<h2>Create an article template and use it to create a knowledge article</h2><br/><div style="overflow-x:auto"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"><head><meta content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><meta name="copyright" content="(C) Copyright 2024" /><meta name="DC.rights.owner" content="(C) Copyright 2024" /><meta name="generator" content="DITA-OT" /><meta name="DC.type" content="task" /><meta name="DC.title" content="Create an article template and use it to create a knowledge article" /><meta name="abstract" content="Create new article templates in addition to the pre-defined templates. Add new fields based on how you want to customize and display your content." /><meta name="description" content="Create new article templates in addition to the pre-defined templates. Add new fields based on how you want to customize and display your content." /><meta name="DC.subject" content="Knowledge Management, create a new article template" /><meta name="keywords" content="Knowledge Management, create a new article template" /><meta name="DC.relation" scheme="URI" content="../../../product/knowledge-management/concept/knowledge-article-templates.html" /><meta name="DC.relation" scheme="URI" content="../../../administer/general/concept/capabilities-bundle-landingpage.html" /><meta name="DC.relation" scheme="URI" content="../../../administer/general/reference/manage-content.html" /><meta name="DC.relation" scheme="URI" content="../../../product/knowledge-management/topic/p_KnowledgeManagment.html" /><meta name="DC.relation" scheme="URI" content="../../../product/knowledge-management/concept/c_KnowledgeAdministration.html" /><meta name="DC.creator" content="ServiceNow" /><meta name="DC.date.created" content="2023-02-02" /><meta name="DC.date.modified" content="2023-02-02" /><meta name="DC.format" content="XHTML" /><meta name="DC.identifier" content="create-a-new-article-templates" /><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../../CSS/commonltr.css" /><title>Create an article template and use it to create a knowledge article</title></head><body id="create-a-new-article-templates"> <div class="breadcrumb"><a class="link" href="../../../administer/general/concept/capabilities-bundle-landingpage.html" title="Extend the Now Platform with additional applications and features.">Extend Now Platform capabilities</a> > <a class="link" href="../../../administer/general/reference/manage-content.html" title="Handle all the necessary aspects of document and knowledge base management for your enterprise with several ServiceNow.">Manage content capabilities</a> > <a class="link" href="../../../product/knowledge-management/topic/p_KnowledgeManagment.html" title="The ServiceNow Knowledge Management (KM) application enables the sharing of information in knowledge bases. These knowledge bases contain articles that provide users with information such as self-help, troubleshooting, and task resolution.">Knowledge Management</a> > <a class="link" href="../../../product/knowledge-management/concept/c_KnowledgeAdministration.html" title="Configure various aspects of Knowledge Management based on the specific requirements of your organization.">Configure Knowledge Management</a> > </div> <h1 class="title topictitle1" id="ariaid-title1">Create an article template and use it to create a knowledge article</h1> <div class="body taskbody"><p class="shortdesc">Create new article templates in addition to the pre-defined templates. Add new fields based on how you want to customize and display your content.</p> <div class="section prereq p"> <div class="p">You must activate following plugins:<ul class="ul" id="create-a-new-article-templates__ul_mjg_rzt_vvb"><li class="li">Knowledge Management Advanced (com.snc.knowledge_advanced)</li><li class="li">Knowledge Management Advanced Installer (com.snc.knowledge_advanced.installer)</li></ul> </div> <p class="p">Role required: knowledge_admin or admin</p> </div> <div class="section context" id="create-a-new-article-templates__context_qjv_qlj_4bb">For each new article template, a child table of the Knowledge [kb_knowledge] table is created. When you add a new field to the template, a new column is added to that table created for the template.</div> <ol class="ol steps"><li class="li step stepexpand"> <span class="ph cmd">Navigate to <span class="ph menucascade"><span class="ph uicontrol">All</span> > <span class="ph uicontrol">Knowledge</span> > <span class="ph uicontrol">Administration</span> > <span class="ph uicontrol">Article Templates</span></span>, and click <span class="ph uicontrol">New</span>.</span> </li><li class="li step stepexpand"> <span class="ph cmd">On the Article Template form, fill in fields.</span> <div class="itemgroup info"> <div class="tablenoborder"><table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="" id="create-a-new-article-templates__table_oyx_3fc_tbb" class="table" frame="border" border="1" rules="all"><caption><span class="tablecap"><span class="table--title-label">Table 1. </span>Article Template form</span></caption><colgroup><col style="width:50%" /><col style="width:50%" /></colgroup><thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;"><tr class="row"><th class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d646574e111">Field</th><th class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d646574e114">Description</th></tr></thead><tbody class="tbody"><tr class="row"><td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e111 ">Name</td><td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e114 ">Name for the article template. The name can contain only lowercase, alphanumeric ASCII characters and underscores (_).</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry row-nocellborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e111 ">Description</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e114 ">Description for the article template.</td></tr></tbody></table> </div> <div class="note"><span class="notetitle">Note:</span> The <span class="ph uicontrol">Active</span> check box is selected by default making the template available for use.</div> </div> </li><li class="li step stepexpand"> <span class="ph cmd">Right-click the form header and click <span class="ph uicontrol">Save</span>.</span> </li><li class="li step stepexpand"> <span class="ph cmd">In the Article Templates Field related list, add fields to the template.</span> <ol type="a" class="ol substeps" id="create-a-new-article-templates__substeps_pbx_wmb_zbb"><li class="li substep substepexpand"> <span class="ph cmd">Click <span class="ph uicontrol">New</span>.</span> </li><li class="li substep substepexpand"> <span class="ph cmd">On the Article Template Field form, fill in the fields.