--- schema_version: "1" id: 15ac2565f1b7520123d0399d772ab1bebb9246abe3b997412adfc0667d2ba6b2 title: Plan Your Knowledge Base in Salesforce Classic collection: admin version: current locale: en-us portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/service/264-0-0/knowledge_customizing.md canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_customizing.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 source_site: help.salesforce.com content_type: documentation content_hash: 3b4a93f40db455b8488517a203f44edb9b45a77fa2b099ca8a3ebc9488f6dbbb description: It's important that you consider your individual company’s needs while you develop a strategy for capturing and publishing your support team’s expertise. With a robust knowledge base, customers receive service faster or even solve their own issues. products: - Service Cloud release: "264" --- # Plan Your Knowledge Base in Salesforce Classic It's important that you consider your individual company’s needs while you develop a strategy for capturing and publishing your support team’s expertise. With a robust knowledge base, customers receive service faster or even solve their own issues. ### Required Editions
Available in Salesforce Classic. View supported editions.
![Important](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-service-support-264-0-0-production-enus/dd14551c-a772-4db6-9a1d-d84df8df2980/images/icon_important.png) Important To maintain access to Knowledge, you or your admin must run the [Lightning Knowledge Migration Tool](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_migration_tool.htm&type=5&language=en_US) before June 1, 2025. All orgs are required to migrate from Classic Knowledge to Lightning Knowledge. Setting up Salesforce Knowledge is a “choose your own adventure” procedure. There are many features and options and it’s up to you to decide which ones are right for your enterprise. ![Tip](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-service-support-264-0-0-production-enus/dd14551c-a772-4db6-9a1d-d84df8df2980/images/icon_tip.png) Tip Not sure if you heard… Knowledge is available in Lightning Experience! To save yourself time and enjoy the full power of the Salesforce platform, we recommend getting started with [Lightning Knowledge](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_lightning_parent_admin.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Manage your knowledge base in Lightning Experience. With Lightning Knowledge, you get the benefits of standard objects that work like other Salesforce objects."). Going forward, new features are available exclusively in Lightning Knowledge. | Consideration | Further Information | | --- | --- | | What types of articles and information do you want to include in the knowledge base? | [Build Your Knowledge Base in Salesforce Classic](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=knowledge_setup.htm&language=en_US), [Knowledge Article Types](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=knowledge_article_types_manage.htm&language=en_US) | | Who can write the articles? | [Classic Knowledge User Access](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=knowledge_setup_users.htm&language=en_US) [Knowledge User License](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_setup_users.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Specify which support reps in your company are Classic Knowledge users and give them access to article actions. Create user profiles with the user permissions they need, and then assign them to these profiles.") | | Who needs to read what information and where? | [Knowledge User License](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=knowledge_setup_users.htm&language=en_US), [User Setup](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=knowledge_setup_assign_users.htm&language=en_US), [Classic Knowledge User Access](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=knowledge_setup_users.htm&language=en_US), [Create Public Groups for Knowledge](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=knowledge_setup_assign_users.htm&language=en_US), [Assign Article Actions to Public Groups](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=knowledge_article_actions.htm&language=en_US) | | Do you need to categorize your information? | [Work with Data Categories](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=category_whatis.htm&language=en_US), [Data Category Visibility](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=category_visibility_whatis.htm&language=en_US) | | Do you need to enhance search? | [Improve the Article Search Experience](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=knowledge_search_improve.htm&language=en_US), [Enable Topics for Articles](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=knowledge_topics.htm&language=en_US), [Enable Suggested Articles to Solve Cases](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=cases_suggest_articles.htm&language=en_US) | | Do you need workflow or approval processes to manage article creation and publication? | [Knowledge Management](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=knowledge_article_actions.htm&language=en_US), [Validation Rules](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=knowledge_article_type_validation.htm&language=en_US), [Workflow and Approvals for Articles](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=knowledge_setup_wflow_approvals.htm&language=en_US) | | Do you have an existing Knowledge base or documentation that you need to import? | [Import External Content into Salesforce Knowledge](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=knowledge_article_importer.htm&language=en_US) | | Are you supporting more than one language? | [Support a Multilingual Knowledge Base](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=knowledge_setup_multilingual.htm&language=en_US) | | Do you need support reps to follow articles in Chatter? | [Feed Tracking](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=collab_feed_tracking_overview.htm&language=en_US) | | Do you need to share your knowledge base externally? | [Give Customers Access to Your Knowledge Base Through Help Center](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=networks_help_center_intro.htm&language=en_US) | | Do you need guidelines, resources, and current discussions on the evolving world of knowledge base orientated service? | Salesforce Knowledge is "KCS Verified" by the Consortium for Service Innovation, which recognizes best practices in customer support methodologies. By implementing [Knowledge-Centered Support](http://www.serviceinnovation.org/) (KCS) features, you can create more efficient collaboration within your team and provide pertinent and accurate information to your customers. | Consider the following tips when planning and using Salesforce Knowledge: - Create [synonym groups](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.search_how_synonyms_work.