Recording additional details for knowledge articles

System administrators can add custom fields to the Knowledge Articles object to record additional details for the knowledge articles.

The following topics are provided:

Validating data inputs

System administrators can follow the following steps to validate the data inputs provided by authors in the knowledge articles:

Add a check box field in the Custom Fields & Relationships section of the Knowledge article object, such as Validated Data Inputs. For more information about adding a field, see https://help.salesforce.com/htviewhelpdoc?err=1&id=adding_fields.htm&siteLang=en_US.
Edit the layout of the knowledge article details page and move the check box field that you have added to the required section of the page layout. To edit the layout of the knowledge article page, click Edit Layout on the upper right corner of the page.
The authors of the knowledge article need to select the check box if they have validated the data for legislation requirements, such as copy right, intellectual property.

Recording legal information in a knowledge article

To record legal information in a knowledge article, such as SOX, ISO standards, and so on, use any of the following ways:

Attach the relevant documents to the knowledge article.
Use custom fields:
- Add a custom field of type Text to the Custom Fields & Relationships section of the Knowledge article object. For more information about adding a field, see https://help.salesforce.com/htviewhelpdoc?err=1&id=adding_fields.htm&siteLang=en_US.
- Edit the layout of the knowledge article details page, and move the text field in the appropriate section of the page. To edit the layout of the knowledge article page, click Edit Layout on the upper right corner of the page.
- Users can save the legal information in the text field.

Recording dates of importance for a knowledge article

To record dates when a knowledge article is important, perform the following tasks:

System administrators need to add two Date type fields in the Custom Fields & Relationships section of the Knowledge article object, such as Importance Start Date and Importance End Date. For more information about adding a field, see https://help.salesforce.com/htviewhelpdoc?err=1&id=adding_fields.htm&siteLang=en_US.
System administrators need to edit the layout of the knowledge article details page, and move the added fields to the required section of the page.
While creating or editing a knowledge article, users can specify dates in these fields.

Tracking knowledge articles through service lifecycle

To track a knowledge article throughout the service lifecycle, contact your system administrator to add a Picklist type field in the Custom Fields & Relationships section of the Knowledge article object, such as Service Lifecycle Phase. For more information about adding a field, see https://help.salesforce.com/htviewhelpdoc?err=1&id=adding_fields.htm&siteLang=en_US.

Type values for the picklist that suit your business requirements. Edit the layout of the knowledge article details page, and add this field to the required section. To edit the layout of the knowledge article page, click Edit Layout on the upper right corner of the page.

While creating or editing the knowledge article, users can select a required value from this field.

Recording the reason for having a knowledge article

You can record the reason for having a knowledge article in an existing field on a knowledge article. Alternatively, you can request your system administrator to add a field in the Custom Fields & Relationships section of the Knowledge article object. For more information about adding a field, see https://help.salesforce.com/htviewhelpdoc?err=1&id=adding_fields.htm&siteLang=en_US.

Edit the layout of the knowledge article details page and add this field to the required section on the layout. To edit the layout of the knowledge article page, click Edit Layout on the upper right corner of the page.