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Chapter 18: Creating a Knowledge Base

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CHAPTER 18: CREATING A KNOWLEDGE BASE

Objectives

The objectives are:

Understand the purpose of the Microsoft Dynamics CRMKnowledge Base, Knowledge Base concepts, and the lifecycle ofKnowledge Base articles.

Create Knowledge Base article templates.

Create and submit Knowledge Base articles.

Approve, reject, and publish Knowledge Base articles.

Find information in the Knowledge Base.

IntroductionThis lesson explores the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Knowledge Base, anddiscusses how organizations can browse, locate, and share information using thisrepository. The lesson starts by exploring key concepts governing the KnowledgeBase and the lifecycle for Knowledge Base articles. It then covers the process forcreating, editing, and deleting article templates, articles and article comments aswell as other activities related to knowledge base management, such aspublishing and unpublishing Knowledge Base articles.

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Applications in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

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What is the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Knowledge Base?

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Knowledge Base is a repository of yourorganization's structured information. This information is stored as articles, andis organized by subjects based on the subject tree hierarchy. It can contain manydifferent types of articles, such as:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Common problems and their solutions

Schematics

Product user guides

Data sheets

Release schedules

The Knowledge Base should include anything that would provide customerservice representatives (CSRs) with the information they need to answer

questions about products or services (A type of work performed for a customer byone or more resources. Services are schedulable activities). CSRs can link anarticle to a case (A customer service issue or problem reported by a customer andthe activities that customer service representatives use to resolve it.)to trackwhat information was given to the customer. Microsoft Dynamics CRM providesthe tools and templates to create, edit, and publish browser-based content aboutyour organization's products and services.

The Knowledge Base in Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides the followingbenefits:

All information is stored in one location.

The information is consistently formatted.

The information is consistently available.

The information is visible to everyone in the organization with theappropriate permissions.

The Knowledge Base can be searched based on article number, title,full text, keywords, or subject.

Most businesses with a service department need a central area to storeinformation to help solve customer issues or questions. The Knowledge Base toolprovides internal users with information about the organization's products and

services that they use to answer frequently asked customer questions. Thisinformation is in the form of articles and is organized by subjects.

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BEST PRACTICE: Considerations should be taken when deciding who has

privileges to create, approve, reject, and publish Knowledge Base articles. The

articles are a major resource for users to find information related to products,problems and resolutions, and company information. Additionally, article entry

should be planned in advanced before entering data in the form to maintainconsistency and accuracy.

Knowledge Base Concepts

Before discussing how to use the Knowledge Base tool, it is important to definesome terms and understand some key concepts:

Article- A type of structured content that is published to theKnowledge Base and available for searching by the user. Articles arebased on article templates and are subject to an approval process.

Article Template- A template used to create an article, describingthe sections and formatting required for the article.

Article Comment- Notes within the article used to capturecomments on articles. These comments are side-notes to the mainarticle and can be viewed when reading the article. They are notincluded with the article if it is e-mailed.

The Knowledge Base is similar to the other record types in Microsoft DynamicsCRM, but there are also some differences in how the Knowledge Base works andis managed.

Knowledge Base articles are created by using templates. A template provides an

article structure (sections) that determines how content is displayed. You cancreate and store an unlimited number of templates and articles.

BEST PRACTICE: Organizations should take the time to design good

Knowledge Base templates and limit the number of templates created to avoid

confusion over which template to use when creating articles.

Access to the Knowledge Base articles is governed by user privileges. Articlescannot be assigned or shared; users either have access to them or do not.Knowledge Base articles are visible to all users who have the appropriate securityprivileges.

The contents of a Knowledge Base article can be emailed to any of the following:accounts, contacts, leads, queues, or users. Knowledge Base articles can also beattached to a case. The articles are searchable. They are organized by subject toenable easy searching.