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Create synonym groups so words or phrases are treated equally in searches. When users search Salesforce Knowledge articles, they find matches for all terms in a synonym group.") in Salesforce Knowledge. Synonyms are words or phrases that are treated as equivalent in article searches, letting you optimize search results. - Before setting up data categories, carefully plan your category groups and their hierarchies. Also, consider how your category hierarchy maps to your role hierarchy. For more information, see [Data Category Visibility](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."). - Create custom reports on your Salesforce Knowledge data. You can also install the _Knowledge Base Dashboards and Reports_ app from the AppExchange to receive over two dozen helpful reports. - Multiple support reps can edit the same article at the same time. If that occurs, your changes can be overwritten by a colleague without warning, even if you save your work frequently. To avoid accidental data loss, instruct all users who edit articles to edit only the articles they're assigned. - Review your usage regularly to avoid storage shortages: from Setup, enter Storage Usage in the Quick Find box, then select **Storage Usage**. - Public knowledge base users cannot rate articles. - The [File custom field type](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_custom_field_types.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "The first step in creating a custom field for articles is choosing the field type.") allows service reps to attach documents to articles. - You will lose your data if you convert a custom field on an article type into any other field type. Do not convert custom fields unless no data exists for the field. - When renaming Salesforce Knowledge labels note that standard field names, like title and type, are fixed. These fields do not change the labels on the article create and edit pages. If the organization is set to another language, these fields remain in the fixed label for that language. - The Salesforce Knowledge search engine supports lemmatization, which is the process of reducing a word to its root form. With lemmatization, a search can match expanded forms of a search term. For example, a search for running matches items that contain _run_, _running_, and _ran_. - Make sure that you have a clear understanding of the type of articles your organization needs, and how support reps interact with these article types. This determines the article type permissions and article actions that you need to assign to Salesforce Knowledge users, which you can then use to create the set of profiles or permission sets required by your organization. For more information, see [Classic Knowledge User Access](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_setup_users.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Specify which support reps in your company are Classic Knowledge users and give them access to article actions. Create user profiles with the user permissions they need, and then assign them to these profiles."). - Determine if you need to create workflow rules for some of your article types. For example, you can create a rule that sends an email to an article manager when a support rep creates an article upon closing a case. - Determine if you need to create approval processes for some of your article types. For example, if you have a type of article that must have legal and management approval before it can be published externally, create an approval process for the article type. ## Knowledge Base Allocations by Edition The following table lists the total minimum number of languages, articles, and versions per article permitted for each Salesforce edition by default. Each Salesforce edition also has a default maximum number of languages, articles, and versions per article, as well. You can view the default maximum limits [here](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=000392616&type=1&language=en_US). For orgs created before the Spring '18 release, the default limit for all editions is 16 languages. To request an extension for these allocations, contact Salesforce support. ![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-service-support-264-0-0-production-enus/dd14551c-a772-4db6-9a1d-d84df8df2980/images/icon_note.png) Note If you require more than the allocated default maximum, you can ask Salesforce Support to increase the article limits. | Edition | Article, Version, and Language Allocations | | --- | --- | | Essentials | 500 articles, 10 versions per article, 1 language | | Professional | 500 articles, 10 versions per article, 1 language | | Enterprise | 50,000 articles, 10 versions per article, 5 languages | | Developer | 50,000 articles, 10 versions per article, 5 languages | | Unlimited | 150,000 articles, 10 versions per article, 10 languages | If you require more than the allocated default maximum, you can ask Salesforce Support to increase the article limits. Limits on versions retained per article don’t include versions linked to objects such as cases, work items, and undeletable lookup fields. So, for example, an article might have 25 versions, even if the default limit is 10 versions per article, if 15 of those versions are linked to cases. However, versions attached to objects such as cases count towards the total number of versions per org. #### See Also - [Build Your Knowledge Base in Salesforce Classic](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_setup.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Create a library of knowledge articles in Salesforce Classic. Before you get started, assign Knowledge User licenses to yourself and your team.") - [Salesforce Knowledge Help and Resources](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_map.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Find the information you need about Salesforce Knowledge. Explore help documentation, developer documentation, and Trailhead modules.") - [Knowledge Scalability](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_scalability.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Every Salesforce Knowledge article can have several versions: one draft, one published, and several archived versions, and each of these versions can have multiple translations. Thus, the total number of article versions in an org can be much higher than the number of articles. When scaling your org, pay attention to both the total number of article versions and edition-specific limits on articles.") - [Salesforce Knowledge Guide (Classic)](https://resources.docs.salesforce.com/latest/latest/en-us/sfdc/pdf/salesforce_knowledge_implementation_guide.pdf)