Creating knowledge articles for sharing information
Scenario for creating a knowledge article
When resolving an incident ticket, a service desk agent could face an issue that has occurred on multiple occasions. In such scenarios, the service desk agent can create a knowledge article to capture the information required to resolve similar incidents, so that other service desk agents can use this information to resolve incidents faster.
When working on an incident related to email access issues on mobile devices, Jennie Tennyson, a Level 1 service desk agent, notices a substantial number of similar issues. The issue was faced by users who had recently changed their email passwords, but had not updated it on their mobile device. Creating a knowledge article based on this issue can help other service desk agents who receive similar incident requests.
Before you begin
Creating a knowledge article requires the Knowledge Submitter, Knowledge User, or Knowledge Admin permission. For more information about these permissions, see Roles-and-permissions.
To create a knowledge article
To create a knowledge article to document the email access problem, Jennie Tennyson opens the incident ticket about email access problem. In the Resources tab, she clicks Search for knowledge resources. Jennie does not find any specific article related to the issue, so she clicks Create a new article. Alternately, on the Dashboard, Jennie can select Create New and then click Knowledge.
- She selects the Problem Solution template from the list displayed, reviews the format, and clicks Use selected Template.
- On the Create Knowledge page, she starts to enter the article title. As she types the title, the system finds similar articles, and displays a note.
She clicks View them to view similar articles. One of the articles includes some information about email access problem. Jennie wants to include the information from that article to the one she is creating, so she clicks Copy From Article.
The article from which she wants to copy content is displayed on the left of the screen, and the article she is creating is displayed on the right. Jennie copies the sections from the existing article to the article she is creating. After she copies the sections, she clicks Done to return to the article she is creating.
After she updates the content of the article, she updates information in Article Metadata on the right pane of the Create Knowledge page. She can define values in the metadata fields such as, site, organization, and department, assign the article to self by using the Assign to me link.
- (Optional) She clicks the +Add New link in the Attachments section to attach files.
- (Optional) She clicks the +Add New link in the Related Items section to add related knowledge articles.
- After she has entered all the required information, she clicks Submit Changes to save the article.
After the article is created, it goes through the regular lifecycle. For more information, see Knowledge Management overview.
To create a link to another knowledge article
You can create a link to refer to another knowledge article by using the Link Knowledge Article option:
In a knowledge article, when you click a linked knowledge article, it opens the latest Published version of the knowledge article if your administrator sets the showPublishedLinkedArticle configuration parameter to true in the Centralized configuration.
By default, the linked knowledge article link opens the latest version of the knowledge article even if it is in Draft status because, by default, the showPublishedLinkedArticle configuration parameter is set to false in the Centralized-configuration.
To view the latest created tickets in a pinned knowledge article at the top of the list
When you view a knowledge article, in the Tickets Using this Article panel, the latest created tickets appear at the top of the list. In earlier versions of BMC Helix ITSM, the latest created tickets appear at the bottom of the list.
Adding an image to a knowledge article
In BMC Helix ITSM, when you create or edit a knowledge article, you can add an image to it.
In PWA, users can insert an image into an article by using any of the following methods:
Method | Notes |
|---|---|
Use the Insert Image option. | If you want to insert text along with the image, you must copy and paste the image and text separately. If your browser security settings do not allow the editor to directly access your clipboard data, you must again paste the image in the Paste window and click OK. Important: If you have integrated BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround with Smart IT, see the BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround documentation. |
Drag the image from your local setup or browser into the content area of the article. | All supported browsers except Internet Explorer 9 allow you to drag or copy and paste images into the article content area |
Copy and paste the image into the article. | You cannot copy and paste images from a PDF file. |
To insert an image using the Insert Image option
- Under Article content, click Image
.
The Image Properties window is displayed. - On the Image Info tab, enter the web address of the image in the URL field or, on the Upload tab, browse for an image from your system and send it to the server.
