font name for that content displays. If your selection contains multiple fonts, the topmost font name of your selection is displayed.
	Font size	Ctrl+Shift+P	Change the size of your text. The default size is 12. Note: When you select any formatted content, the font size for that content displays. If your selection contains multiple font sizes, the topmost font size of your selection is displayed.
	Bold	Ctrl+B	Make your text bold.
	Italic	Ctrl+I	Italicize your text.
	Underline	Ctrl+U	Underline your text.
	Text Highlight Color		Make your text stand out by highlighting it in a bright color.
	Font Color		Change the color of your text.
	Bullets		Create a bulleted list.
	Numbering		Create a numbered list.
	Decrease Indent		Move your paragraph closer to the margin.
	Increase Indent		Move your paragraph farther from the margin.
	Block Quote		Apply a block-level quotation format in your content.
	Align Left	Ctrl+L	Align your content with the left margin. (Commonly used for body text to make it easier to read.)
	Align Center	Ctrl+E	Center your content on the page. (Commonly used for a formal appearance.)
	Align Right	Ctrl+R	Center your content on the page. (Commonly used for a formal appearance.)
	Link		Create a link in your document for quick access to webpages and files. URL text that you paste or enter is converted into a link. For example, ht​tp://myexample.com becomes http://myexample.com. In the Link dialog, choose the type of link you want to insert. Use the Link Info tab to choose the link type and set the link protocol and URL. Your administrator defines the type of links that you can add. If you add links whose origin link doesn't match any of the links in the origins list, an error displays when users open an article. The error message "Update your origins allow list if any iframe in the article doesn't work or displays error" appears. More information: Configure origins allow list for knowledge articles The Target tab is only available for the URL link type. It specifies the location where the link opens after you select it.
	Unlink		Delete a link in your email or document. When you place the cursor on a link, the Unlink button on the toolbar becomes active. Select the button to remove the link and make it plain text.
	Superscript		Type small letters just above the line of text.
	Subscript		Type small letters just below the line of text.
	Strikethrough		Cross out text by drawing a line through it.
	Image		Insert an image. You can insert an image by directly copying and pasting it inline in the editor, dragging and dropping it from your desktop or local folder directly into the editor, or by typing a URL. The following formats are supported: PNG, JPG, or GIF. For details on using inline images, see Use inline images.
	Left to Right		Change the text to left-to-right for content such as a paragraph, header, table, or list. Commonly used for bi-directional language content. This setting is the default setting.
	Right to Left		Change the text to right-to-left for content such as a paragraph, header, table, or list. Commonly used for bi-directional language content. The default setting is left-to-right.
	Undo Typing		Undo changes you made to the content.
	Redo Typing		Redo changes you made to the content.
	Clear All Formatting		Remove all formatting from a selection of text, leaving only the normal, unformatted text.
	Add a Table		Add a table to your content. After adding a table, you can do any of the following steps: Resize table columns by clicking and dragging your mouse to resize the columns to the desired width. Select one or several cells within a table and apply specific formatting, add links to the selection, or cut, copy, or paste entire rows or columns. Right-click to access the properties. This supports features such as cell type, width and height, word wrapping, alignment, merging and splitting cells horizontally and vertically, inserting or deleting rows and columns, row and column span, and cell and border color.
	Create Collapsible Section		Create a section that can be collapsed or expanded. This functionality is useful in articles with much information. Collapsed sections help agents find relative information more quickly by scanning the titles within an article. Collapsible sections include title and body fields to type text into, and you can nest collapsible sections to make it easier to scan longer articles to find the most relevant sections quickly. You can also select text you already typed and then click the collapse icon to turn it into a collapsible section. If you create a collapsible section, and then later want to delete it, place your cursor within the section, and then click Delete on your keyboard, or right-click within the collapsible section and select Cut.
	Embed Media		To embed videos into your content: 1. Place the cursor where you want to insert the video, and then on the toolbar, select the Embed Media button. The Embed Video dialog opens. 2. Enter the embed link of the video provided by the video hosting provider, and then select OK.
	Create Div Container		Create a div container to apply formatting to a larger document fragment that extends beyond one block. The General tab lets you manually add a stylesheet class that is applied to the div element. The Advanced tab lets you configure more div element options such as assigning it an ID, a language code, a text direction, an advisory title, or CSS style properties. Note: This option is available in the expanded mode only.
	Create Anchor		You can add anchors in document text and then link to them for easier navigation. Note: The anchor feature only works when an article is open. It doesn't work if you're viewing an article from the Preview tab. To add an anchor: 1. Place the cursor where you want to insert an anchor, and then on the toolbar, select the Anchor button. The Anchor Properties dialog opens. 2. Enter a name for the anchor, and then select OK. The Anchor button appears in the area where you created the anchor. You can now use the Link button to link to your anchor.

