--- schema_version: "1" id: b6ee7bf3c33fee6dfa61021bcf54057f4a1eff3a576e0893ae42f178f7bb6a49 title: Classic Knowledge User Access collection: admin version: current locale: en-us portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/service/264-0-0/knowledge_setup_users.md canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_setup_users.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 source_site: help.salesforce.com content_type: documentation content_hash: fcee0b588662b866089ae3db0557c5306020d25354cca947dd1ea3fafe875b91 description: 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. products: - Service Cloud release: "264" --- # Classic Knowledge User Access 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. ### Required Editions

Available in Salesforce Classic. View supported editions.

User Permissions Needed
To create or edit users:	Manage Internal Users
To create article types and article actions:	Customize Application AND Manage Salesforce Knowledge

User Permissions Needed

To create or edit users:

Manage Internal Users

To create article types and article actions:

Customize Application

AND

Manage Salesforce Knowledge

![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. ![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. By default all internal users can read articles. However some licenses like the Knowledge Only User licenses, require the “AllowViewKnowledge” permission on the user’s profile. To give a user the “AllowViewKnowledge” permission on their profile, activate the permission on a cloned profile and assign the cloned profile to the user. ![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 To do more than read articles, support reps need the Knowledge User license. - From Setup, enter Users in the Quick Find box, then select **Users**. - Click **Edit** next to the user's name or click **New** to create a user. - If you are creating a user, complete all the required fields. - Select the Knowledge User checkbox. - Click **Save**. See User permissions control access to different tasks in Classic Knowledge. We recommend using permission sets or custom profiles to grant users the permissions they need. For example, you can create a permission set called “Article Manager” that includes the permissions to create, edit, publish, and assign articles. Refer to this table for details on permissions associated with Classic Knowledge tasks. Refer to [Lightning Knowledge User Access](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_setup_users_lex.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Give your knowledge support reps access to articles in Lightning Knowledge. Specify which support reps in your company are Salesforce Knowledge users and can create, edit, archive, and delete articles. Create user profiles with the appropriate user permissions, and then assign users to these profiles.") on permissions associated with Lightning Knowledge.

Salesforce Knowledge Task	User Permissions Needed
To create article types:	“Manage Salesforce Knowledge” (This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.)
To manage article actions:	“Manage Salesforce Knowledge” This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.
To create articles from cases using the simple editor:	“Read” and “Create” on the article type
To create articles from cases using the standard editor:	“Manage Articles” (This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.) AND “Read” and “Create” on the article type
To search articles from cases and attach articles to cases:	“Read” on the article type
To create articles from answers:	“Read” and “Create” on the article type
To search for and read articles from the Article or Knowledge tab:	“Read” on the article type
To create or edit articles from the Article Management tab:	“Manage Articles” (This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.) AND “Read”, “Create”, and “Edit” on the article type
To edit draft articles from the Article Management tab:	“Manage Articles” (This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.) AND “Read” and “Edit” on the article type
To delete articles from the Article Management tab:	“Manage Articles” (This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.) AND “Read”, “Edit”, and “Delete” on the article type AND A delete article action, set on the Article Actions Setup page.
To publish articles from the Article Management tab:	“Manage Articles” (This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.) AND “Read”, “Create”, “Edit”, and “Delete” on the article type AND A publish article action, set on Article Actions Setup page
To assign articles for the Article Management tab:	“Manage Articles” (This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.) AND “Read” and “Edit” on the article type
To edit published or archived articles:	“Manage Articles” (This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.) AND “Read”, “Create”, and “Edit” on the article type AND A publish or archive article action, set on the Article Actions Setup page
To archive articles from the Article Management tab:	“Manage Articles” (This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.) AND “Read”, “Create”, “Edit”, and “Delete” on the article type AND An archive article action, set on the Article Actions Setup page
To submit articles for translation:	“Manage Articles” (This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.) AND “Read”, “Create”, and “Edit” on the article type AND A translate article action, set on the Article Actions Setup page
To delete translated articles:	“Manage Articles” (This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.) AND “Read”, “Edit”, and “Delete” on the article type AND A delete article action, set on the Article Actions Setup page
To publish translated articles:	“Manage Articles” (This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.) AND “Read”, “Create”, “Edit”, and “Delete” on the article type AND A publish article action, set on the Article Actions Setup page
To edit translated articles:	“Manage Articles” (This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.) AND “Read”, “Create”, and “Edit” on the article type AND A translate article action, set on the Article Actions Setup page
To import articles:	“Manage Salesforce Knowledge” (This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.) AND “Manage Articles” AND “Manage Knowledge Article Import/Export” AND “Read”, “Create”, “Edit”, and “Delete” on the article type
To import and export translated articles:	“Manage Salesforce Knowledge” (This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.) AND “Manage Articles” (This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.) AND “Manage Knowledge Article Import/Export” (This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.) AND “Read”, “Create”, “Edit”, and “Delete” on the article type
To create data categories	“Manage Data Categories” permission. This permission is on by default in the System Administrator profile.

