---
schema_version: "1"
id: 11649b1069f7d6caa9d7ff0fccdefaea8b5d0d7e29ef8b1bd1f6c190c95d3215
title: Category Group Article Visibility Settings Examples
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canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.category_visibility_whatis_example.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
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content_type: documentation
content_hash: 60f455018bc508991695d69cbc597e08eb5105c66baf7f71c7f1b51f67ed18a3
description: Review examples of category group settings for article visibility permissions.
products:
  - Service Cloud
release: "264"
---
# Category Group Article Visibility Settings Examples

Review examples of category group settings for article visibility permissions.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition"><colgroup><col style="width:100%"></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience. <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.service_editions_reference.htm&amp;language=en_US" target="_blank">View supported editions</a>.</td></tr></tbody></table>

There are three types of visibility:With custom data category visibility, you can only see the data categories permitted by their role, permission sets, or profile.

- All Categories: All categories are visible
- None: No categories are visible
- Custom: Selected categories are visible

These examples are based on two sample category groups, Products and Geography. Although category group visibility settings are available with answers communities (questions) and Salesforce Knowledge (articles), the examples below apply to articles only. Answers communities support one category group and one data category per question.

## Products Category Group

- All Products
    
    - Consumer Electronics
        - Cameras
        - Audio
        - Printers
    
    - Enterprise Electronics
        - Routers
        - Switches
        - PEX
    
    - Computers
        - Laptops
        - Desktops
        - PDAs

## Geography Category Group

- All Countries
    
    - Americas
        - USA
        - Canada
        - Brazil
    
    - Asia
        - China
        - Japan
        - India
    
    - Europe
        - France
        - United Kingdom
        - Poland

## Example 1: A Role Hierarchy

In this example, the Acme Electronics organization manufactures hardware and provides customer support for both consumers and enterprises. The Engineering department is organized by products. The Support department is organized geographically. Europe and the Americas are managed by corporate teams, but Asia is outsourced. Within the corporate and outsourced teams, there are subteams dedicated either to consumer or enterprise support.

The table below shows the categories visible to each role in the Acme Electronics organization, and states whether the visibility settings are inherited from the parent role or if they are [custom visibility settings](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.category_visibility_view.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "The Category Group Visibility Settings related list summarizes which categories users in the role can see, according to category group.").

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small ">
        <colgroup>
          <col style="width:3.221288515406162%">
          <col style="width:2.5210084033613445%">
          <col style="width:2.661064425770308%">
          <col style="width:21.1484593837535%">
          <col style="width:35.43417366946778%">
          <col style="width:35.01400560224089%">
        </colgroup>
        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
          <tr class="">
            <th scope="colgroup" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="4" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d83435e218">Acme Electronics Role
              Hierarchy</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d83435e221">Visible Geographic Categories</th>
            <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d83435e224">Visible Product Categories</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Acme Electronics Role Hierarchy" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="4" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">CEO</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e221 ">All Countries</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e224 ">All Products</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Acme Electronics Role Hierarchy" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">&nbsp;</td>

            <td data-label="Visible Geographic Categories" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">VP of Engineering</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e221 ">
              <p>All Countries </p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Inherit from CEO</em></p>
            </td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e224 ">
              <p>All Products</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Inherit from CEO</em></p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Acme Electronics Role Hierarchy" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">&nbsp;</td>

            <td data-label="Visible Product Categories" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">Consumer Engineering Team</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e221 ">
              <p>All Countries </p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Inherit from VP of Engineering</em></p>
            </td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e224 ">
              <p>Consumer Electronics</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Custom</em></p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Acme Electronics Role Hierarchy" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">&nbsp;</td>

            <td data-label="Visible Product Categories" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">Enterprise Engineering Team</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e221 ">
              <p>All Countries</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Inherit from VP of Engineering</em></p>
            </td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e224 ">
              <p>Enterprise Electronics</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Custom</em></p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Acme Electronics Role Hierarchy" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">&nbsp;</td>