The image is displayed in the Preview area, and the reference call of the uploaded image is displayed in the URL field. - (Optional) Format the image using the following options:
- In the Alternative Text text box, enter a short description of the image.
- Set the width, height, and border of the image.
- In the HSpace and VSpace fields, set the horizontal and vertical spacing (or margin) between the image border (if present) or the image itself and other document elements that surround the image.
- From the Alignment list, set the alignment of the image in the knowledge article.
- (Optional) To assign a hyperlink to the image, open the Link tab and re-enter the web address of the image in the URL field.
- (Optional) From the Target list, select the window type to open when the image is clicked.
- (Optional) On the Advanced tab, specify a unique identifier for the image, a language code, the direction of the text, stylesheet classes, CSS style values, advisory tooltip text and a longer description of the URL.
- Click OK.
The image is inserted with the formatting you applied.
Enhanced editing experience
The BMC Helix ITSM knowledge editor has the look and feel of commonly used documentation editors and allows you to format article content just as easily. You can maximize your view by clicking the maximize button to hide the side panes displayed and extent the editor to be displayed across the browser window. The editor automatically resizes itself if you resize your browser window avoiding display of multiple scroll bars. Sections on the article remain expanded, you cannot collapse them. You must note that due to security concerns the spell checker has been removed from the editor.
You can embed images (jpeg, gif, bmp jpg, png, bmp, tga, tif, tiff) and reference video links (embed tags) within articles. You can add up to 30 images in a knowledge article. However, you cannot copy an image and text together from a Word or PDF file.
To add video URL in articles, you can copy video URL from YouTube and Vimeo, and paste it in the Paste Video URL text box.
Activity feed of a knowledge article
Click the Activity tab of a knowledge article to view all updates made to the article.
In the Add a note text box, you can enter comments, attach files, and address a person by using the "at" symbol (@) sign followed by the person's name. To use this capability, the user must have access to the knowledge article.
If you follow an article or if you are the assignee of an article, the activity feed for that article is displayed in the Updates feed.
You can view select activity types by setting filters. On the Activity tab, click the 
icon. All activity filters are displayed.
Viewing the tickets that have pinned a knowledge article
When you view a Knowledge Article, in the Tickets Using this Article panel, the latest created tickets appear at the top of the list. In earlier versions of BMC Helix ITSM, the latest created tickets appear at the bottom of the list.
Archived tickets are not visible in this section.
Metadata information for articles
All required metadata information related to a knowledge article is now accessible on a single pane. The pane displayed when creating the knowledge article allows users to define necessary information and settings for the knowledge article. Article metadata allows you to define the visibility of the article, assign it, define the company to which the article is to be associated with and other properties from the same pane.
Metadata | Description |
|---|---|
Visibility | This option provides quick options for accessing articles from a single option instead of multiple places. It controls visibility of Knowledge article based on visibility groups. For more information about the visibility of knowledge articles, see Knowledge Article number 000258057 (Support logon ID required). |
Publish to External Audiences | This option controls the accessibility and visibility of knowledge articles to the external users of BMC Helix ITSMsuch asBMC Service Request Management and BMC Helix Digital Workplace users. By default, the option is set to No. When a knowledge article is still not ready to be shared with external users, the option must be set to No. When the article is reviewed and finalized, you can change the selection to Yes. Internal users of BMC Helix ITSM such as service desk agents can always view articles irrespective of the option set to Yes or No. You can share articles through email with both the internal and external users. Both types of users must have permission to the appropriate Visibility Groups to view the articles.
|
Assign to me | When you create or edit a knowledge article, you can quickly assign it to yourself by using the Assign to me link. In the CTM:People form, users are associated with the support groups. The Assign to me link is based on the association between users and the support groups of which they are part.
