I would like to hide some buttons from users in a single group

[Lee Kraus2]

Hello All,

I'm a little stuck trying to hide some buttons from a specific set of users. When an ITIL user clicks on the Knowledge module in the App Navigator, it goes to a "portal" for Knowledge Bases. In the upper right corner are (for us) 3 buttons as shown in the below screenshot:

View of buttons

I can't find where these reside to create a rule to hide them if a user is in a specific group. I've looked under UI Actions, these buttons don't show up there, and I feel this is a portal-like page because if I go into any of the Knowledge Bases we have, that header bar and buttons stays and just displays the list of knowledge articles we have inside that Base. I've been trying to find them for a while to no avail, and searching the community thus far has also turned up nothing. I'd be very grateful for any assistance.

Thank you!

[jMarshal]

You're feeling is correct, it is a "portal-built page/experience"...and "hiding" the buttons might actually be easier than you think (kinda). There are properties/configurations oob in Knowledge Management (or Knowledge Advanced), which would/could solve your problem without actually customizing the button/action.

It's usually easier to restrict abilities/access for users in certain groups, which uses the oob methods to "remove the buttons" (so to speak) - not sure what it actually does with the button object itself (which is probably unimportant, if you still achieve your end goal).

If you really want to customize those exact buttons specifically, I think you'll need to crack open UI Builder and modify the oob experience. You can maybe(?) copy the Knowledge portal/homepage and do the mods and then redirect users to your custom one?...but in my opinion, that creates a lot of overhead which may cause issues in the future as you'll need to replicate any added features in your portal, to match oob.

What is it that you're trying to change about the buttons? Maybe I can point you in the right direction.

[Lee Kraus2]

Hi there!

I'm just looking to hide the buttons. For list views of tables, that's never been an issue, but with this portal-built page, the experience is a little different. Basically, I don't want this specific group to even know there is a way to add to the knowledge base they will have access to. It's C-level people and the less they can mess with the better. I've already granted them Read Only permissions so they don't have an Edit button when they view a KB, but my boss asked if we can just make everything but the search bar disappear. I know it's possible, this platform is crazy customizable, I just can't find where I need to go to do it. Is the Knowledge Management you speak of the Properties module under Knowledge>Administration in the Navigator? Under the page that comes up, I can't seem to see anything that helps unfortunately. There is a "Hide the 'Import' functionality (button and drag-n-drop) for all users" option, but no way to make it for specific group there. The other button functions (creating an article, posting a question) don't get a mention there. If you know of a better place to go, I'm open to it.

Thank you for your reply and I look forward to more info!

[jMarshal]

My pleasure...and yes, the "Knowledge Management" I was referring to is what you found...but you won't make the adjustment in "properties".

If you go to Knowledge > Administration > Knowledge Bases, then select the KB in question (probably "IT"?) and in there, there is a "Can Contribute" tab...if they aren't in a "group" which is on that tab, you'll probably get the desired results.

Please note that I put "group" in quotes because that is actually "User Criteria" (not a group)...but you should be able to set up a "User Criteria" record that satisfies the condition of "everyone who is NOT in this group" (everyone except the c level group). You should be able to see the User Criteria stuff in the same KB Admin area, as above.

Please note further, that I believe some of this functionality is a part of "Knowledge Advanced", so you may need to install additional plugins (depending on how old your instance is or what has already been set up)...but this is a part of the ITSM/CSM base licensing, to my understanding, so it should be available to you if needed.

Hope this helps!