In ServiceNow,User Criteriais the mechanism used to control and determine user access toknowledge bases (KBs) and knowledge articles. User criteria define which users, groups, or roles canread, write, and contributeto a knowledge base or specific articles within it.
How User Criteria Works:User Criteria are applied at both theknowledge baselevel and theknowledge articlelevel to manage access. They can be configured with specific conditions to allow or restrict access based on:
Users(specific users can be added directly)
Groups(access can be granted to a specific user group)
Roles(users with specific roles can be given access)
Advanced conditions(such as department, company, location, etc.)
A knowledge base can havemultiple user criteria, and a single user criterion can apply to multiple knowledge bases.
Read User Criteria– Determines who can view the knowledge base or an article.
Write User Criteria– Determines who can create, edit, or contribute knowledge articles.
Exclusions– You can exclude users or groups from accessing specific knowledge bases or articles even if they meet other conditions.
A. sn_kb_read, sn_article_read:
These are not standard ServiceNow permissions for controlling knowledge access.
In ServiceNow, permissions are managed through roles and user criteria, not direct ACL names like these.
B. Privacy Settings:
ServiceNow does not use "Privacy Settings" as an access control mechanism for knowledge bases.
Privacy settings might be relevant in other contexts, such asuser profiles or system preferences, but not for knowledge access control.
C. Read Access Flag:
There is no "Read Access Flag" in ServiceNow's knowledge management module.
Access is controlled viaUser Criteria, Roles, and Knowledge Base Settings.
Key Features of User Criteria in Knowledge Management:Why Other Options Are Incorrect?Official ServiceNow Documentation References:For more details, refer to the official ServiceNow documentation:
User Criteria for Knowledge Bases
Managing Knowledge Base Access
Knowledge Management User Criteria
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