To enable service reps to perform their specific tasks, create [public groups](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_setup_assign_users.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Salesforce Knowledge uses public groups as a way to assign users to specific tasks related to articles. When you assign article actions to a public group, you can grant users in that group the ability to do things like publish articles with a specified validation status. Public groups are also used in approval processes to manage the publishing workflow.") for each role and assign only the necessary [article actions](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_article_actions.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Article actions let support reps participate in the article publishing process. By default, all article actions are assigned to users with the “Manage Articles” user permission. Support reps can complete an action as long as they have the correct article type permission. You can control article action access by assigning public groups to article actions and adding support reps the relevant public groups. To further restrict actions like publishing, you can create approval processes that allow support reps to publish only those articles that have specific validation statuses. For example, many contributors can write many articles but you can create an approval process so no articles are published until they are reviewed and validated by a qualified author.") to those groups. ![Example](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-service-support-264-0-0-production-enus/dd14551c-a772-4db6-9a1d-d84df8df2980/images/icon_example.png) Example Your Salesforce Knowledge service reps are a mixture of different levels of job experience and expertise in the products and services your company offers. These examples outline four basic types of users and some of the permissions they need to perform their jobs. Scott: The Reader Scott Jackson is relatively new to the company, so he’s a basic service rep of the knowledge base. Currently, he has read-only access to articles, so he can search and view articles. Readers don’t author or publish, so he won’t belong to a public group or need to submit articles for approval. He needs the following permissions to perform his job.

Scott	Permission	Article Type-Specific Permissions
Salesforce Knowledge Functionality	Manage Articles	Read	Create	Edit	Delete
Search articles from and attach articles to cases
Search for and read articles from the Articles tab

Amber: The Candidate Amber Delaney is a candidate-level support rep and can create and publish articles with statuses of either Work in Progress or Not Validated. If Amber works on an article with a different validation status, she must send it to a queue for approval before it’s published. Amber is part of the KCS Candidate public group and submits the articles she can’t publish to the Publishing External queue. She needs the following permissions to perform her job duties.

Amber	Permission	Article Type-Specific Permissions
Salesforce Knowledge Functionality	Manage Articles	Read	Create	Edit	Delete
Search articles from and attach articles to cases
Search for and read articles from the Articles tab
Create or edit article from the Article Management tab
Edit draft articles from the Article Management tab
Edit published or archived articles

Anne: The Contributor As a contributor, Anne Murphy is a more advanced Knowledge user. She understands the standards for articles in the organization and can create articles and publish articles with Validated Internal status. She can also work on articles authored by other users if they have either Work in Progress or Not Validated statuses, and can change them to Validated Internal. Since she doesn’t have permission to publish articles to an external audience, she must submit those customer-facing articles to the Publishing External queue. ![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 In Salesforce Classic, if you don't have the "Manage Articles" permission, you don't see draft articles. However, you can still approve draft articles by going to the Knowledge approval page. Anne is a member of the Contributor public group and she needs the following permissions to perform her job duties.

	Permission	Article Type-Specific Permissions
Salesforce Knowledge Functionality	Manage Articles	Read	Create	Edit	Delete
Create articles from cases using the simple editor
Create articles from cases using the standard editor
Search articles from and attach articles to cases
Create articles from answers
Search for and read articles from the Articles tab


Delete articles (version or entire) from Article Management tab
Assign articles from Article Management tab

Archive articles from the Article Management tab

Pat: The Publisher Pat Brown is Knowledge domain expert and is responsible for reviewing and publishing articles to an external audience. He is a member of the Publisher public group. Pat also belongs to the Publishing External queue. He needs the following permissions to perform his job duties.

