This article gives guidance on revising Knowledge Base (KB) articles.

Staff with access to ServiceNow and permissions can update or amend articles in two ways:

• Revising the article from ServiceNow
• Revising the article using the Action button on the top right of the article

Amending the article from ServiceNow

1. Log in to ServiceNow

2. Go to the toolbar and select All

3. Use the search field and look for Knowledge Base

4. From the drop-down menu, select Published

5. ServiceNow will show the list of every article published. Now:

1. Type the number of the article you want to update (for example, KB0060319) into the Number's search field
   
   
2. Press Enter

6. ServiceNow will show the list of versions already created. In the example below, there are four versions (1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0):

7. By hovering over the arrows in the Workflow column, you can see the status of each version (Draft, Review, Published, Retired, Pending retirement, Cancelled). 

In the following example, Versions 1, 2 and 3 have been returned to draft form: each version has been amended or updated and the author has sent a request for approval to publish a new version of the article.

Version 4 has been published. Since this is the latest version, this is the one you need to edit:

8. Select the article number to open it:

9. ServiceNow will open a new window showing ServiceNow's content management interface. Go to the top-right corner and select the Checkout button:

10. ServiceNow will create a new draft of the article and the number of the article will show a new version at the end of it (as the example below, the new version is KB0060319 v1.01)

Now you can start editing the article. A message in blue will tell you that a new version has been created for revision:

You can now revise the article following the university Editorial Style Guide.

11. You can update or amend the article and save your changes by using the Save button 

Drafts can be saved, closed and opened again later without affecting the article that is currently displayed within the Knowledge Base.

12. When you are happy with the amendments that have been made, select Publish

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Amending the article using the "Action" button

1. Open the Service Portal

2. Look for the article you want to update and open it

3. On the top of the article, from left to right, you will see:

1. The number of the article (for example: KB0083097)
2. The Latest Version button, if the article has been previously updated
3. The Subscribe button
4. The Actions button  

4. Select the Actions button

5. From the drop-down menu, select Edit Article

6. ServiceNow will open a new window showing ServiceNow's content management interface. Go to the top-right corner and select the Checkout button

7. ServiceNow will create a new draft of the article and the number of the article will show a new version at the end of it (as the example below, the new version is KB0060319 v1.01)

8. You can update or amend the article and save your changes by using the Save button 

Drafts can be saved, closed and opened again later without affecting the article that is currently displayed within the Knowledge Base.

9. When you are happy with the amendments that have been made, select Publish

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What's next

The article will now go for approval, it will not replace the version in customer view until it has been approved: 

• If the article requires approval for publication, approvers will receive a notification about  the publication request.
• If the article has instant approval, then this manual approval step is skipped.

Once approved, users will see only the latest version available. 

In the example below, version 4.0 is the live article, and versions 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 are set to Draft – they will no longer be visible in the Knowledge Base.

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Related content

Editorial Style Guide - Communications and Marketing

How to create a new Knowledge Base article

Linking to Knowledge Base (KB) articles