Add the Knowledge Base Search control to Microsoft Dynamics 365 forms

Applies To: Dynamics 365 (online), Dynamics 365 (on-premises), Dynamics CRM 2016, Dynamics CRM Online

Add a Knowledge Base Search control to Microsoft Dynamics 365 forms to make it easy for users in your organization to find knowledge articles so they can answer common customer questions and resolve their issues right from Microsoft Dynamics 365 records, without having to switch to a different application.

You can configure the Knowledge Base Search control to:

• Show automatic suggestions in search results based on certain fields, or based on text analytics. The text analytics feature in only available for Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online).

• Define filters that users can use on search results.

• Choose from a set of predefined contextual actions the users can take on an article

• Add the control on any section of any entitythat is enabled for knowledge management, including the activity wall, and also in custom entities. The control can be added to both the Main and Main - Interactive experience forms. The control is added by default to the Case form of type Main - Interactive experience.

  Note

  The Knowledge Base Search control can be used on Microsoft Dynamics 365 for tablets and Microsoft Dynamics 365 for phones. However, some actions like Pop Out, Email Link, and Email Content aren't supported.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 supports two knowledge management solutions:

• Native Dynamics 365 knowledge management: This option is available for both Dynamics 365 (online and on-premises) users. For Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online) organizations, the native Dynamics 365 knowledge solution is introduced in CRM Online 2016 Update. For on-premises Dynamics 365 organizations, this feature is introduced in CRM 2016.

• Parature knowledgebase: This option is available only for Dynamics 365 (online) users. This feature was introduced in CRM Online 2015 Update 1.

  Interested in getting this feature? Find your Dynamics 365 administrator or support person.

Depending on the knowledge solution you choose while setting up knowledge management, some of the settings for the Knowledge Base Search control will change.

In This Topic

Prerequisites

Add the Knowledge Base Search control to the Main forms for use in the Dynamics 365 web application

Add the search control to the activity wall of the Main form in the Dynamics 365 web application

Add the search control to a reference panel in an interactive form

Prerequisites

Before you add the Knowledge Base Search control, make sure to:

• Set up knowledge management in Microsoft Dynamics 365. More information: Set up knowledge management in Microsoft Dynamics 365

• Select the entity you want to enable knowledge management on while setting up knowledge management.

Add the Knowledge Base Search control to the Main forms for use in the Dynamics 365 web application

1. Make sure that you have the System Administrator or System Customizer security role or equivalent permissions.

2. Go to Settings > Customizations.

3. Choose Customize the System.

4. In the solution explorer, choose the entity you want to add the search control to, and under Communication & Collaboration, make sure the Knowledge Management check box is selected.

   

5. Expand the entity you’re adding the search control to, and click Forms.

6. Choose the entity form of type Main.

   

7. Select the area where you want to place the search control, and on the Insert tab, click Knowledge Base Search.

   If the option to add Knowledge Base Search is disabled, it could be because knowledge management isn’t set up or isn’t enabled for the entity you’re adding the search control to.

8. In the Set Properties dialog box, on the Display tab, specify the following.

   

   1. In the Name section, enter a name and label for the control.

   2. In the Filter Data section:

      1. In the Filter search results by drop-down list, select the set of article states that you want Dynamics 365 to search in.

         • If you’re using the native Dynamics 365 knowledge solution, you can choose from all draft articles, all approved articles, or all published articles.

         • If you’re using the Parature knowledgebase, you can choose from all articles, all draft articles, or all published articles.

      2. To let users select a different filter on search results so they can see other types of articles, select the Users can change filters check box. Only when you enable this option will users see an option to change the filter in the Search pane in a record.

      3. If you want users to see search results only for articles in a specific language, in the Set Default Language drop-down list, select a default language.

         Note

         This option is available only when you're using the native Microsoft Dynamics 365 knowledge management solution.

         • If you select User's Default Language, search results will be filtered based on the signed-in user's default language.

         • If the language you select isn't an active language, the search results will be filtered using the signed in user's default language.

         • If you select User's Default Language, and if the user's default language isn't an active language, the first active language available alphabetically is used as the default filter.

      4. To let users select a different language filter on search results so they can see other articles in other languages, select the Users can change Language Filter check box. Only when you enable this option will users see an option to change the filter in the Search pane in a record.

   3. In the Additional Options section:

      1. If you want Dynamics 365 to suggest articles automatically based on the value in certain fields of the entity, click Turn on automatic suggestions.

      2. If you’ve enabled automatic suggestion, select the field for the entity that Dynamics 365 will use to suggest article results in the Give knowledge base (KB) suggestions using drop-down list.

         For example, if you’re adding the search control to the Account entity, and want Dynamics 365 to automatically show search results that contain the account name, select Account Name in the drop-down list.

         Note

         This drop-down list can include all fields that are text, multi-line text, or lookup type fields.

         If you are a Dynamics 365 (online) user and your organization is using native Dynamics 365 knowledge management as the knowledge solution, you can also use text analytics to show suggested articles. To do this, select Text Analytics from the Give knowledge base (KB) suggestions using drop-down list.

      3. If you want the article rating to appear for each article in the search results, select the Enable ratings on KB article search results based on the specified field check box, and then select the field from the drop-down list.

      4. In Select primary customer, select who the email will be sent to when a customer service rep sends the article link in email. This drop-down list includes all fields for the entity that are enabled for email, for example account or contact. When the customer service rep chooses to send a link to the article to the customer, the To field is automatically populated with the value of the field that you select here.