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The Life Cycle of Knowledge Base Articles

Knowledge Base articles have a life cycle that ensures that only approved articlesare visible and available for application users to browse and search. The approvalprocess provides control over published content. The Knowledge Base article lifecycle looks like this:

1. A new article is created as a draft article. Draft articles reside in theKnowledge Base Draft folder.

2. The draft article is saved and submitted for approval. Submitting adraft article moves the article from the Draft folder to theUnapproved folder to wait for review and approval or rejection.

If the article is rejected, it moves back to the Draft folder and thearticle status changes back to Draft. A reject comment will then beadded to the article that can be viewed by clicking the Commentstab.

3. When the article is approved, it moves from the Unapproved folderto the Published folder. The article is now visible to all users throughKnowledge Base Article Search in the Articles area underWorkplace.

NOTE:Once a Knowledge Base article is published, it will take 15 minutes to

be indexed by the server and be found by Full Text searches. Administrators

can configure the interval at which new articles are indexed.

Access to the Knowledge Base articles is governed by user privileges. Articlescannot be assigned or shared; users either have access to them or do not.

Knowledge Base articles are visible to all users who have the appropriate securityprivileges.

The contents of a Knowledge Base article can be emailed to any of the following:accounts, contacts, leads, queues, or users. Knowledge Base articles can also beattached to a case. The articles are searchable. They are organized by subject toenable easy searching.

Working with Article Templates

Because the Knowledge Base is a template-based system, at least one articletemplate must be created before an article can be created. Only users with

appropriate security privileges can create article templates. When creating articletemplates consider the following:

Information Presentation- One key benefit of having KnowledgeBase templates is that they enable the consistent presentation ofinformation for Knowledge Base articles.

Titled sections- Templates are made up of titled sections thatindicate where text will be positioned when the article is created.

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Descriptions- Each titled section provides a description box wherethe template author can enter instructions for users creating articles.The instructions serve as a reminder for the type of information toenter in each section.

Procedure: Create an Article Template

1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings, then click Templates,andthen click Article Templates.

2. On the Actionstoolbar, click New.

3. In the Article Template Properties dialog box, type the new articletitle and description, select a language, and then click OK.

4. Format the template using the Common Tasks menu pane:

Add a section-Click Add A Sectionand enter text.

Reposition a section-Use the arrows to move a selected sectionup or down.

Remove a section-Select a section, click Remove Section, thenclick OK.

Edit a section-Select a section, click Section Properties, andthen change the text.

5. To format the text, click the arrow next to Modifyand select thearticle title, headings, or body text for the sections. Use the optionson the Modifytoolbar to format the text, font, font size, and color.

6. Click Save and Close.

NOTE: As soon as an article template is saved, it becomes active and isavailable for users to create articles.

Deactivating and Activating Article Templates

To make an article template unavailable for authoring new articles, you candeactivate it. The advantage of deactivating rather than deleting a template is thatif you decide to use the template later, you can reactivate it.

Deactivating a template removes it from the list of templates available to createnew articles, but it is still listed in the Knowledge Base Template List View.

NOTE:You cannot delete article templates as long as Knowledge Based

articles created from them exist. This is because the article contains only thedata of the article, and the structure is provided by the template. If you want to

delete an article template, you must first delete all the articles that use it.

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Procedure: Deactivate or Activate an Article Template

1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings, then click Templates, andthen click Article Templates.

2. In the list of templates, select the template you want to deactivate oractivate.

3. On the More Actions menu, click Deactivate or Activate.

4. In the confirmation message, click OK.

NOTE:If your view is set to displayActive Article Templates, you will no

longer view the template you deactivated. SelectAll Article Templatesto see

both active and inactive templates.

Demonstration: Working with Article Templates

This demonstration illustrates how to create an article template in MicrosoftDynamics CRM.

Scenario

The Service Manager with [user business] wants to create Knowledge Basetemplates in Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Frequently Asked Questions.

The Service Manager will create templates since they provide a consistentstructure and presentation for Knowledge Base articles.

Goal Description

The Service Manager will create an article template in Microsoft DynamicsCRM.

Steps

1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings, then click Templates, andthen click Article Templates.


