Is there an OOTB way to control who can view sections of a knowledge article?

Taylor20 · ‎01-09-2023

Hi all,

Is there a way to ensure specific sections of articles in a knowledge base available to several groups can only be viewed by one group?

I'm looking at ways we can improve our knowledge articles and a lot of them could have extra information added that only our Security Team would need to see (other than knowledge managers and admin of course).

If there isn't an OOTB solution, has anyone found any ways of implementing this approach?

Thanks,
Taylor

Community Alums · ‎01-09-2023

Hi @Taylor20 ,

You have multiple options:

1) Use Knowledge Blocks
2) Create a specific Knowledge base that will be used only to store those articles realted with business continuity. You can then create a User Criteria to grant read permissions on that knowledge base to users belonging to a specific group;

3) Put the articles in the same knowledge as other articles and manage the Can Read field. You mentioned that your customer does not like this solution, but it is a fairly easy and secure way to manage the access to specific records.

4) Create a specific read ACL that will restrict read permissions on articles from a specific category for a specific group.
NOTE: setting up ACLs with user criteria can end up with strange behaviors. Avoid using ACLs with usage records.

If I was the one choosing, I would go for option 1.
in option 1 you select the users that will have access to the entire knowledge base. That gives a very good level of protection/security and at the same time creates a logical separation from other knowledge bases.

View solution in original post

Lauren Methena · ‎01-10-2023

Hello! Yes, we use knowledge blocks.

This way, we can have one knowledge base that everyone uses. We can even post an article that everyone needs - and then add specialized information within that same article for specific audiences.

The way it works is:

- Create knowledge groups of users. For example, we only have two specialized groups: management and HR. Keeps it simple. However, I've heard of people creating groups by geography, language, time zone, department, etc. It's up to you how you want to flag and sort your data/users.

- When you create a knowledge block, add the group whom you want to see the specialized info to the CAN READ criteria. (Adding who can see it is better than listing out who cannot see it - not sure why - that's just how the vendor told us to do it - something about the CANNOT READ not always being reliable? This could have changed over time, but adding groups to the CAN READ field hasn't failed us.)

- BONUS - you can use this same method of CAN READ criteria to limit the audience of whole articles, not just knowledge blocks.

- Publish it as usual and insert it where you need it.

BEST PRACTICES:

-Come up with a way to alert users that this is specialized information that not everyone can see. For example, one thing we do is we have a reusable banner (that is also a knowledge block) that says, "This is an HR-only section. Please use discretion before sharing this information." This way, anyone reading it knows they are seeing something others may not be able to see and that it's privileged information. There are many ways you could do this, from a standard message in your blocks to a differently colored background, and other formatting changes. Just make sure it's easy to do consistently.

-Be aware of formatting with your knowledge blocks. You want the formatting of your block to match the article it's part of, so it doesn't look like a wonky add-in. (This is more if you're using a knowledge block to repeat the same info across many articles. For example, if there's a link to a report that you use a lot, format the block so you can add it in any article and people won't know it's a block.)

Feel free to message me or to reply to this if you have follow up questions. Cheers!