Reviewing a knowledge article in BMC Helix ITSM

Important

This topic does not apply to BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround. For more information, see Integrating BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround with Smart IT.

BMC Helix ITSM retrieves the approval setup from Action Request System Approval Central and applies it to the approval requests in BMC Helix ITSM. In the knowledge article lifecycle, every article undergoes the review process for technical and content validation. When the reviews are complete, the article is promoted to the Publish Approval status. Only the primary or alternate approver can approve or reject an article, or put it on Hold. Based on the permissions that have been set, an approver can approve articles of a specific company or all companies. An approver might also have to act on the articles with Cancel Approval and Retire Approval status. Such articles are handled in a similar manner as articles with Publish Approval status. An article can be assigned to more than one approver for review. 

A knowledge approver in BMC Helix ITSM must have permission to view the knowledge article. Otherwise, the article can be approved by using Approval Central or email-based approvals. 

An approver who is unavailable to review an article can assign one or more alternate approvers through the People form in BMC Helix ITSM.

This topic applies to the universal client. For Android and iOS users, the display might vary slightly. However, the procedure to review a knowledge article remains the same. 

Related topics

Using alternate approvers

Roles-and-permissions

Managing-approval-requests

Creating-and-publishing-knowledge-articles

To authenticate a knowledge article reviewer

Based on whether BMC Helix Single Sign-On is integrated or not, you must do one of the following actions to authenticate yourself as the reviewer by using your BMC Helix ITSM login credentials and then submit your review:

  • If BMC Helix Single Sign-On is integrated with BMC Helix ITSM, the system redirects you to the BMC Helix Single Sign-On authentication page. You must log in using your BMC Helix ITSM login credentials.
  • If BMC Helix Single Sign-On is not integrated with BMC Helix ITSM, you must enter your BMC Helix ITSM password to authenticate yourself. BMC Helix ITSM supports only BMC Helix Single Sign-On version 9.1 and later. You must uncomment the xml section in web.xml if BMC BMC Helix Single Sign-On version is 9.1 and later. For more information, see Configuring ticket review.

Scenario for reviewing a knowledge article

Allen Allbrook is an approver at Calbro Services. Allen is a universal client user. He is a primary approver and is responsible for reviewing articles in Publish Approval status. Mary Mann is also a primary approver, with the same responsibilities as Allen.

Mary is going on vacation for two weeks. Before her vacation starts, she assigns Allen as her alternate approver during her absence. To do so, she accesses the People form through the BMC Helix ITSM application, and sets Allen as her alternate approver.

As a primary and alternate approver, Allen follows these steps to review articles:

  1. On the Console menu, he clicks Knowledge Console.
  2. In the Knowledge Console, he clicks Filter to search for articles assigned to him.
  3. From the list of search criteria, he selects To be approved by, and then selects the Me check box.

    Filter options.gif
  4. He then selects Status  from the list, and selects the Publish Approval check box to search and display articles that require his approval. Articles with Cancel Approval status can be reviewed only through the BMC Helix ITSM application.
  5. From the search result, he clicks an article.
    The article is displayed with a banner containing options to approve it, reject it, or keep it on hold, and an option to view approver details.
    3 options.gif
  6. Click Refresh Refresh icon.pngto refresh the knowledge article.
  7. Based on his review, he clicks the appropriate button.
    KA Banner.jpg
  8. Depending on whether BMC Helix Single Sign-On is integrated, Allen performs the following steps:
    • If BMC Helix Single Sign-On is not integrated:
      a. To authenticate himself, Allen enters his BMC Helix ITSM login password in the Login password field.
      b. In the Rationale for approval field, he provides a reason for his review.
      c. He submits his review. 
    • If BMC Helix Single Sign-On is integrated:
      a. In the Rationale for approval field, he provides a reason for his review.
      b. He submits his review. He directed to BMC Helix Single Sign-On login page.
      c. Allen       enters his BMC Helix ITSM login credentials to authenticate himself.

After authenticating the approver, the system accepts the review. Depending on the reviewer's action, the following three things can happen to an article in the Publish Approval state: 

  • If the article is approved, it is published.
  • If the article is rejected, it is moved to the Draft status. It will go through the lifecycle again for possible improvements.
  • If the article is kept on hold, it remains in the Publish Approval state.

An article is visible to all available primary or alternate approvers. In BMC Helix ITSM, if the BMC Knowledge Management approver level is set to ALL for publish, retire, or cancel, all approvers must approve the article to publish, retire, cancel it. If any reviewer rejects it, it is moved to its previous state; for example, from the Retire Approval state to the Published state.

When the BMC Knowledge Management approver level is set to ONE for publish, retire, or cancel, if any one approver approves it, it is published. But if the first approver rejects it, the article is moved to the Draft state.

Allen can view the approval list for the names of other approvers and the review they have provided for the article. To do so, he clicks Show approvers. The Open tab displays details of only the primary approver who has not reviewed the article, or has kept it on hold. The system also indicates mandatory and optional reviewers. The Closed tab displays details of the primary and alternate approvers who have approved or rejected the article. 

The type of information displayed in the approval list remains the same regardless of whether the approver is a primary approver or an alternate approver. The Open tab remains empty when there are no pending reviews. The Closed tab remains empty when the article has not been reviewed.

Open tab

Closed tab

Open Approver List_KA.gif

Closed Approver List_KA.gif

Instructions for classic interfaces


View instructions for Mid Tier

Reviewing a knowledge article

The knowledge article lifecycle includes a review stage in which you can assign knowledge articles to a Subject Matter Expert (SME) or an editor for validation and correction.

By default, the following review statuses are available:

  • SME Review
  • Content Review (optional)
  • Proofreading (optional)

You must have the Knowledge User or the Knowledge Admin permission to review standard articles such as, How To, Reference, Decision Trees, Problem Solution and Known Errors.

You must have the Knowledge Admin permissions to review the Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) articles.

When you activate a review status, the In Review segment of the status flow bar appears green. You can assign the knowledge article to the user who is responsible for performing the review. For more information, see Assigning a knowledge article.

Additionally, you can schedule reviews for a knowledge article at any time in the Date/System tab. For more information, see Scheduling-reviews.

Use the status flow bar to return the knowledge article back to the Draft status if it needs correcting or updating. Or, promote the knowledge article to the Publish Approval status, if it fulfills your company's quality control standards.

When the article is moved to the Published status, the Mark as reviewed button is enabled at the bottom of the page. Click Mark as reviewed when you have finished reviewing the article. You will be prompted to set the next review date in the Details tab. Set the next review date and click Save. For more information, see Scheduling-reviews.

 

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