Difference in knowledge article views between sys_view_count and kb_use entries

[pascalfrencken]

We are extensively using knowledge bases on our ServiceNow instance, and statistics on the usage of the knowledge articles are essential for improvements on the content.

One of the statistics that we use is the number of views per knowledge article.There's two places where we can see this data:

1. In the sys_view_count field on the knowledge article.
2. In the kb_use table, where the viewed column indicates whether a knowledge article was viewed.

We do see an interesting difference here: the sys_view_count of a knowledge article does not correspond to the number of records with viewed = true for that same article in the kb_use table. Our expectation was that these would be the same. I general we see that the number of records in kb_use is significantly higher than the sys_view_count.

What is causing this difference?

Best regards,

Pascal Frencken
ServiceNow Platform Solution Architect
Philips Lighting

[Rachel38]

I encountered the same issue but I eventually figured out that the view count (which I understand is what you are referring to as sys_view_count) in the kb_knowledge table displays view count for the past 3 months. Whereas the view count in the kb_use table displays the view count from all time, hence the discrepancy between the two.

Hope this helps.

Rachel

[ericschultz]

Could you tell me where you found the logic that indicates sys_view_count only shows views from the last three months?

[Suzanne Vinson]

How were you able to determine this?  I've been digging into knowledge field definitions and didn't see anything about a date range.  I'll take any instruction I can!  Thanks!

[Aleksas Kucins1]

Hello,

In kb_knowledge.list view count is based on glide.knowman.view_age.days system property. 

When counting views, it looks in kb_use table, filters out created by within the number of days defined in glide.knowman.view_age.days system property. Default value is viewed within last 30 days.