Overview

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Steps to create and add a Knowledge Block to a Knowledge Base Article (KBA) in ServiceNow. 

Critical Concepts

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• Knowledge Blocks are content blocks that can be embedded within a KBA.
• Knowledge Blocks cannot be viewed on their own - they must be embedded within a KBA to be visible.
• The most common uses for Knowledge Blocks are:
  • Displaying different information to different audiences. Knowledge Blocks have "Can Read" and "Cannot Read" criteria, which allows you to select who can see the block. By embedding two blocks within the same article, each with different read criteria, different readers will see different information in the same article. Example: You provide different services for students and staff members at your Service Desk and want to show people only the services that are available to them. You create a block containing student services that requires the user have a student ID on their profile, and a block containing staff services that requires a staff ID to read. Logged in users will see one, the other, or both, depending on which IDs they have on their profile.
  • Duplicating the same information across multiple articles. You can embed the same block in multiple articles, and edits to the block will automatically update each article. Example: You provide your contact information for your Service Desk at the bottom of each article. Embedding a block for this will allow you to make a single edit if your contact information changes and automatically update all your articles.
    
    

Steps to Take

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Enable Knowledge Blocks in a Knowledge Base

Role required: Knowledge Base Owner / ServiceNow Administrator

Knowledge Blocks must be enabled in the desired Knowledge Base in order to be used. The Knowledge Base Owner can set this value on the Knowledge Base.

1. Navigate to Knowledge > Administration> Knowledge Bases
2. Select the Knowledge Base you are an owner of
3. Check the "Enable Blocks" checkbox
4. Update the record

Create a Knowledge Block

Role required: Knowledge Base Contributor

Creating a Knowledge Block is very similar to creating a new article. Please see the Formatting topic page for information on formatting Knowledge Articles.

1. Navigate to Knowledge > Knowledge Blocks > Create New Block
2. Select the Knowledge Base you wish the block to live in
3. Set Can Read & Cannot Read user criteria. See the Block Visibility Flowchart for more information on how the system determine if you can or cannot read a block.

Add a Knowledge Block to a KBA

Role required: Knowledge Base Contributor

Both the article and the block must be in the same Knowledge Base.

1. Navigate to Knowledge > Articles > All, and select the article you'd like to add a block to
2. Make sure the article is checked out in an editable state
3. In the header, click the "Add Blocks" button. The "Add Blocks" panel will appear.
4. Search for a block using keywords or by clicking the "Advanced Search" button. Click the "Insert" button once you have found the block you want to add to the article.
5. The block will appear in the body of the article as a panel. You can use your mouse to click and drag to position the block where you want in the article body. To remove the block, click on it and hit the "Delete" key.

Block Visibility Flowchart

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• If a user can contribute to the Knowledge Base, they will see all blocks embedded in articles
• The user will not see the block if they meet any of the following conditions:
  • "Can read" criteria for the knowledge base.
  • "Can read" criteria for the knowledge article.
  • "Can read" criteria for the knowledge block.
• The user must meet all of the following criteria in order to see a block:
  • "Can read" criteria for the knowledge base.
  • "Can read" criteria for the knowledge article.
  • "Can read" criteria for the knowledge block.