3. In the Article Template Properties dialog box, enter the informationfrom the provided table and click OK.

Title[Title]

Description[Description]

LanguageEnglish

4. In the Common Tasks area, click Add a Section.

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5. In the Title, enter the information provided in the table, and clickOK.

Title[Title for Question]

6. In the Common Tasks area, click Add a Section.

7. In the Titlebox, enter the following information from the providedtable and click OK.

Title[Title for Answer]

8. Click Save or Save and Close.

Creating and Submitting Articles

Articles in the Knowledge Base are a key resource for customer servicerepresentatives (CSRs) and provide the information that they need to answercustomers commonly asked questions about a product or service.

You can create new articles using a predefined template that provides structureand formatting. When you create the article, you include a title, subject, andkeyword information.

Changes to the knowledge base are not immediate. Microsoft Dynamics CRMautomatically updates the catalog index every 15 minutes to reflect changes,including new, deleted, or edited articles.

Remember that you can create workflows apply them articles, article comments,and article templates. For more information on how to create and apply aworkflow, see Lesson 4, Customer Centered View.

Procedure: Create an Article

1. In the Navigation Pane, click Service, and then click KnowledgeBase.


3. In the Select a Template dialog box, select the template to use, andthen click OK.

4. Under Title, enter a title for the article.

5. Under Subject, enter a subject for the article. You can click the

Lookup icon to search for a subject.6. Under Keywords, type the keywords that are relevant to this article.

Separate each keyword (A word associated with an article to identifythe article in a search)with a comma.

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BEST PRACTICE:To increase the likelihood that the words users search with

return the correct articles, include alternate spellings and terminology in the

keywords, such as bike, bicycle, and trike.

7. To write the content for the article, click in a section of the form andbegin typing. Use the editing tools on the Formattingtoolbar toformat the work.


NOTE:Web site addresses can be referenced in Knowledge Base articles.

Referencing URLs can be useful if additional information is included on a web

site.

NOTE:Although cases cannot be linked to the Knowledge Base, they can be

used as a different type of Knowledge Base. TheDescriptionfield in the Caseform can be used in the Advanced Find tool to research Resolved Cases and

how similar cases were resolved. For more information about cases refer to

Lesson 17, Case Management.

Submitting an Article

Once the article is saved, it can be submitted for publishing. Any user who hasappropriate privileges can submit a draft article for publishing. Once it issubmitted, it moves to the Unapproved folder in the Knowledge Base Manager.

From the Unapproved folder, a Knowledge Base editor can review, edit, reject, orapprove the article. If an article is rejected, the Reject Article dialog displays sothe editor can make comment as to why the article was rejected.

Procedure: Submit an article for approval


2. In the Knowledge Base, click the Draftfolder.

3. In the article list, select the draft article to submit for approval.

4. On the Actionstoolbar, click Submit.


Demonstration: Create an Article

This demonstration illustrates how to create Knowledge Base articles inMicrosoft Dynamics CRM.

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Scenario

The Service Representative has received multiple calls from customers askinghow to find a [product type] that is the best fit for them. The ServiceRepresentative wants to place this information into the [user's business name]Knowledge Base so that other CSRs can reference it.

Goal DescriptionThe CSR must create a new article in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. This article willinclude the customer question and relevant information to answer the question.

Steps



3. In the Select a Template dialog box, under Language, select thelanguage the template will use. Under Internal Templates, select

the Question & Answertemplate. Click OK.4. Under Title, enter [title for article].

5. Under Subject, enter the subject of this article. Click the Lookupicon to search for a subject.

6. Under Keywords, type the keywords that are relevant to this articleseparated by commas: [keyword1, keyword2, keyword3, keyword4].

7. In the body of the article, enter:

Question:[question for this article]

Answer:[answer for this article]


NOTE:Microsoft Dynamics CRM automatically moves the article into the

Draft folder in the Knowledge Base.

