Authoring a Knowledge article means creating a Version, drafting content, validating it, and publishing it Online. The lifecycle is built into the UI; most authors never touch the underlying Knowledge__kav object directly.
- Create a new Article
Knowledge tab, New Article. Pick the Record Type (How-To, FAQ, Reference, depending on the article types defined in Setup). The system creates a new parent KnowledgeArticle record and the first Draft Knowledge__kav Version. The Article Number is assigned automatically.
- Fill in the Version fields
Title, URL Name (the slug for public URLs), body content via the rich-text editor, summary, validation status, and any custom fields. Assign Data Categories that scope visibility. Save as Draft.
- Set channel flags
Edit the Version, toggle the Internal App, Customer, Partner, and Public Knowledge Base channel flags. Each flag controls a different audience. Internal-only articles for agent reference are common; customer-facing knowledge usually flips Customer and Public Knowledge Base together.
- Publish the Version
Click Publish on the Draft. Salesforce moves the prior Online Version to Archived, elevates this Draft to Online, and triggers reindex. Optionally schedule a future publish date for time-boxed launches.
- Track translations
For multilingual Knowledge, click Submit for Translation on the Online Version. Translated drafts are created automatically and assigned to the translation queue. Republish each translated Version after review.
The article headline. Appears in search results and as the page title. Limited to 255 characters but stays under 70 for SEO.
The slug used in the public article URL. Auto-generated from the title; can be edited but should be set before first publish.
Determines which article type (How-To, FAQ, etc) and which custom fields apply. Set at creation, cannot be changed without recreating the article.
Picklist value driving the review workflow (Not Reviewed, In Review, Approved). Required when the org enables Validation Workflow.
- Each article has exactly one Online Version at any time. Publishing a Draft demotes the previous Online to Archived; in-place rollback requires a clone-back-and-publish operation.
- Data Category assignments live on the Version, not the parent. Different versions could in theory have different categories; treat them as immutable in practice.
- Channel flag changes do not require a new Version. Edit channels on the Online Version to retire it from a channel without republishing.
- Lightning Knowledge migration is one-way. Plan it as a major project; once flipped, Classic Knowledge views are gone forever.
- Article Number stays stable across republishes. Use it as the canonical link; URL Name changes break inbound links and SEO.