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Full Knowledge Settings entry
How-to guide

Configuring Knowledge Settings for a Service Cloud rollout

Configuring Knowledge Settings is a one-time activity during the Service Cloud rollout. Enable Lightning Knowledge, pick the default language, decide on multilingual support and voting, and align with legal on tracking before enabling.

By Dipojjal Chakrabarti · Founder & Editor, Salesforce DictionaryLast updated May 16, 2026

Configuring Knowledge Settings is a one-time activity during the Service Cloud rollout. Enable Lightning Knowledge, pick the default language, decide on multilingual support and voting, and align with legal on tracking before enabling.

  1. Open Knowledge Settings

    Setup, Quick Find Knowledge Settings, click the link. The page has multiple sections covering the master enable, language, voting, and search.

  2. Enable Lightning Knowledge

    Check Enable Lightning Knowledge. The action is irreversible. Practice in a sandbox before flipping in production.

  3. Set the Default Knowledge Language

    Pick the primary language for new articles. en_US, en_GB, fr, es, ja, others. Once articles are published, the default is sticky.

  4. Enable Multiple Languages if needed

    For multilingual orgs, check Enable Multiple Languages. Add the secondary languages. Each adds a translation lifecycle to articles.

  5. Enable Article Voting

    Check Enable Article Voting if the team wants user feedback signal. For public-facing voting, also check Allow Voting from Public Knowledge Base.

  6. Confirm view tracking is enabled

    Confirm view tracking is on for ranking and content-gap analysis. Coordinate with legal in GDPR-impacted regions before enabling.

  7. Configure search highlights and synonyms

    Setup, Search, Search Highlights, enable. Setup, Search, Synonym Groups, build initial synonym sets for internal terminology.

  8. Save and verify in the Knowledge UI

    Save changes. Open the Knowledge app, create a test article, confirm the lifecycle, voting, and search highlights behave as expected.

Key options
Enable Lightning Knowledgeremember

One-way toggle that activates the entire Knowledge feature. Cannot be reversed in new orgs.

Default Knowledge Languageremember

Master language for new articles. Sticky after articles are published.

Enable Multiple Languagesremember

Unlocks the translation workflow. Required for any multilingual deployment.

Enable Article Votingremember

Allows users to vote articles helpful or not helpful. Feeds ranking signal.

View Trackingremember

Captures per-article view counts on KnowledgeArticleViewStat. Drives ranking and content-gap analysis.

Allow Anonymous Accessremember

Controls whether the Help Center exposes articles to non-authenticated users.

Gotchas
  • Enabling Lightning Knowledge is one-way. The decision cannot be reversed in new orgs. Test in a sandbox before flipping in production.
  • The Default Knowledge Language is sticky after articles publish. Changing it later does not retroactively change existing articles.
  • Enabling Multiple Languages adds the translation lifecycle to every article. Existing articles do not auto-translate; the workflow only applies prospectively.
  • Public anonymous voting can be spammed. Enable CAPTCHA or rate-limiting before exposing the vote button to the public Help Center.
  • View tracking has privacy implications in GDPR regions. Consult legal before enabling in EU-based deployments.

See the full Knowledge Settings entry

Knowledge Settings includes the definition, worked example, deep dive, related terms, and a quiz.