Knowledge articles let your end users find answers without creating incidents or calling the service desk. This guide walks you through creating an article, routing it through approval, and getting it published.
Why knowledge articles reduce support volume
Without a proper knowledge base, users create tickets for questions that have known answers — password resets, software installation steps, common error messages. Your service desk agents spend time answering the same questions repeatedly instead of handling real issues. End users wait longer for help and get frustrated with basic problems. Platform admins and knowledge managers need a way to publish self-service answers that users can find before they pick up the phone or create an incident.
How knowledge articles work in ServiceNow
A knowledge article is structured content that moves through a defined workflow: Draft → Review → Published. You create the article in a specific knowledge base (which determines who can see it) and assign it to a category (which determines where it appears in search results). The rich text editor handles formatting, images, and links. The key insight most people miss: draft articles are invisible to end users, and published articles can't be edited directly — you have to create a new version or retire and replace them.
Building a sustainable knowledge program
Once you have articles publishing successfully, the improvements that matter are: setting up knowledge bases for different audiences (internal IT vs. end users), creating a category structure that matches how people actually search, and establishing review workflows that don't create bottlenecks. Production-quality knowledge management means designated authors, regular content audits, and analytics on which articles users actually find helpful. The goal is articles that reduce ticket volume, not just articles that exist.
Before you start
- •knowledge_admin or admin role
- •At least one knowledge base configured in your instance
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Step by step
Navigate to Knowledge Articles
Go to Knowledge > Articles > Create New. ServiceNow opens the knowledge article form. You'll see the article editor with workflow state defaulted to Draft — this is correct for new articles since drafts aren't visible to end users until published.
The URL changes based on which knowledge base you select, so bookmark the Create New page after you choose your target knowledge base.
Select knowledge base and category
Choose your Knowledge base from the dropdown — this controls who can see the article once published. Pick a Category that matches your content type. The Short description becomes your article title and appears in search results, so make it specific and searchable. Skip the Number field — ServiceNow auto-generates article numbers.
If you don't see the knowledge base you need, you likely don't have write access to it — check with your knowledge admin.
Write your article content
Click into the Text field to open the rich text editor. Write your content using headings, bullet points, and formatting to make it scannable. Add images by clicking the image icon in the toolbar — they upload directly to the article. Use the link tool for external references. Keep paragraphs short since users typically skim knowledge articles looking for specific steps.
Test any links you add — broken links in knowledge articles frustrate users and make your content look unmaintained.
Configure article properties
Set the Article type based on your content — How-to, FAQ, Reference, or Troubleshooting. Fill in Keywords with terms people might search for beyond what's in your title. Leave Workflow state as Draft for now. The Valid to date is optional but useful for time-sensitive content that should expire automatically.
Keywords are crucial for search — include acronyms, alternate terms, and common misspellings that users might type.
Set visibility and access controls
Check the Can Contribute section to see who can comment on your article — this defaults based on your knowledge base settings. Review User Criteria if you need to restrict access beyond the knowledge base level. Most articles use knowledge base permissions and don't need additional user criteria restrictions.
User criteria restrictions compound with knowledge base permissions — if either blocks access, the user can't see the article.
Save and submit for review
Click Update to save your draft. To move the article toward publication, change the Workflow state to Review and click Update again. ServiceNow routes the article to designated reviewers based on your knowledge base configuration. You'll get notifications when reviewers approve or request changes.
Save drafts frequently while writing — the rich text editor doesn't auto-save and browser crashes lose your work.
Monitor approval and publish
Check the Activity stream for reviewer feedback. If changes are requested, the workflow state returns to Draft — make your edits and resubmit to Review. Once approved, authorized users can set the workflow state to Published. The article becomes visible to end users immediately when published.
Published articles can't be edited directly — you have to retire them and create new versions, so get the content right before publishing.
Best practices
Write article titles that match what users type in search — avoid internal jargon and acronyms that customers don't know.
Keep articles focused on one topic — users searching for 'password reset' don't want to scroll through sections about account lockouts and MFA setup.
Test your article workflow with a throwaway article before publishing real content — some instances have complex approval chains that aren't obvious from the form.
Set expiration dates on articles with version-specific steps or temporary procedures — outdated knowledge articles cause more problems than no articles at all.
Use consistent category assignments across your team — users rely on categories for browsing, and inconsistent categorization makes content hard to find.
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