Use inline images

You can insert an image by directly copying and pasting it inline in the editor, dragging and dropping it from your desktop or local folder directly into the editor, or by typing a URL.

Before using inline images, make sure that you use:

• Supported formats: PNG, JPG, or GIF
• Supported browsers: Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Safari

Drag and drop an image

1. Drag and drop the image either above the content or in the middle of the content in the editor.

2. Drag any corner of the image to resize it to your desired size in the editor.

Copy and paste an image

1. Open the image file that you want to copy to the editor.

2. Right-click the image, then select Copy.

3. Go to the desired location in the editor where you want to insert the image, and then either right-click and select Paste, or select Ctrl+V.

Insert a URL for an image

To insert an image by using a URL or navigating to the local image:

1. In the editor, choose Insert Image.
2. In the Image property dialog, choose from the following options:

   • Specify the web address of the image, and also specify properties to define how the image appears in the email or article.

     Note: If the image is located on the external server, use the full absolute path. If the image is located on a local server, you can use a relative path. If you want the image to be a selectable link, add a URL for the image. You can also specify if you want the targeted page to open in a new window, top-most window, same window, or parent window.

   • Select Browse to navigate to the image on your computer.

HTML

You can author and edit the article in the HTML tab of the Content editor panel, using HTML tags.

Preview

You can preview the content to view its compatibility on multiple devices, like tablets or phones.

This preview is an indicative preview. Content rendered can be different in the actual device or screen.

Add a file attachment to a knowledge article

When you're creating a knowledge article, you can attach one or more files to it to help provide comprehensive information for your customers. Keep in mind the following rules when attaching files:

• There's no limit to the number of articles that can be attached to a knowledge article, but the file size mustn't exceed 32 MB.
• Your administrator may limit the file size for knowledge articles.
• You must save your knowledge article before attaching files to it.

To attach a file to a knowledge article:

1. Open the knowledge article where you want to add a file attachment, and then on the Content tab, on the right side of the screen, select Attach Files From.

   

2. Choose from the following file locations:

   • My Device lets you browse and select files from your local device.
   • Previous Uploads opens a search pane where you can search and select from files that were previously uploaded to Customer Service Hub.

Work with file attachments

The Attached files section displays all your knowledge article attachments in a tile view horizontally above your message. The default setting for the maximum number of files that can be displayed is five attachments before the page forward functionality is displayed.

For your attached files, use the following commands:

• Select: Allows you to select one or more attachments by clicking the box that appears on the attachments, and then you can either Remove or Download the selected files.
• Sort: Allows you to sort records by a specific filter, such as file name or size.

When you published your knowledge article, if you attached files to it, knowledge consumers can access the attachments through Knowledge Search.

User permissions to view and download file attachments

For users to be able to view and download file attachments, you need to grant the following permissions to the Knowledge Article table:

Sync knowledge article attachments to the portal

To sync knowledge article attachments to the portal, your administrator must first enable the option. More information: Update knowledge article attachments for portal

On syncing knowledge article attachments to the portal:

• Dataverse search can search through knowledge article attachments. More information: Microsoft Dataverse search can search through file data type Additionally, you must configure the faceted search results web template from your portal to be able to search through knowledge article attachments. More information: Configure faceted search results web template from your portal

• There's a one-time migration from the notes attachments that have the prefix of your original KnowledgeManagement/Notesfilter setting to new attachments in knowledge articles. Only the notes attachments used in the portal are migrated to new attachments.

For more information, see Display file attachments with knowledge articles.

Mark a knowledge article for review

To ensure that the content you create is accurate, have someone review it.

You can mark an article for review or directly assign it to a specific person or queue. When you mark an article for review, it starts appearing in the knowledge manager’s dashboard. The knowledge manager can then assign the article to specific team members or a queue for review.

1. In the article you want to mark for review, in the Status Reason dropdown list, select Needs Review.

2. On the Business process flow, select Author.

3. In the Mark for Review field, select Mark Complete.

   

4. To assign the knowledge article to another reviewer or team, on the command bar, select Assign and select the user or a team.

5. To add the article to a queue so reviewers can pick it from there, on the command bar, select Add to Queue, and then select the queue.

See also

Add the Knowledge Base Search control to forms
Create knowledge article template
Set up knowledge management using embedded knowledge search
Use Workflow processes to automate processes that don't require user interaction