Best Practice when article has multiple levels of reader

[Stacey Brannan]

@Ashley Snyder - Just found your best practice presentations from 2023 and they are so helpful! I have a few more specific questions.

1. What's best practice if you have one issue that may require additional levels of readers beyond end users and Servicedesk - example: Outlook issue - audience a) Outlook end users b) Servicedesk c) Level 2 support because the fix is something only they can do. I know you mentioned it's best practice to use one article for both end users and Servicedesk to avoid duplicate information. Use knowledge blocks to control who can see what. Does the same hold true if there are additional layers of IT support? 

2. Is it best practice to have one knowledge base for all technical articles or multiple?

3. Is it best practice to have dedicated trained knowledge contributors or do companies often allow a wide audience to create content?

4. Any recommendations on implementing the Known Error process within Knowledge Management and Problem Management to ensure a consistent end user reader experience? 

Thank you!

[mbernste]

We have separate knowledge bases based on the support level.  In addition to putting the level type in the KB name (i.e. Help Desk (L1), we also created a custom field called "Service Level" with a drop-down for the support level.  This is useful for reporting and metrics.

[Stacey Brannan]

mbernste - If you have multiple articles for one issue how do you tie them all together for updates, trending & reporting, etc.? How does a L2 know what article/instructions the end user and L1 have?

[trout1974]

We use article templates.. fields can be set to permissions, so that way you don't have multiple articles on the same issue in multiple locations. Multiple fields can be added in one KB, and permissions can be per each field, so End Users can see certain fields, Service Desk L1 can see their field along with the End Users field, and the Tier 2 can be set to see all of the fields.. So that covers it.. One KB, with multiple field levels available with set permissions for access. 

Example: 
Self Help Article Template has multiple fields:
Ticket Coding (viewable to help desk and pc techs)
Purpose (view able to End Users, help desk, and pc techs)
Content (viewable to End Users, help desk, and pc techs)
Additional Technician Instructions (viewable to help desk, and pc techs)

References (viewable to End Users, help desk, and pc techs)
Additional Support (viewable to End Users, help desk, and pc techs)
Update Log (viewable to End Users, help desk, and pc techs)

[mbernste]

Those who have access to L2 articles can see all L0/1 articles, however, in most cases the reverse is not true.  Each article has a review date and is reviewed when the date approaches.