The guidance below details how to create a new knowledge base article. Once an article has been made and submitted, it must be approved before it is published and visible to staff/students.

Creating a knowledge base article

There are two ways to create a knowledge base article:

• Import a pre-formatted Word document (must be a .docx file)
• Draft your article within the Knowledge Base and use the Knowledge Base formatting tools

With either method, you can make further changes before publishing.

When are you ready, you can publish your article. 

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

Import a pre-formatted Word document

1. Create the content for your knowledge base article in a .docx Word document

2. Log in to ServiceNow

3. From the All tab, enter the text Knowledge Base in the Filter Navigator 

4. Select Homepage - Import Article:

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

The Import Articles 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 be displayed 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 the name of your team
• Article body - ensure you check the formatting of text and images as these may appear differently in your Word document. If you have added any images you must enter an alternative text (also called ALT text) for each image by selecting the insert/edit image button from the formatting toolbar

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

16. Select the "go back" arrow on the top of your browser to come back to the editing page

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

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

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Use the Knowledge Base formatting tools

1. Log in to ServiceNow

2. From the All tab, enter the text Knowledge Base in the Filter Navigator 

3. Select Create New:

The Select Article Template screen will display.

4. Select Standard:

The New record editing screen will display:

5. Complete the following fields:

• Knowledge base (IT, for example)
• Category (telephony, for example)
• 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 the name of your team
• 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 alternative text (also called ALT text) for each image by selecting the insert/edit image button from the formatting toolbar

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

7. Select the "go back" arrow on your browser to return to the editing screen

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

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

 

Templates

The New Knowledge Base Article template can be used as a guide for the layout and content when creating a new article. 

1. Select the three dots menu at the top right of the screen

2. Select Toggle Template Bar:

A toolbar will appear at the bottom of the screen with the available templates:

3. Select New Knowledge Base Article. The article fields will be populated with the following guidance:

• 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 the Related links section:
  

To find out more about how to structure your content, read the University Editorial Style Guide.

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Make further changes before publishing

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

1. Log in to ServiceNow

2. Enter knowledge base in the search field

3. Select Unpublished from the search results

4. Select Author to view unpublished articles in alphabetical order by author

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

 

Publish your article

After you have published your article (by selecting Publish), it 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 and you will receive a notification.

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

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Getting IT help

If you need help, please contact ServiceLine or visit one of our Tech Hubs.

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Related content

Editorial Style Guide

Revising Knowledge Base articles