Use articles in the knowledge base
Make critical knowledge available to everyone by capturing it in articles in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Create a customized library for business information, product guides, data sheets, and other articles with timely and relevant information.
An administrator sets up a subject tree to categorize articles based on your organization's unique needs. New articles can be based on templates, which define the structure for individual articles, such as the question and answer sections in an FAQ.
After your organization has some articles in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, you can link them to a case or even send them to customers in e-mail.
A typical knowledge management consists of the following stages:
Create and update articles
Collaborate with colleagues while writing or editing your articles. Review suggestions, corrections, and additions in the comments on an article and then update the article based on these comments. When you're done, send your article to a manager for approval. Once approved, it is available in search results, to view, or to share with colleagues and customers after about 15 to 20 minutes.
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Follow the steps for the app you're using.
If using the CRM web application
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On the nav bar, click or tap Microsoft Dynamics CRM > Service.
Service appears on the nav bar.
Then, click or tap Service > Articles.
If using CRM for Outlook
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Click or tap your organization.
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Click or tap Service > Collateral > Articles.
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To create a new article: Click or tap +New.
To edit an article, open the article from the list.
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If you are creating a new article, in the Select Template dialog box, select a language and template that you want to use to create the article, and click or tap OK.
Note
If you need other templates, you can request your system administrator or customizer.
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Type or modify information in the text boxes.
Hovertips provide hints about what to enter.
All articles are initially created in a Draft state. To publish the articles, a manager must approve these.
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In the Actions group, click or tap Submit.
Edit, reject, or approve an article
To make sure that the articles that people in your organization use are up to date, someone with manager privileges needs to approve any new or revised articles. Similarly, managers can remove unneeded articles.
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To view or edit an unapproved article, on the nav bar, click or tap Microsoft Dynamics CRM > Service > Articles, and open the Unapproved Articles view, and then click or tap the article. To add comments to the article, in the Actions group, click or tap Add Comments.
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To reject an article, open the article and in the Actions group, click or tap Reject. Rejected articles are returned to the Unapproved Articles view for revision.
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To approve an article, in the list of unapproved articles, select the article, and then on the command bar, click or tap APPROVE.
When you approve an article, it is automatically published and is available for viewing in the knowledge base in approximately 15 minutes. After an article is published, if you want to edit it, you must first unpublish it.
Find an article
Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides several ways to look for articles that people in your organization have created. You can search by using keywords, titles, or the text from a published article. If you know the exact article number, you can quickly open the article that you need. But if you are not sure what text to use before you begin looking, you can also browse through articles by subject.
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Follow the steps for the app you're using.
If using the CRM web application
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On the nav bar, click or tap Microsoft Dynamics CRM > Service.
Service appears on the nav bar.
Then, click or tap Service > Articles.
If using CRM for Outlook
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Click or tap your organization.
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Click or tap Service > Collateral > Articles.
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In the Search box, type the keyword, and then click or tap the Search icon.
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To filter search results, click or tap the Search Tool icon and select one of the following:
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Full-Text Search. Looks at all the published articles for the specified keyword.
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Keyword Search. Compares the keyword that you specified with alternate terminology assigned to an article to find articles. For example, an article about bicycles might use keywords such as "bike" or "cycle."
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Title Search. Looks at the title of all published articles for the keyword that you specified.
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Subject Search. Looks at the subject of all published articles for the keyword that you specified.
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Article Number Search. Looks for the number that is assigned to the article when it is published.
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Subject: ‘None'. Looks for articles that have None selected as the subject.
Select Exact Text to search for the exact words that you enter in the Search for box, or select Use Like Words to search for similar words. For example, if you enter "run," the search would include "running" and "runs."