            <td data-label="Visible Product Categories" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">Computers Engineering Team</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e221 ">
              <p>All Countries</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Inherit from VP of Engineering</em></p>
            </td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e224 ">
              <p>Computers</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Custom</em></p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Acme Electronics Role Hierarchy" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">&nbsp;</td>

            <td data-label="Visible Geographic Categories" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">VP of Support</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e221 ">
              <p>All Countries</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Inherit from CEO</em></p>
            </td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e224 ">
              <p>All Products</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Inherit from CEO</em></p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Acme Electronics Role Hierarchy" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">&nbsp;</td>

            <td data-label="Visible Product Categories" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">VP of Corporate Support</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e221 ">
              <p>Europe, America</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Custom</em></p>
            </td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e224 ">
              <p>All Products</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Inherit from VP of Support</em></p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Acme Electronics Role Hierarchy" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">&nbsp;</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">Director of Corporate Consumer Support</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e221 ">
              <p>Europe, America</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Inherit from VP of Corporate Support</em></p>
            </td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e224 ">
              <p>Consumer Electronics, Computers</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Custom</em></p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Acme Electronics Role Hierarchy" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">&nbsp;</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">Director of Corporate Enterprise Support</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e221 ">
              <p>Europe, America</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Inherit from VP of Corporate Support</em></p>
            </td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e224 ">
              <p>Enterprise Electronics, Computers</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Custom</em></p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Acme Electronics Role Hierarchy" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">&nbsp;</td>

            <td data-label="Visible Product Categories" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">Outsourced Support</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e221 ">
              <p>Asia</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Custom</em></p>
            </td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e224 ">
              <p>All Products</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Inherit from VP of Support</em></p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Acme Electronics Role Hierarchy" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">&nbsp;</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">Consumer Support Team</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e221 ">
              <p>Asia</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Inherit from Outsourced Support</em></p>
            </td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e224 ">
              <p>Consumer Electronics, Computers</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Custom</em></p>
            </td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="Acme Electronics Role Hierarchy" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">&nbsp;</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e218 ">Enterprise Support Team</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e221 ">
              <p>Asia</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Inherit from Outsourced Support</em></p>
            </td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d83435e224 ">
              <p>Enterprise Electronics, Computers</p>
              <p style="margin-bottom:0;"><em>Custom</em></p>
            </td>

          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>

## Example 2: Article Visibility

The table below is an in-depth example of how [category visibility settings](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.category_visibility_whatis.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Data category visibility can be set with roles, permission sets, permission set groups, or profiles. Data category visibility determines the individual data categories, categorized articles, and categorized questions that you can see.") restrict what users see. This example has three sample users whose category settings are noted in parentheses.

   
| Categories | When User 1's visibility is All countries/Computers, the category is: | When User 2's visibility is America/All products, the category is: | When User 3's visibility is France/None, the category is: |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| All countries/Laptop | VISIBLE | VISIBLE | NOT VISIBLE |
| Canada/Computers | VISIBLE | VISIBLE | NOT VISIBLE |
| USA/All products | VISIBLE | VISIBLE | NOT VISIBLE |
| Europe/Switches | NOT VISIBLE | NOT VISIBLE | NOT VISIBLE |
| Europe/No Categories | VISIBLE | NOT VISIBLE | VISIBLE |

User 1: The user must be granted visibility in each category that classifies the article, or each category that classifies the article must be visible by default. In this example, User 1 can see Europe, because Europe is the child of All Countries, but he cannot see Switches, because Switches does not belong to Computers. That's why User 1 cannot see articles classified with Europe/Switches.

User 2: When a category is made visible to a user through custom settings or is made visible by default, its child and parent categories are implicitly included; therefore, User 2 can see articles categorized with All Countries because it is the parent category of America. He can also see Articles classified with USA because it is the child of America.

User 3: If a user has no access to the whole category group, he can only see articles that are not categorized in that group. User 3 cannot see the articles categorized with All countries/Laptop because he has no visibility in the category group that includes Laptop, but he can see articles categorized with Europe/No categories.