On the Update Assignment pane, when you click the Delete option to clear your name from the search box, the Assign to me check box is automatically cleared, and the search result displays the result as per the search criteria that you specified. If you have not specified the search criteria, you can search for a specific person. |
Company |
Now, if you click Change, in the Update Assignment panel, the options of Support Company, Support Organization and Support Group appear based on your selected primary company: |
Site | You can select a site from the list. After you select a site, if its corresponding company is primary, then that site is automatically marked as primary. If you have added multiple sites from the primary company, click on a site to make it primary. |
Organization / Department | You can select an organization and department from the list. After you make a selection, if its corresponding company is primary, then that organization and department are automatically marked as primary. If you have added multiple organizations and departments from the primary company, click one to make it primary. Note: To filter and view articles in the Knowledge console, the company and organization must be designated as primary on the knowledge article record. |
Business Service | You can select a business service from the list. After you select a service, if its corresponding company is primary, then that service is automatically marked as primary. If you have added multiple business services from the primary company, click on a business service to make it primary. Note: The Service column of the Knowledge console displays only those business services that are marked primary. |
Operational Category and Product Category | Start typing in these fields to view matching categories. After you select one or more categories, if its corresponding company is primary, then that category is automatically marked as primary. If you have added multiple categories from the primary company, click on a category to make it primary.
|
Add Attachment |
On iOS devices, the Add Attachment option, and on Android devices, the From files and Dropbox options enables you to attach files that are on cloud storage when you create or edit change requests, and when you add a comment. The administrator can configure the attachment criteria, and the supported file extensions in BMC Helix ITSM , in the Attachment Security tab of the Server Information form. |
Keywords | Define the search terms that users could use to find the knowledge article. Keywords are Full Text Search (FTS) indexed. For more information, see Performing searches with FTS. Also make sure that you are not adding anything from the AR exclusion list. For more information, see Configuring the Ignore Words List for FTS indexing. |
Limitations
The following limitations apply for BMC Helix ITSM:
- Following Knowledge Base Items are not supported:
- Source type File System Path
- Source type AR Form with no support for life cycle management
- Users can access only Attachment and Character fields, for custom templates created in Knowledge Management.
- Status transitions listed for a Knowledge article do not take into consideration any categorization settings defined for the article.
- Cognitive recommendations for Knowledge will work only for articles created with specific companies, not for all companies.
- In BMC Helix ITSM, you can add work note in the Knowledge Articles that are in In Progress status.
While editing the title, keywords, metadata, company, site, organization, business service, product category, and setting visibility to all, if you save the article, you may get the following error message, but the article still displays the edited values:
entry does not exist in database
Knowledge management recommendations for support staff
Search early and search often! This Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) means that before you create a knowledge article, you should search the knowledge base to check whether articles on the issue already exist.
It also means that you should conduct multiple searches using different criteria, which increases the likelihood that you will find a match.
Creating a knowledge article when you create an incident request ensures a tighter integration between incident management and the knowledge base, which is important for good knowledge management. It helps to resolve similar incident tickets.
When you create a knowledge article, be sure to capture the full context of the incident. This context includes technical information, such as hardware and software details, and non technical information, such as what the customer thinks could be causing the incident and what impact the incident is having on the customers.
We recommend that you use the following information categories when capturing technical information.
- Incident — The situation (or question) in the customer's words; what are they trying to do or what is not working.
Capturing the issue in the customer's words is important because other customers are likely to view similar issues if they search knowledge with the similar keywords. If the customer's description is reworded or re-categorized by technical staff after the incident request is created, it might not be found as a match when searching the knowledge base the next time a similar issue arises. - Environment — What technology does the customer have? Has anything in the environment been changed recently?
- Resolution — The steps required to resolve the incident or to answer the question.
- Metadata — High-level categorization of the article's content aids searchability, maintenance, reporting, and other processes related to the handling of the article.
Over time, the way that a user who reports an incident remembers and interprets non technical information can change. It is therefore important to capture non technical information in a knowledge article early in the incident handling process.
