Article-Type Layout
An Article-Type Layout is a retired Salesforce Classic Knowledge component: the page layout attached to one article type, such as FAQ or How-To.
Definition
An Article-Type Layout is a retired Salesforce Classic Knowledge component: the page layout attached to one article type, such as FAQ or How-To. It set which fields an author saw, their order, and the sections holding them.
Salesforce ended support for that data model on March 1, 2026. Lightning Knowledge now uses record types on a single Knowledge object, with an ordinary page layout tied to each record type.
The phrase survives in old runbooks and archived exam material, nowhere else.
In plain English
“Think of old paper forms. Each kind of form had its own printed sheet with its own boxes in its own order. Salesforce stopped using those separate sheets. Now every kind of article shares one sheet, and a setting decides which boxes show up.”
Worked example
A regional insurance carrier ran Classic Knowledge with two article types, FAQ and How-To, which existed in the API as FAQ__kav and How_To__kav. Each had its own Article-Type Layout: the How-To one carried Title, Summary, Prerequisites__c, and Steps__c, while the FAQ one carried Title and Answer__c. Ahead of the March 1, 2026 cutoff the team ran the Lightning Knowledge Migration Tool. Both objects collapsed into Knowledge__kav, each type became a record type, and each old layout arrived as a page layout on its record type. One habit broke straight away: their list views filtered by article type, and that filter no longer exists. They rebuilt on record type.
How the Classic layout worked and what replaced it
One object, one layout, per article type
Every Classic article type was a separate object. Build a How-To type and an FAQ type and you got two objects, each with its own fields and layouts. Salesforce shipped FAQs, Offers, and How-To's by default. The layout sat under the article type in Setup and was built in the ordinary page layout editor.
Layout, template, and rights were three different levers
Salesforce Help describes article types as custom templates supplying a different look and feel, plus different information, visibility, and edit rights. Two standard templates shipped, Tab and Table of Contents, and Visualforce could produce custom ones. The layout shaped what an author typed into. The template shaped what a reader saw.
The March 2026 end of support
Salesforce set end of support for the Classic Knowledge data model at March 1, 2026, and it sits on the past retirements list today. The warning was blunt: an org that skipped the migration would lose access to its knowledge base until it ran the Lightning Knowledge Migration Tool.
What the record type layout does instead
The migration tool hands you no Knowledge-specific editor to replace the old one. Structure is bound to the record type, and the layout itself is granted per profile. Salesforce's post-migration checklist then has you re-verify that pairing element by element, layout by layout. One thing does not survive the move: article type is gone as a filter, which Salesforce spells out in the Migration Tool release update.
Trust & references
Cross-checked against the following references.
- Classic Knowledge Data Model End of Support (opens in new tab)Salesforce
- Salesforce Past Product & Feature Retirements (opens in new tab)Salesforce
- Classic Knowledge Article Types overview (opens in new tab)Salesforce
- Run the Lightning Knowledge Migration Tool (Release Update) (opens in new tab)Salesforce
- Verify Migrated Articles in the Validation Stage (opens in new tab)Salesforce
- Build Your Knowledge Base in Lightning Experience (opens in new tab)Salesforce
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Article-Type Layout.
Hands-on resources to go deeper on Article-Type Layout.
About the Author
Dipojjal Chakrabarti is a B2C Solution Architect with 29 Salesforce certifications and over 13 years in the Salesforce ecosystem. He writes and edits salesforcedictionary.com, published by KineticBit Inc., to help admins, developers, architects, and cert/interview candidates sharpen their fundamentals. More about Dipojjal.
Test your knowledge
+5 pts / dayQ1. What replaced Article-Type Layouts when Salesforce retired the Classic Knowledge data model?
Q2. When did Salesforce end support for the Classic Knowledge data model?
Q3. After migrating to Lightning Knowledge, an admin finds a saved list view filter broken. Which filter stopped working?
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