9. In the article list, select the article and then click Submit.

Approving, Publishing, and Rejecting an Article

Once the contents of the article are verified for grammar, spelling, and accuracy,it can be approved. Approving an article is the process of publishing it to theKnowledge Base. Published articles move from the Unapproved folder to thePublished folder. They are marked read-only and cannot be edited.

Published articles are available in the Knowledge Base for browsing orsearching. Comments can be added to the published article at any time by userswith appropriate security privileges.

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Rejecting an Article

By default, every time an article is rejected through the review process, thefollowing actions are performed:

A new comment is created, with the title, Article Submittal -

Rejected.

The article moves back to the Draft folder.

The status of the article changes to Draft.

Procedure: Approve and Publish, or Reject an Article


2. In the Knowledge Base, click the Unapprovedfolder.

3. In the list, select and open the article you want to review.

4. After you have reviewed the article, on the Actionstoolbar, click:

Approveto approve the article, and then click Close.Microsoft Dynamics CRM moves the approved article into thePublished folder in the Knowledge Base area.

Rejectto reject the article. If you reject the article, in the Providea Reason dialog box, under Comment Title, enter a title andthen, in the box, explain to the author the reason you arerejecting the article. Click OK.


Changing and Removing Articles

From time to time, it will be necessary to update articles. During article updates,the article is not available in the Knowledge Base. After making changes,approve and republish the article to make it available again.

NOTE: Changes to the knowledge base are not immediate. Microsoft Dynamics

CRM automatically updates the catalog index every 15 minutes to reflect

changes, including new, deleted, or edited articles.

Procedure: Edit an article


2. In the Knowledge Base, click the folder that contains the article toedit.

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3. In the list, select and open the article to change. If the article is in thePublishedfolder, select the article and, on the Actionstoolbar, clickUnpublish. In the confirmation message, click OK. Then, go to theUnapprovedfolder and select and open the article in the list.

4. Edit the article as needed. When you are finished, click Save andClose.

Unpublishing and Deleting Articles

If an article is obsolete or incorrect, Unpublish it temporarily, make any changes,and then republish it. When you unpublish an article, it is removed from theKnowledge Base and cannot be browsed or searched. The article moves back tothe Unapproved folder, where it can be edited, rejected, or deleted.

Draft and Unapproved articles can be deleted from Microsoft Dynamics CRM.To delete a published article, first unpublish the article and then delete it from theUnapproved folder.

Procedure: Unpublish an article


2. In the Knowledge Base, click the Publishedfolder.

3. Select but do not open the article that you want to unpublish.

4. On the Actionstoolbar, click Unpublish.


NOTE:Microsoft Dynamics CRM moves the article from the Published folderto the Unapproved folder. You can revise and resubmit the article for approval

and publication or delete the article.

Finding Information in the Knowledge Base

There are several ways to search for information in the Knowledge Base. Youcan select from one of the following methods:

Full Text Search- Searches the complete text of Knowledge Basearticles matches based on the value you enter.

Keyword Search- Limits the search to the keywords entered for thearticle.

Title- Limits the search to the titles of articles.

Article Number Search- Limits the search to the system-generatedarticle number that is assigned when an article is created. Use thissearch method when you know the article number.

Subject Browse- Allows you to browse articles through thehierarchical subject tree.

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Procedure: Use Full Text Search to Find Articles

1. In the Navigation Pane, click Workplace, click My Work, and thenclick Articles.

2. Under Search For, type a word or phrase.3. Optional: Under In Subject, type part of the subject, and then click

the Lookup icon to select the subject.

4. Under Options, select Exact Wordsto narrow the search to only thespecific words entered under Search Foror select Like Wordstobroaden the search to related text.

5. Click Search.

Procedure: Use Browse to Find Articles

1. In the Navigation Pane, click Workplace, click My Work, and then

click Articles.2. Click the Full Text Searchbox and select Subject Browsefrom the

drop-down list.