</span> <div class="itemgroup info"> <div class="tablenoborder"><table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="" id="create-a-new-article-templates__table_oqx_cpb_zbb" class="table" frame="border" border="1" rules="all"><caption><span class="tablecap"><span class="table--title-label">Table 2. </span>Article Template Field form</span></caption><colgroup><col style="width:50%" /><col style="width:50%" /></colgroup><thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;"><tr class="row"><th class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d646574e197">Name</th><th class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d646574e200">Description</th></tr></thead><tbody class="tbody"><tr class="row"><td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e197 ">Field Name</td><td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e200 ">Title to display on the template form.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e197 ">Field Type</td><td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e200 ">Available field types:<ul class="ul" id="create-a-new-article-templates__ul_pqx_cpb_zbb"><li class="li">HTML</li><li class="li">String</li><li class="li">Integer</li><li class="li">Date</li><li class="li">Date and time</li></ul> </td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e197 ">Order</td><td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e200 ">Position of the field in the article page view and the article edit view.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e197 ">Article Template</td><td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e200 ">(Read-only) Name of the article template associated with this field.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e197 ">Template Table</td><td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e200 ">(Read-only) Name of the table for this template.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e197 ">Template Field</td><td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e200 ">(Read-only) Name of the template column associated with this field.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e197 ">Mandatory</td><td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e200 ">Option to make this field as mandatory. When selected, this field is required to be filled.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e197 ">Expand/Collapse</td><td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e200 ">Defines whether the template field displays as collapsed or expanded by default.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e197 ">Active</td><td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e200 ">Option to display the field on the template.</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e197 ">Heading style</td><td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e200 ">CSS formats applied to the template header. For example, to display the background of the template header in red, with a 24-px font size, Arial font family, and white text color, enter the following code: background-color:red; font-size:24px; font-family:Arial; color:white;</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry nocellnorowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e197 ">Field style</td><td class="entry cell-norowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e200 ">CSS formats applied to the template fields. Any CSS format applied at the field level is automatically applied to the header if not already specified in the <span class="ph uicontrol">Heading style</span> field. For example, to display the 300px page width, 25px solid green border, 25px padding, and 25px page margin, enter the following code: width:300px; border:25px solid green; padding:25px; margin:25px;</td></tr><tr class="row"><td class="entry row-nocellborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e197 ">Preview text</td><td class="entry cellrowborder" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d646574e200 ">Preview text displayed on the article template selector. Empty value will display random text.</td></tr></tbody></table> </div> </div> </li><li class="li substep substepexpand"> <span class="ph cmd">Click <span class="ph uicontrol">Submit</span>.</span> </li></ol> <div class="itemgroup stepresult">The field is added to the template.</div> </li><li class="li step stepexpand"><strong>Optional: </strong> <span class="ph cmd">In the <span class="ph uicontrol">SEO Description Tag</span> field, search for and add article template field name.</span> <div class="itemgroup info">The content in this field is used as meta description tags to search for articles created using this article template.</div> </li><li class="li step stepexpand"> <span class="ph cmd">Configure the Knowledge form to display the fields that you added to the template.</span> <ol type="a" class="ol substeps"><li class="li substep"> <span class="ph cmd">Navigate to <span class="ph menucascade"><span class="ph uicontrol">Knowledge</span> > <span class="ph uicontrol">Articles</span> > <span class="ph uicontrol">Create New</span></span>.</span> </li><li class="li substep"> <span class="ph cmd">Select a knowledge base, and then the newly added article template.</span> </li><li class="li substep"> <span class="ph cmd">Right-click the header and select <span class="ph menucascade"><span class="ph uicontrol">Configure</span> > <span class="ph uicontrol">Form Layout</span></span>.</span> </li><li class="li substep"> <span class="ph cmd">Select and move the fields you added to the article template from the <span class="ph uicontrol">Available</span> column to the <span class="ph uicontrol">Selected</span> column.</span> </li><li class="li substep"> <span class="ph cmd">Click the up or down icon to arrange the fields in the order in which you want them to appear in the Knowledge form.</span> </li><li class="li substep"> <span class="ph cmd">Click <span class="ph uicontrol">Save</span>.</span> </li></ol> <div class="itemgroup info"> <div class="note"><span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Authors who started a session before a template was created or activated will see the newly added template upon their next login.</div> </div> </li></ol> <div class="section postreq" id="create-a-new-article-templates__postreq_hst_v4z_phb">If you want to search for duplicate articles when creating an article from a new template, you must configure the article template table for contextual search. On the Table Configuration form, the <span class="ph uicontrol">Search context</span> field must be set to <span class="ph uicontrol">Knowledge ML Search</span>. For more information, see <a class="xref" href="../administer/contextual-search/task/t_DefineContextualSearchForForm.dita/t_DefineContextualSearchForForm.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Configure table for a contextual search</a>.</div> </div> <div class="related-links"> <div class="familylinks"> <div class="parentlink"><strong>Parent Topic:</strong> <a class="link" href="../../../product/knowledge-management/concept/knowledge-article-templates.html" title="Article templates have pre-defined fields structured in a specific order. These templates help create a consistent structure for knowledge articles.">Knowledge article templates</a></div> </div> </div></body></html></div>