Creating an Article in Dynamics CRM 2011

Paul Nieuwelaar, 02 March 2011

In my last blog post about Articles, I described The Lifecycle of an Article in Dynamics CRM 2011, showing the different stages an Article goes through to get Published, and how to submit and approve an article. In this blog post I will be showing the steps required to create an Article in Dynamics CRM 2011.

To create an Article in Dynamics CRM 2011, navigate to either the Workplace or Service areas, and click on ‘Articles’. Then click ‘New’ on the ribbon. Alternatively, from the File menu click New Record, and select Article.

Once you click ‘New’, you will be prompted to select a Template for the Article. The default Article Templates are:

Procedure – Contains sections for: Purpose & Scope, Procedure, and Additional Comments.
Use this template to create a procedure that defines the steps for resolving a specific problem.

Question & Answer – Contains sections for: Question, Answer, and Additional Comments.
Use this template to create a question answer pair for a specific problem or solution.

Solution to a Problem – Contains sections for: Problem, Solution, and Additional Comments.
Use this template to provide a solution to a specific problem.

Standard KB Article – Contains sections for: Summary, and Additional Comments.
Use this template to provide general information about a subject.

Depending on which option you choose, the appropriate sections within the Article will be available. When creating an Article, by default ‘Procedure’ is selected.

After selecting your template, a new Article form will open. First you can enter a descriptive Title for the Article – this is what will be displayed at the top of the Article, and you will notice this after entering a title.

Next you will need to select a Subject. If you do not have any of your own custom subjects, you can simply select the Default Subject.

It is not required, but you can then enter in some Key Words, which can be useful when searching for Articles.

You can now start to write the Article. Depending on what template you chose, the sections will vary. You will notice the text formatting options available when creating the Article, such as Bold, Italics, and Underline.

Once you have finished creating your Article click ‘Save’, and your Article will be created in a Draft state. Next to get the Article approved, you will need to follow the approval process, which you can read about in my previous post on The Lifecycle of an Article in Dynamics CRM 2011.

In my next post I will be showing how you can create an Article Template of your own, or even edit the existing ones. Stay tuned.