# Knowledge article access: channels and data categories

*Experience Cloud Consultant Study Guide · Branding, Personalization, and Content · Last updated October 24, 2026 · https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/experience-cloud-consultant/branding-personalization-and-content/knowledge-article-access-channels-and-data-categories*

Every check an external user or guest must pass to see a Lightning Knowledge article on a site: Read on Knowledge, the channel that matches the license, data category visibility by role, permission set or profile (or standard sharing instead), the Public Knowledge Base for guests, and topics so articles appear in Aura site search.

- Certification: Salesforce Experience Cloud Consultant
- Exam section: Branding, Personalization, and Content
- Study guide: https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/experience-cloud-consultant

**Official exam objective:**

> Given a scenario, make articles visible or accessible in an Experience.

## What the exam expects

- Diagnose why an external user or guest can't see an article: object Read, publication, channel, data category visibility.
- Pick the channel that matches the license (Customer, Partner, Public Knowledge Base) and expose the channel fields on the page layout.
- Grant data category visibility through roles for role-based users and through permission sets or profiles for high-volume users, and narrow it per portal role.
- Predict visibility from category hierarchies and multiple category groups.
- Switch to standard Salesforce sharing when needed, and make articles findable in Aura site search with topics.

Key terms: **channel** (the article fields Visible in Internal App, Visible to Customer, Visible to Partner and Visible in Public Knowledge Base); **category group** (a hierarchy of data categories used to classify articles); **data category visibility** (All, None or Custom, set by role, permission set, permission set group or profile); **high-volume user** (an external user without a role); **standard Salesforce sharing** (Knowledge access by org-wide defaults and sharing rules instead of data categories).

## Key facts

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Member requirements | Channel, Read on the article type, category visibility | [Knowledge article visibility issues](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=000387702&language=en_US&type=1) |
| Customer channel | Customer Community and Customer Community Plus | [Health Cloud Articles](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ind.admin_article_create.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Partner channel | Partner Community | [Health Cloud Articles](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ind.admin_article_create.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Channel fields | Not on the Knowledge layout by default | [Channels Field on Page Layouts](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=000381455&language=en_US&type=1) |
| Role-based users | Inherit account manager visibility; change per portal role | [Data Category Visibility](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sf.category_visibility_whatis.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| High-volume users | Need permission set or profile visibility | [Data Category Visibility](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sf.category_visibility_whatis.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Hierarchy | Visible category brings its whole direct family line, not siblings | [Data Category Visibility](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sf.category_visibility_whatis.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Multiple groups | At least one visible category per group on the article | [Data Category Visibility](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sf.category_visibility_whatis.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Standard sharing | Knowledge OWD Private for external access by default | [Sharing Model for Lightning Knowledge](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?language=en_US&id=service.knowledge_sharing_setup.htm&type=5) |
| Guests | Only Public Knowledge Base articles | [View Articles on a Site](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=000382935&language=en_US&type=1) |
| Unavailable article | Guests go to login; members see Invalid Page | [Enable Knowledge in Your Site](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=experience.networks_knowledge_access.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Topic mapping depth | Up to eight levels of data categories | [Enable Knowledge in Your Site](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=experience.networks_knowledge_access.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |

## Check yourself

- Why can't Customer Community users see categorized articles when visibility is set only on roles?
- When does selecting only Spain in a Geography group show an article classified with Europe?
- What does a guest see when following a link to an archived article?
- Why might an admin not find the Visible to Partner checkbox on a Lightning Knowledge article?
- Which articles can guests read on a public site?

## Sources

- [Enable Salesforce Knowledge in Your Experience Cloud Site](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=experience.networks_knowledge_access.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Data Category Visibility](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sf.category_visibility_whatis.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Knowledge article visibility issues](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=000387702&language=en_US&type=1)
- [Add the Channels Field to Lightning Knowledge Page Layouts](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=000381455&language=en_US&type=1)
- [Drive Learning with Protocols and Articles in Health Cloud](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=ind.admin_article_create.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [View Knowledge Base Articles on a Lightning Platform Site](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=000382935&language=en_US&type=1)
- [Specific Knowledge records are not visible to a specific user](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=004980292&language=en_US&type=1)
- [Choose the Sharing or Access Model for Lightning Knowledge](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?language=en_US&id=service.knowledge_sharing_setup.htm&type=5)
- [Filter Articles with Data Category Mapping](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sf.knowledge_category_mapping.htm&language=en_US&type=5)

## About the full unit

The "Core concepts", "Exam traps" and "Worked scenario" sections of this unit, its 11 linked practice questions, and unlimited timed mock exams are included with the Experience Cloud Consultant pack (USD $19): https://www.certifyforce.com/practice-exams