3. Click a subject to see a list of published Knowledge Base articles forthat subject.

BEST PRACTICE:Because the Knowledge Base uses subjects to organize the

articles, during the initial implementation, take the time you need to create a

thorough and relevant subject list. Make sure to build a logical, consistent

subject catalog that is easy to browse for products, cases, and Knowledge Base

articles.

Adding and Deleting Article Comments

Use comments to collect corrections and additions to articles. Generally, allcustomer service representatives can add comments to published or unapprovedarticles. After comments are incorporated into the revised article, they should bedeleted.

Procedure: Add or Delete a Comment

1. In the Navigation Pane, click Service, and then click Knowledge

Base.

2. In the Knowledge Base, click the folder that contains the article onwhich you want to comment.

3. In the list, select and open the article.

4. To add a comment, on the Commentstab, click New ArticleComment. In the Comment on this Article dialog box, underComment Title, enter a title for the comment. In the box, type acomment. Click OK.

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5. Optional: To delete a comment, select the comment, on theCommentstab, click Delete. In the confirmation message, click OK.

NOTE:You cannot recover deleted comments.


Summary

Knowledge Base articles are a key resource for customer service representativesand provide the information that they need to answer your customer's commonlyasked questions. Knowledge Base articles are created through a standard processthat ensures quality control checks. They are stored in the Knowledge Basedatabase, which enables internal users to browse the information by subject, orsearch by article number, keyword, title, and full text.

Knowledge Base article templates provide a system for structuring theinformation entered into the Knowledge Base. Microsoft Dynamics CRMprovides a process for drafting, submitting, reviewing, and publishingKnowledge Base articles. Users with manager-level security privileges canapprove, reject, edit, add comments to, and unpublish articles that are submittedfor review.

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Test Your Knowledge

Edit an Article

1. Before you can edit a published Knowledge Base article, which step must be

done?( ) Approve the article

( ) Reject the article

( ) Unpublish the article

( ) Submit the article

Live Cycle

2. Which of the following is not a stage in the life cycle of a Knowledge Basearticle?

( ) Draft( ) On Hold

( ) Published

( ) Unapproved

Knowledge Base Status

3. Which of the following is not a status of a Knowledge Base article? (Selectall that apply.)

( ) Published

( ) Rejected

( ) Indexed

( ) Draft

Search

4. What method is not a valid way to search for a Knowledge Base article?

( ) Full Text Search

( ) Abbreviated Text

( ) Title Search

( ) Article Number

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Publishing

5. How is a Knowledge Base article published?

( ) Through the Article Queues tab, approve a Draft article

( ) Through the Article Queues tab, approve an Unapproved article( ) Through the Workplace, pull up the Knowledge Base menu

( ) Through the Home Page, go to the Settings Menu

Reject an Article

6. When a article is rejected from being published the article is sent to whichfolder?

( ) Draft

( ) Unapproved

( ) Published

( ) Approved

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Lab 18.1 - Creating, Submitting, and Publishing KnowledgeBase Articles

In this Lab you create, submit, and publish a Knowledge Base article. As you

perform the instructions, use the information in the Scenario and GoalDescription to complete the lab.

See the Introduction to Training lesson for information about the two levels oflab instruction and the lab solution in Appendix B.

Scenario

The Service Representative creates a new case for [customer name] regarding the[product issue], then creates an activity to contact Quality Control regarding anydefects with the [product name].

Quality Control informs the Service Representative that there is a flaw with the[product name], and they ask him to create a Knowledge Base article.

The Service Representative is required to create a Knowledge Base Article usingthe Solution to a Problem article template. The Service Representative wants toinform customers that [company name] has decided to offer a free replacementfor all defective [produce name].

To qualify for this offer the customer is required to provide [company name]with their account information, and a time and date they would like to have thedefective [product] collected and replaced with a new model.

Challenge Yourself!

Using the information in the Scenario create and publish the new KnowledgeBase Article.

NOTE: Because this task cannot be performed in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Client for Outlook, log into the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Web Application.

Need a Little Help?

Follow these steps to create an article and publishing it:

Step by Step

1. Use the information provided in this table to create a KnowledgeBase article using the Solution to a Problem template.

