---
schema_version: "1"
id: fd9d818b4e9e33fb07c773a097c16c32f8e4696e476c3c35600133f5a666adfb
title: Lightning Knowledge Preparation
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/service/264-0-0/knowledge_uk_prep_knowledge.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_uk_prep_knowledge.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: f0b757f8e4646e12efaed4626470e24d272165f47d81e23da9555c31c8cbaf84
description: Before you set up Unified Knowledge, prepare your Salesforce Knowledge base.
products:
  - Service Cloud
release: "264"
---
# Lightning Knowledge Preparation

Before you set up Unified Knowledge, prepare your Salesforce Knowledge base.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition"><colgroup><col></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in 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>

## Permissions and Licenses

- To set up Unified Knowledge, make sure you’re assigned a System Administrator profile and the Knowledge User license is selected on your user record.
- Update any necessary user profiles to have Read permissions on the rich text area custom field on the Article object, which contains synced third-party articles in Salesforce.
- Determine which Experience Cloud users see the knowledge content you import and sync from third-party sources, such as users with Partner, Public (unauthenticated guests), or Customer licenses. You choose these users for each third-party source in the Audience section of the Add a Source page in Unified Knowledge Setup.

## Rich Text Area Field

Create a rich text area custom field on the Article object in which to sync or import third-party articles in Salesforce. We suggest naming the field, which contains the article content, Article Content. Set the field length to 131,072 characters, which isn’t the default field length. To increase this limit, contact your Salesforce Customer Support and ask about enrolling in the pilot program for Knowledge large content storage.

## Default Field Values

If you have any required article fields on the Knowledge object, set default values for them to prevent import errors from third-party knowledge sources.

## Automation

- Review and turn off all automation that can prevent article creation without a field entry, such as flows, workflow rules, validation rules, Apex triggers, and Apex classes.
- We recommend that you update any automation processes that affect Knowledge articles to include or exclude the Automated Process user so that Salesforce knowledge and third-party knowledge follow the same data cleanliness practices.

#### See Also

- [Unify Knowledge from Various Sources](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_uk_about.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Unify your company’s knowledge from third-party systems such as SharePoint, Confluence, Google Drive, and websites within Salesforce. Expose the unified knowledge base across every support rep and customer search experience, and ground generative AI features for Einstein for Service apps.")
- [Unified Knowledge Preparation](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_uk_preparation.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "After you review the Unified Knowledge requirements, considerations, and limitations, plan your implementation. Preparation is necessary for third-party knowledge bases and Salesforce Lightning Knowledge and includes a few high-level steps.")
- [Third-Party Knowledge Preparation](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=service.knowledge_uk_prep_third.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Before you set up Unified Knowledge, prepare your third-party knowledge bases. Some preparation steps can require access or configuration of your third-party knowledge systems.")