      5. In Number of results, select how many articles to show in the search results at first.

      6. In the Actions drop-down list, select whether you want to make all the default actions available to CSRs or only selected ones. If you choose Show Selected Actions, select the actions you want to show.

         The following actions are available:

         • Link the KB article. Lets users link the knowledge article to the record they're viewing the knowledge article search results in.

         • Unlink. Lets users unlink the knowledge article from the primary record .

         • Copy link. Lets users copy the external URL of the article so they can share it over channels like chat or email. If you're using the native Dynamics 365 knowledge management solution, the Copy Link option is available only for published articles.

         • Link KB article and email link. Lets users associate an article with the primary record and share the article link with the customer through email.

         • Link article and email content. Lets users associate an article with a case and share the article content through email.

         • Pop out. Lets users open the article in a new window.

9. Choose Set.

Add the search control to the activity wall of the Main form in the Dynamics 365 web application

By default, the Knowledge Base Search control is added to the social pane of the case form.

1. Open the entity form you want to add the search control to.

2. In the form, in the Social Pane section, double-click the Notes Properties box.

   

3. In the Activities Tab Properties dialog box, select the Show Knowledge Base Search Control check box.

   As soon as you select the check box, a new tab “Knowledge Base Search” is added to the Activity Tab Properties dialog box.

   

4. Choose the Knowledge Base Search tab.

5. Follow steps 8 and 9 as described previously.

Add the search control to a reference panel in an interactive form

You can add the Knowledge Base search control to any section of the Main - Interactive experience form. Main - Interactive experience forms are used in the interactive service hub. The Knowledge Base Search control is already added by default to the reference panel of the Case form of type Main - Interactive experience. When you add the Knowledge Base Search control to a reference panel, it appears as a vertical tab at runtime.

1. Make sure that you have the System Administrator or System Customizer security role or equivalent permissions.

2. Go to Settings > Customizations.

3. Choose Customize the System.

4. In the solution explorer, choose the entity you want to add the search control to, and under Communication & Collaboration, make sure the Knowledge Management check box is selected.

5. Expand the entity you’re adding the search control to, and then click Forms.

6. Choose the entity form of type Main - Interactive experience.

   

7. In the form, select the section you want to add the control to, and on the Insert tab, click Knowledge Base Search.

8. In the Set Properties dialog box, on the Display tab, specify the following.

   

   1. In the Name section, enter a name and label for the control.

   2. In the Filter Data section:

      1. In the Filter search results by drop-down list, select the set of article states that want Dynamics 365 to search in.

         If you choose native Dynamics 365 knowledge management as your solution, you can choose to show all draft articles, all approved articles, or all published articles.

         This will be used as the default filter for the search results shown to the users.

      2. To let users select a different filter on search results so they can see other types of articles, select the Users can change filters check box. Only when you enable this option will users see an option to change the filter in the Search pane in a record.

      3. If you want users to see search results only for articles in a specific language, in the Set Default Language drop-down list, select a default language.

         Note

         This option is available only when you're using the native Microsoft Dynamics 365 knowledge management solution.

         • If you select User's Default Language, search results will be filtered based on the signed-in user's default language.

         • If the language that you select isn't an active language, the search results will be filtered using the signed in user's default language.

         • If you select User's Default Language, and if the user's default language isn't an active language, the first active language available alphabetically is used as a default filter.

      4. To let users select a different language filter on search results so they can see other articles in other languages, select the Users can change Language Filter check box. Only when you enable this option will users see an option to change the filter in the Search pane in a record.

   3. In the Additional Options section:

      1. If you want Dynamics 365 to suggest articles automatically based on the value in certain fields of the entity, select Turn on automatic suggestions.

      2. If you’ve enabled automatic suggestions, select the field of the entity that Dynamics 365 will use to suggest article results in the Give knowledge base (KB) suggestions using drop-down list.

         For example, if you’re adding the search control to the Account entity, and want Dynamics 365 to automatically show search results that contain the account name, select Account Name in the drop-down list.

         Note

         This drop-down list can include all the fields that are text, multi-line text, or lookup type fields.

         Although you’ll see an option to choose Text Analytics in the Give knowledge base (KB) suggestions using drop-down list, it is not supported, and will not work at runtime.

      3. If you want the article rating to appear for each article in in the search results, select the Enable ratings on KB article search results based on the specified field, check box, and then select the field from the drop-down list.

      4. In Select primary customer, select who the email will be sent to when a customer service rep chooses to send the article link in an email. This drop-down list includes all fields for the entity that are enabled for email, for example account or contact. When the customer service rep chooses to send an article link to the customer, the To field is automatically populated with the value of the field you select here.

      5. In Number of results, select how many articles to show in the search results at first.

      6. In the Actions drop-down list, select whether you want to make all default actions available to CSRs or only selected ones. If you choose Show Selected Actions, select the actions you would like to show.

         The following actions are available:

         • Link the KB article. Lets users link the knowledge article to the record they're viewing the knowledge article search results in.

         • Unlink. Lets users unlink the knowledge article from the primary record .

         • Copy link. Lets users copy the external URL of the article so they can share it over channels like chat or email. If you're using the native Dynamics 365 knowledge management solution, the Copy Link option is available only for published articles.

         • Link KB article and email link. Lets users associate an article with the primary record and share the article link through email.

         • Link article and email content. Lets users associate an article with a case and share the article content through email.

         • Pop out. Lets users open the article in a new window.

         Note

         Although, the Pop out option is available for selection in the drop-down list, it isn’t supported at runtime in the interactive service hub.

See Also

Set up knowledge management in Microsoft Dynamics 365

© 2016 Microsoft. All rights reserved. Copyright