Create Additional Custom Content Types

Content types define the various types of articles in your knowledge base. When you define content type, it serves as an authoring template for articles that serve a specific purpose.

Out-of-the-box content types may not meet your knowledge base requirements. Therefore, you might want to create additional content types that are customized to your knowledge base requirements.

This diagram shows how the custom setup user, John Allens, can go about creating a custom content type.

To create a content type, you need to:

• Define the Content Type
• Define the Content Schema

Define the Content Type

Signed in as a setup user, such as John, you can create and define the custom content type by following these steps:

1. Select Setup and Maintenance, and from the Setup menu, select the Service offering.
2. Select the Knowledge Management functional area and select Manage Knowledge Content Types.
3. Click the + symbol to begin creating the content type.
4. For the Content Type Name, enter a name of your choice. For example, Troubleshooting.

5. For the Reference Key retain the autogenerated key or enter a unique key of your choice. For example, TROUBLESHOOTING.

   Note: Make a note of the reference key. You will need to provide this reference key when you define a Data Security Policy for a role.

6. For the Document ID Prefix, provide a prefix.For example, TRBL.

   Note: You need to think carefully when choosing a prefix for the content type, as it will be visible to your users in the UI. The application automatically prefixes this prefix ID to the article ID, when an author creates an article of this content type. For example, when an author creates an article of this content type, the article ID will appear like TRBL41.
7. (Optional) Click the locale icon and use the Edit Locales dialog to enter translated names and descriptions for the available locales.
8. Select Department for the content type. For example, Service.
9. Click Next to define Content Schema.

Define the Content Schema

The content schema describes the structure of the articles in the content type. You define the schema by defining the individual elements that make up an article. For example, you might define the elements of a troubleshooting content type to include fields such as Problem Description, Resolution, Environment, and Cause.

Signed in as the setup user, such as John, do the steps to define the schema for the custom content type:

1. For the Name, enter a title. For example, Troubleshooting Title.
2. For the Reference Key, provide a unique key of your choice. For example, TROUBLESHOOTING_TITLE.

3. Enter a description for the title field. For example, "Provide a title for your troubleshooting article".

   This is displayed as ghost text when an author creates an article of this content type.

4. (Optional) Click the locale icon and use the Edit Locales dialog to enter translated names and descriptions for the available locales.
5. Click the + sign to add and define the fields for your content type. For example, you can add the following fields for your troubleshooting content type:

   Name	Description	Locale	Reference Key	Visibility	Field Type	Required
   Problem Description	Provide the problem description	English - United States	PROBLEM_DESCRIPTION	All	Full Rich Text Area	Yes
   Resolution	Provide the resolution to the problem	English - United States	RESOLUTION	All	Full Rich Text Area	Yes
   Environment	Provide environment details	English - United States	ENVIRONMENT	All	Full Rich Text Area	No
   Cause	Provide the cause for the problem	English - United States	CAUSE	All	Full Rich Text Area	No

6. Each field has the following parameters:
   1. Name: Provide the name of the field. This name is displayed as the title of the field when an author creates an article.
   2. Description: Provide the description. This description is displayed as ghost text for this field when an author creates an article.
   3. Locale: Click the locale icon and use the Edit Locales dialog to enter translated names and descriptions for the available locales.
   4. Reference Key: Provide a unique key.
   5. Visibility: Click the visibility icon to restrict this field to specific user groups.
   6. Field Type: Select the formatting option for the field. The available options are:
      • Full Rich Text Area: Enables authors to format the content.
      • Text Area: Enables authors to enter the content as plain text.
   7. Required: Select this check box to specify that authors must enter content in this field.
7. You can use the up and down arrow buttons change the order of these fields.
8. Select the Enable File Attachments check box to allow authors to attach files to the article.

9. Click Create.

   This creates our custom content type called Troubleshooting.