Title[product name Defect]

Subject[subject]

Keywords[keywords1, keyword2, keyword3, keyword4]

Problem[product name] is defective

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SolutionCustomer must provide a time and date that they wouldlike to have the defective [product] collected and replaced

Additional CommentsAsk for [product] barcode information.If you need help, see the previous procedure Create an Article

2. Click Save and Close.3. Select the created article in the Draft folder and click Submit.In the

Confirm Submittaldialog box, clickOK.

4. Select the article from the Unapproved folder and click Approve. Inthe Approve Confirmationdialog box, click OK.

5. Select the Publishedfolder and note that your article appears.

(If you need help, refer to the procedure Approve, publish, or reject an article).

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Lab 18.2 - Reviewing, approving and rejecting KnowledgeBase Articles

In this lab, you review, approve, and reject Knowledge Base articles. As youperform the instructions, use the information in the Scenario and Goal

Description to complete the lab.

Refer to the Introduction to Training lesson for information about the two levelsof lab instruction and the lab solution in Appendix B.

Scenario

The Customer Service Manager wants to determine if any new Knowledge Basearticles have been submitted. The customer service representative has submittedmultiple Knowledge Base articles for approval. The Customer Service Managerreviews and approves the [article title 1], and [article title2] articles, and rejectsthe article titled: [article title 3] as this article is lacking the detail needed.

Review Knowledge Base articles and approve or reject each of them.

Challenge Yourself!

Using the information in the Scenario approve and reject the Knowledge Basearticles.

NOTE: Because this task cannot be performed in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Client for Outlook, log into the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Web Application.

Need a Little Help?

Follow the steps to create articles and approve and publish them.

Step by Step

1. Log onto the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Web Application as BenBurton. The Username is Ben and the password is Pa$$w0rd.

2. Create two articles, using the procedure in the previous lab. Give onethe title [article 1], and one the title [article 2]. Submit both thearticles.

3. Log off, and then log on as Stefan Delmarco, the CSR Manager. The

username is Stefan and the password is Pa$$w0rd.4. Navigate to the Unapproved folder in the Knowledge Base.

5. Review the Knowledge Base article titled: [article 1] in theUnapproved folder. Click Approvefor publishing.

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6. Review the Knowledge Base article titled: [article 2] in theUnapproved folder. Rejectthis article for publishing, and provide areason for the rejection

If you need help, refer to the procedure Approve, publish, or rejectan article.

7. Log off, and then log on as Ben Burton. The username is Ben and thepassword is Pa$$w0rd.

8. Click the Draftfolder and view the rejected article. Note that therejection reason is displayed in the comments tab.

9. Click the Published folder and view the approved article.

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Quick Interaction: Lessons Learned

Take a moment and write down three key points you have learned from thischapter:

1.

2.

3.

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Solutions

Test Your Knowledge

Edit an Article

1. Before you can edit a published Knowledge Base article, which step must bedone?

( ) Approve the article

( ) Reject the article

() Unpublish the article

( ) Submit the article

Live Cycle

2. Which of the following is not a stage in the life cycle of a Knowledge Basearticle?

( ) Draft

() On Hold

( ) Published

( ) Unapproved

Knowledge Base Status

3. Which of the following is not a status of a Knowledge Base article? (Selectall that apply.)

( ) Published

() Rejected

() Indexed

( ) Draft

Search

4. What method is not a valid way to search for a Knowledge Base article?

( ) Full Text Search

() Abbreviated Text( ) Title Search

( ) Article Number

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Publishing

5. How is a Knowledge Base article published?

( ) Through the Article Queues tab, approve a Draft article

() Through the Article Queues tab, approve an Unapproved article

( ) Through the Workplace, pull up the Knowledge Base menu

( ) Through the Home Page, go to the Settings Menu

Reject an Article

6. When a article is rejected from being published the article is sent to whichfolder?

() Draft

( ) Unapproved

( ) Published

( ) Approved

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