	Permission	Article Type-Specific Permissions
Salesforce Knowledge Functionality	Manage Articles	Read	Create	Edit	Delete
Create articles from cases using the simple editor
Create articles from cases using the standard editor
Search articles from and attach articles to cases
Create articles from answers
Search for and read articles from the Articles tab
Create or edit article from the Article Management tab
Edit draft articles from the Article Management tab
Delete articles (version or entire) from Article Management tab
Publish article from Article Management tab
Assign articles from Article Management tab
Edit published or archived articles
Archive articles from the Article Management tab

How they all work together Each user profile defines a service rep's permission to perform different job duties and functions. To enable service reps to perform these functions, you create [public groups](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_setup_assign_users.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Salesforce Knowledge uses public groups as a way to assign users to specific tasks related to articles. When you assign article actions to a public group, you can grant users in that group the ability to do things like publish articles with a specified validation status. Public groups are also used in approval processes to manage the publishing workflow.") for each role and assign only the necessary [article actions](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_article_actions.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Article actions let support reps participate in the article publishing process. By default, all article actions are assigned to users with the “Manage Articles” user permission. Support reps can complete an action as long as they have the correct article type permission. You can control article action access by assigning public groups to article actions and adding support reps the relevant public groups. To further restrict actions like publishing, you can create approval processes that allow support reps to publish only those articles that have specific validation statuses. For example, many contributors can write many articles but you can create an approval process so no articles are published until they are reviewed and validated by a qualified author.") to that group. The criteria you create in the [approval process](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_actions_create.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Knowledge actions are templates that link a workflow action to an article type. When knowledge actions are enabled, you can use them to link article types to specific workflow article actions, such as publishing. For example, if you want each FAQ to publish as a new version when it completes the approval process, you can create a knowledge action that links an FAQ article to the Publish as New action. Then, when you create an approval process for FAQs, select the new Knowledge action.") defines which [validation status](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_validation_picklist.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "When the Validation Status field is enabled on the Knowledge Settings page, you can create picklist values that show the state of the article. For example, values could be Validated, Not Validated, or Needs Review.") can be automatically approved and published and which article must be approved and published by a domain expert. For example, Anne, the Contributor, can create a Validated External article, but based on the article actions assigned to her public group, the approval process sends her article to Pat, the Publisher, to be published. Pat, as a Publisher, can publish his own articles without submitting them to a queue. The following table lists the job functions that each role needs to perform on articles in the organization | Job Function | Reader | Candidate | Contributor | Publisher | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Create and publish Work in Progress | No | Automatically approved and published | Automatically approved and published | Yes | | Create and publish Not Validated | No | Automatically approved and published | Automatically approved and published | Yes | | Create and publish Validated Internal | No | Needs approval | Automatically approved and published | Yes | | Create and publish Validated External | No | Needs approval | Needs approval | Yes | | Update and publish Work in Progress | No | No | Automatically approved and published | Yes | | Update and publish Not Validated | No | No | Automatically approved and published | Yes | | Update and publish Validated Internal | No | No | Automatically approved and published | Yes | | Update and publish Validated External | No | No | Needs approval | Yes | - **[Create Public Groups for Knowledge](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_setup_assign_users.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)** Salesforce Knowledge uses public groups as a way to assign users to specific tasks related to articles. When you assign article actions to a public group, you can grant users in that group the ability to do things like publish articles with a specified validation status. Public groups are also used in approval processes to manage the publishing workflow. - **[Assign Article Actions to Public Groups](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_article_actions.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)** Article actions let support reps participate in the article publishing process. By default, all article actions are assigned to users with the “Manage Articles” user permission. Support reps can complete an action as long as they have the correct article type permission. You can control article action access by assigning public groups to article actions and adding support reps the relevant public groups. To further restrict actions like publishing, you can create approval processes that allow support reps to publish only those articles that have specific validation statuses. For example, many contributors can write many articles but you can create an approval process so no articles are published until they are reviewed and validated by a qualified author. #### See Also - [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.")