Even if the incident resolution is not yet known, you can start the knowledge article and then add resolution information later. This method ensures that known details are captured and are available to others who might be working on the same or a similar incident request. By always creating incident requests and knowledge articles simultaneously, you also ensure that knowledge articles become an integral by-product of incident registration.
Instructions for classic interfaces
View instructions for Mid Tier
To create a knowledge article in the BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management Console
Use the following steps to create How To, Known Error, Problem Solution, and Reference knowledge articles. For information about creating a Decision Tree article, see Creating-a-decision-tree.
- On the IT Home page, select Knowledge Management > Knowledge Management Console.
- In Functions, click Create, or click New Article.
In the Create Knowledge dialog box, select the required template from the list and click Create.
For more information, see Knowledge-article-templates.- On the Content tab of the Knowledge article page, enter the appropriate information in the rich text fields.
- You can type directly into a field, or you can click the Edit icon at the top right corner of the field to view the rich text editor with expanded functionality. Some fields have an internal editing toolbar, which you can open by double-clicking inside the text box. For more information about using the rich text editor, see the related topics.
- You can also use the View HTML Source toggle key to switch between entering rich text and HTML code in the text boxes.
- Assign the article to a user.
For more information, see Assigning-a-knowledge-article. Assign the article to a visibility group. For more information, see How-knowledge-articles-are-found.
If you do not specify a visibility group, the article will be visible only to the Author, the Assignee, and others members of the support group that the Assignee belongs to.
- Click the Details tab, and enter the necessary information to add metadata to the article.
For more information, see Improving-the-findability-of-knowledge-articles. - (Optional) Click the Search for Duplicates link in the Quick Actions menu to perform a search for knowledge articles that have similar titles or content.
- (Optional) Click Preview to see what the knowledge article will look like when it is published.
- (Optional) Add the article to your watch list, if you want to monitor it.
For more information about watch lists, see Monitoring-the-knowledge-article-changes. - (Optional) Promote the knowledge article from the In Progress status to the Draft status.
On the Status Flow Bar, click the menu in the highlighted In Progress segment, and select Draft. The In Progress segment of the Status Flow Bar should appear highlighted. - Click Save.
To create a knowledge article from an incident request, a problem investigation, or a known error
- Open theBMC Helix ITSM: Service Desk record for which you want to create a knowledge article.
- Select Functions > Create Knowledge.
- In the Create Knowledge dialog box, select the required template from the list and click Create.
For more information, see Knowledge-article-templates. - On the Content tab of the Knowledge article page, enter the appropriate information in the rich text fields:
- Type directly into a field, or click the edit icon at the top right corner of the field to view the rich text editor with expanded functionality. Some fields have an internal editing toolbar, which you can open by double-clicking inside the text box.
Use the View HTML Source toggle key to switch between entering rich text and HTML code in the text boxes.
- Assign the article to a user.
For more information, see Assigning-a-knowledge-article. - Assign the article to a visibility group.
For more information, see How-knowledge-articles-are-found. - If you do not specify a visibility group, the article will be visible only to the Author, the Assignee, and others members of the support group that the Assignee belongs to.
- Click the Details tab, and enter the necessary information to add metadata to the article.
For more information, see Improving-the-findability-of-knowledge-articles. - (Optional) Click Preview to see how the knowledge article will look like when it is published.
- (Optional) Add the article to your watch list, if you want to monitor it.
For more information about watch lists, see Monitoring-the-knowledge-article-changes. - (Optional) Promote the knowledge article from the In Progress status to the Draft status.
On the Status Flow Bar, click the menu in the highlighted In Progress segment, and select Draft. The In Progress segment of the Status Flow Bar should appear highlighted. - Click Save.
After creating a knowledge article from an Incident, Problem, or Known Error record, you can click Use or Relate to add a relation with the article. If you entered values in the Resolution Categorization tab of a knowledge article that you created from an incident record, the same values are copied to the incident when you click Use.