The Knowledge Base contains articles with solutions to questions and issues staff and students may come across at the university, e.g. how do I set up VPN?

The guidance below details how to create a new Knowledge Base article - there are two ways to do this. Once the article has been created and submitted, it will need to be approved before it is live and visible to staff/students.

Two ways to create a Knowledge Base article

• Import a pre-formatted article in Word document format (must be a .doc file)
• Create an article using the formatting tools within the Knowledge Base

You can save your article and continue making changes before publishing.

Once ready, you can publish your article and send it for approval to a pool of approvers

It is personal preference for which method to use. If you already have guidance in a Word document you may find it easier to upload this straight to the Knowledge Base. Or simply because you find it easier editing content in Word than within the Knowledge Base.

Import a pre-formatted article in a Word Document format

1. Create the content for your Knowledge Base article in a .doc Word document

2. Log in to ServiceNow https://sotonproduction.service-now.com/

3. In the Filter Navigator search field on the left hand side, enter the text Knowledge Base

4. From the search results displayed below the search field, select Homepage - Import Article

5. Select Import Articles towards the top right of the screen

The Import dialogue box will display.

6. Select + To select word files

7. Locate the Word document containing your content for the article

The name of the document will display in the Article 1 field.

8. From the Knowledge base drop down list, select which knowledge base this article should appear in

9. From the Category drop down list, select or search for the appropriate category

10. Select Import

When the document has finished uploading, at the foot of the screen you will see an Import completed dialogue box.

11. Select the arrow on the right

12. Select the file name of the article

A preview of the draft article will open.

13. Select Edit at the top right

The editing window will open.

14. Enter/edit the following fields:

• Short description -  this will display as the article’s title when published
• Meta - enter keywords that can be used to search for the article when published
• Knowledge Owner - enter "iSolutions Knowledge Base Managers"
• Article body - ensure you check the formatting of text and images as these may appear differently to your Word document. If you have added any images you must enter an image alt for each image by selecting the insert/edit image button from the formatting toolbar

You can preview your article using View Article within Related Links.

15. Select Save (under the Article body field or at the top right of the screen)

16. Select Publish (under the Article body field or at the top right of the screen)

 

If you wish to continue making changes before publishing the article, you can locate the article later as follows:

• Log in to ServiceNow
• Enter knowledge base in the search field
• Select Unpublished from the search results
• Select Author to view unpublished articles in alphabetical order by author

Remember to save and publish when you have finished editing the article.

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Create an article using the formatting tools within the Knowledge Base

1. Log in to ServiceNow https://sotonproduction.service-now.com/

2. In the Filter Navigator search field on the left hand side, enter the text Knowledge Base

3. From the search results displayed below the search field, select Create New

The New record editing screen will display.

4. Complete the following fields:

• Knowledge base (e.g. IT)
• Category (e.g. telephony)
• Short description - this will display as the article’s title when published
• Meta - enter keywords that can be used to search for the article when published
• Knowledge Owner - enter "iSolutions Knowledge Base Managers"
• Article body - add text and images, and use the formatting toolbar, to create your article content. If you have added images you must enter an image alt for each image by selecting the insert/edit image button from the formatting toolbar

You can preview your article using View Article within Related Links.

5. Select Save (under the Article body field or at the top right of the screen)

6. Select Publish (under the Article body field or at the top right of the screen)

 

Use the templates

Use our pre-formatted template called “New Knowledge Base Article” to make your article have the same style of the other IT KB articles. It’s not mandatory to use it, but it can be helpful.

To visualize them, click on the more options icon and then on Toggle Template Bar. 

 

A banner will appear at the bottom of the page. 

 

Click on “New Knowledge Base Article”. The article field will be populated with instructions about:

• How to write the short description
• How to write the meta field
• How to start your article
• An example of a section title
• How to structure the body copy
• An example of “Useful links” section 

 

If you want to know more about how to structure your content, have a look at our Knowledge Base guidelines - Structuring your content.

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Make changes before publishing

If you wish to continue making changes before publishing the article, you can locate the article later as follows:

• Log in to ServiceNow
• Enter knowledge base in the search field
• Select Unpublished from the search results
• Select Author to view unpublished articles in alphabetical order by author

Remember to save and publish when you have finished editing the article.

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What happens next

After you have submitted your article for approval (by selecting Publish), your knowledge base article will be sent for approval to a pool of approvers.

Once your article has been approved by one of the approvers, it will be live in the system and they will send you a message.

To check if your article is live, go to the University Knowledge Bases homepage and search for your article.

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Useful links

Knowledge Base guidelines

How to request a new article or a renewal