Except in true lone writer setups, at some point, you're probably going to need to share a draft or in-progress article with other people to get input. These might be other KO editors and admins, but it might just as readily be a Subject Matter Expert (SME), someone in your support or marketing department, or a manager.
There are two ways to quickly share an in-progress article with others. The option you choose depends on two factors:
- Whether the person you're sharing with is an author in your knowledge base: Follow the For other KnowledgeOwl authors instructions if they are an author; otherwise, follow the For reviewers without KnowledgeOwl author access instructions.
- Whether you want them to review the content in the editor or view it as it will appear live to readers of the knowledge base: For reviewing in the editor, follow the For other KnowledgeOwl authors instructions. To review in the live knowledge base, follow the For reviewers without KnowledgeOwl author access instructions.
For other KnowledgeOwl authors
For other KnowledgeOwl authors (i.e. people who log in to app.knowledgeowl.com and can see the content in edit mode):
- For the article you want reviewed, copy the app.knowledgeowl.com URL for that article. It will look something like:
/55aaaaabbbbbbb55555577777
- Share that link with the person you'd like to review the article.
- Opening that link will take them directly to the article in edit mode. They can review the article in the editor or select Preview in the lower right to view the article more or less how it will appear live:
Select Preview to view the article in a separate window, close to how it will look in your live knowledge base.
Preview limitations
Preview links are not persistent, so you can't copy the Preview link and share it with another author. Preview mode doesn't support all snippet logic, so if you're using a series of snippets, try the next option.
For reviewers without KnowledgeOwl author access
For reviewers who do not have author accounts at app.knowledgeowl.com, you'll need to share the article as it appears in the live knowledge base. To use this approach, hide the article from search and navigation, publish it, and share the direct URL to the article.
The advantages to this approach include:
- All reviewers see the article exactly as readers will.
- You don't have to use additional author seats for people who aren't editing content.
- This is basically like a hidden published article. It won't show up in the table of contents or search, and only people with the direct URL can view it.
The information below varies based on whether you're using our 2026 new editor or old editor.
To figure out which instructions to follow:
- Open any article for editing.
- If the lefthand navigation is collapsed and there's a link near the top of the page to Switch to old editor, follow the New editor documentation.
- If the lefthand navigation is expanded and the top of the editor and the righthand column have a heavier grey background, follow the Old editor documentation.
Here are side-by-side examples of the new editor and the old editor:
Sample New editor
Sample Old editorTry out the new editor
We'd love your feedback on the new editor. To switch to the new editor, open any article for editing and select the Switch to new editor link at the top of the editor.
To share a published but hidden article for review in the new article editor:
- Open the article for editing.
- In the Other section, select any of the text next to Visibility:
Select any of the text next to Visibility.The Visibility modal opens. - Check all the boxes here: Hide from category landing page, Hide from table of contents, Hide from search results, and Hide from article lists:
Check all the boxes in the Visibility modal
Refer to Display Settings for more information on these options. - Change the Status to Published if it wasn't already set that way.
- Be sure to Save your changes.
- Now your article is published, but hidden from search and navigation. Select the Open article link near the top of the page to view the article as it appears in your knowledge base and be sure everything looks good:
Select Open article to view the live article and verify everything looks good - This will open the article within the knowledge base in a separate tab. Copy the URL it opens to or select the Copy icon when you hover over the article's Permalink.
- Share that URL with your reviewers.
- Once your review is done, uncheck the Visibility boxes you checked in Step 3 to make the article publicly visible, Save, and continue with your normal workflow.
To share a published but hidden article for review in the old article editor:
- Open the article in edit mode.
- Scroll to the Display Settings section and check the boxes next to Exclude from search results, Hide from table of contents, Hide from category landing page, and Hide from article lists. Refer to Display Settings for more information on these options.
Select the Exclude from search results and Hide from... optionsTechnically optional
You can skip this step if you don't mind the article showing up in search, navigation, the table of contents, and the widgets, but most people don't like in-progress articles to show there! - Change the Publishing Status to Published.
- Be sure to Save your changes.
- Now your article is published, but hidden from search and navigation. Select the View Article link near the top of the page to view the article as it appears in your knowledge base:
The View Article link appears once an article is published--it will open the live article in a separate tab - This will open the article within the knowledge base in a separate tab. Copy the URL it opens to.
- Share that URL with your reviewers.
- Once your review is done, uncheck any of the Display Settings boxes you checked in Step 2 to make the article publicly visible, Save, and continue with your normal workflow.
Share inactive versions
Versions have their own options for review. Refer to Version review process for readers for more information.