In this lesson we will cover:
– Restrict FAQ List by User Role
– Restricting access to individual articles
– Viewing article access
– Remove the agents ability to edit articles
– Publishing Articles Using Unique Links
Restrict FAQ List by User Role
FAQ lists can be restricted based on different user roles. The default is set to show for all users. When selected the FAQ List will show for all users regardless of customer restrictions.
Fig 1. FAQ List User Restrictions
When the above checkbox is unselected the user roles that have access to this FAQ List can be set, user roles can be set within Configuration > Users > User Roles
Fig 2. Setting User Role Access On a FAQ List
Restricting access to individual articles
Individual articles can be restricted by customer, top level and geo location. It is important to note, if the FAQ List that the article is under has the setting "Show for all Users" selected, then any restrictions set on the article will not apply as they will be overridden by the FAQ list setting. To have the restrictions apply the FAQ list must not show for all users, then access can be granted against each article
To give particular customers access to the article add them to the 'Allowed Customers' table, only the customers in this table will be able to see the article in the portal.
Fig 3. Allowed Customers List On Articles
As shown below if I leave on the show all users option, even if I do not have the customer added to the allowed customers list, I still see the article appear on the search list, as show all users overrides that setting.
Note: For the allowed customers to be overridden by the show all users option, there must be a FAQ List set on the article, because the show all users checkbox is selected per article.
Fig 4. Testing Functionality Of Restrictions
To give customers under a particular top level access to an article add the top level into the 'Top Level' table.
Setting access based on Geo Location (v2.168+)
This functionality will first need to be enabled in configuration > self-service portal, see figure 5.
Fig 5. Restricting by Geo Location setting
Note: When enabled performance around knowledge base articles may be impacted. The setting for "Use Geo Location Restrictions for FAQ Lists" may be found further down the list of settings on the knowledge base configuration page.
Once enabled an additional table will appear against a KB article called 'Geo Location Restrictions'. Here you can add entries to restrict who can see the article based on the country or continent they are in. Restrictions can either be set so that only users in this location can view the article, or all users except this location can view the article.
Fig 6. Geo Location Restrictions table
Exclude setting – When checked, all users can see this article, except users in the country/continent selected. When unchecked only the users at this country/continent will be able to see this article.
In the figure 8 example all users except those in France will be able to see this article.
Fig 8. Restricting Geo Location example
It is important to note, if you set restrictions that overlap, that is you give users at a particular continent access to this article, but exclude a country under this continent, the highest level of access will be granted. So all users under the continent would have access even if they country they are in has been excluded.
Geo Location restrictions can also be set against an FAQ list. This must be enabled in configuration > self service portal (seen in figure 5). Once enabled the Geo Location restriction table will appear against the FAQ list, restrictions can be set here in the same way as they are against an article. However, any access that has been granted on an FAQ list will override article access. That is, if users in a country have been given access to an FAQ list but have been excluded from seeing an article in this list, they will still be able to see the article. The highest level of access will always be taken.
Viewing article access
In the knowledge base tab of a customer there is a list of all the articles that customer has access to.
Note: This is a static list with no options to add or remove articles, this must be done on individual articles in the Knowledge Base section of the navigation menu (left sidebar).
Fig 9. The Article List On The Knowledge Base Tab Of a Customer
The other notable option for the knowledge base restrictions is the permission setting configured per agent, this can be overridden by changing it manually on the permission list, or inherited based off of the permissions given to the role set on that agent.
Note: If the agent is given a higher level of permission than what is inherited from the role, then this will override the role permission. If you try to give a lower level of permission than their inherited role, then the role will override that permission. The reason for this is to give the agent the highest level of permission that they have been granted.
Fig 10. Knowledge Base Access Level Set Per Agent
Remove the agents ability to edit articles
There is now a setting to stop agents from editing articles in Configuration > Knowledge Base, this applies to admins as well. It can be useful to have this turned on if you want article versioning to be used by your agents instead of edits (you must enable article versioning in the same configuration area). Agents will then have to create a new version instead of just editing the current version.
Fig 11. Removing The Ability to Edit Articles
When checked, agents will not be able to edit articles, the edit button will be visible, but they will not be able to edit the content fields of the article. Options such as the FAQ List, Related articles and tags will still be editable depending on the level of permissions the agent has.
Publishing Articles Using Unique Links
This type of configuration is found per article when enabled. This is separate functionality from the system use: "Publish Article".
Within Configuration > Knowledge Base you can enable the publishing setting:
Fig 12. Enable Knowledge Base Articles Publishing
After enabling this setting and editing a knowledge base article you'll have a Publish Articles tab near the bottom of the page:
Fig 13. Create permalink button
clicking create permalink should display a confirmation text below and the table will be hidden. After saving, in the read mode there should be a 'Permalinks' tab which should display every current permalink for that article:
Fig 13. Permalink
When creating a new version (Visible if "Enable Article versioning" is turned on) the link should essentially transfer over the links to the new one.
Without being logged into the portal and having the option "Require Users to Log in to Access the Knowledge Base" turned on, go to the generated link and you should be able to see the article. The articles will no longer be accesible for anonymous users, but if you send that link, they will be able to access specific articles without a login.
