Configure Page Layouts and Create Record Types

Follow Along with Trail Together

Want to follow along with an expert as you work through this step? Take a look at this video, part of the Trail Together series. 

(This clip starts at the 9:59 minute mark, in case you want to rewind and watch the beginning of the step again.)

Introduction

Now that you’ve enabled Knowledge and set up Ada to use it, create a page layout and record type for Knowledge to customize what Ada sees when creating and accessing Knowledge articles.

Modify the FAQ Page Layout

The FAQ layout is meant for knowledge articles related to Frequently Asked Questions. The information Ada sees and how it is organized on the page is controlled by this page layout.

1. Click the Setup gear and select Service Setup.
2. Click the Object Manager tab and select Knowledge.
3. From the menu on the left, click Page Layouts.
4. Click the dropdown next to the Lightning Knowledge FAQ Layout and click Edit.
5. Click Mobile & Lightning Actions in the palette, and drag Submit for Approval and Assign to the Salesforce Mobile and Lightning Experience Actions section.
   
6. Click Layout Properties.
7. Modify the page layout name by typing in FAQ. Click OK.
8. Click Save.

Create a New How To Page Layout

The How To layout is customized for How To articles. The fields and related lists on this page layout differ from the FAQ layout, so when Ada is creating How To articles, she sees the How To–related information she needs.

1. From the menu on the left, click Page Layouts (if you are not already there).
2. Click New.
3. Leave None for Existing Page Layout.
4. Enter the name of your page layout: How To
5. Click Save.

Now drill down further into the page layout details. First, make sure Ada can take advantage of all necessary actions that can be performed on knowledge articles. 

1. Hover over the Salesforce Mobile and Lightning Experience Actions section.
2. Click the wrench icon to activate this section and customize the predefined actions.
   
3. In the palette click Mobile & Lightning Actions.
4. Drag these actions to the Salesforce Mobile and Lightning Experience Actions section:
   • Archive
   • Assign
   • Change Record Type
   • Edit
   • Edit as Draft
   • Post
   • Publish
   • Restore
   • Submit for Approval
5. Don’t click Save yet!

Customize the Fields for the How To Layout

Next, since you want the How To article layout to display certain fields and contain specific information relevant to How To articles, add the appropriate sections and fields to the page layout.

1. In the palette, click Fields.
2. Drag the Publication Status and Validation Status fields to the Knowledge Detail section.
3. Drag Section from the palette to below the Knowledge Detail section, and name the new section Article Details.
4. Leave all the defaults, and click OK.
5. Drag the Summary field to the Article Details section.
6. Drag Section from the palette to below the Article Details Section.
7. Name the new section Assignment Information.
8. Choose the 2-Column Layout and Top-down for the Tab-key Order.
9. Click OK.
10. Drag the following fields to the left column of the Assignment Information section.
    • Assigned By
    • Assigned To
11. Add the following fields to the right-hand column of the Assignment Information section.
    • Assignment Date
    • Assignment Due Date
    • Assignment Note
12. Drag Section from the palette to below the Assignment Information section.
13. Name the new section Properties.
14. Choose the 2-Column Layout and Top-Down for the Tab-key Order.
15. Click OK.
16. Drag these fields to the left column of the Properties section.
    • Article Created Date
    • Article Created By
    • Last Modified By
    • Last Published Date
17. Drag these fields to the right column of the Properties section.
    • Visible to Customer
    • Visible in Internal App
    • Visible to Partner
    • Visible in Public Knowledge Base
      
18. Click Save.

Create a Record Type for How To

Record Types determine the page layouts and picklist values users have access to. An FAQ record type already exists. Create a How To record type that allows users to access the How To page layout you just created.

1. Click Record Types from the menu on the left.
2. Click New.
3. Select FAQ for the Existing Record Type.
4. For Record Type Label, enter How To.
5. For Description, enter For step-by-step instructions.
6. Select Active to make this record type available immediately.
7. Click the checkbox in the Make Available column for the Custom: Support Profile and System Administrator profiles.
8. Click Next.
9. From the Apply one layout to all profiles menu, select How To.
   
10. Click Save.

Add an Articles Related List to the Case Layout

Now that you have record types and page layouts set up, add a related list to the case page layout so Ada is able to see articles that are relevant to incoming or existing cases. Being able to associate and attach Knowledge articles to open cases will help Ada close her cases more quickly.

1. From Setup, click the Object Manager tab, then click Case.
2. Click Case Page Layouts.
3. Click the dropdown next to the Case Layout and click Edit.
4. On the palette, click Related Lists.
5. Drag the Articles from the palette and drop it below Solutions.
6. Click the remove icon  above the Solutions related list to remove it.
7. Click Save.
8. Click Yes.

If you have completed the Set Up Case Escalation and Entitlements project and have created Product Support and Inquiry Page Layouts, repeat steps 3–8 for both of those page layouts. You can drag the Articles related list and drop it into the Related Lists section on the Product Support and Inquiry Page Layouts.

Now that you have the foundation for Knowledge articles in place, move on to the next step and set access for Ada.

Resources

• Page Layouts
• Page Layouts in Lightning Experience
• Create Record Types